THE  LIBRARIES 


Bequest  of 

Frederic  Bancroft 

1860-1945 


yit^4^^  A.  /^-^^i_^« 


4^rL-i^ 


THE 

LIFE  AND  WRITINGS 

OF 

RUFUS  C.  BURLESON, 

D.  D.,  LL  D. 


CONTAINING  A  BIOGRAPHY  OF  DR.  BURLESON  BY 

Hon.  Harry  Haynes 


FUNERAL  OCCASION,  WITH  SERMON,  ADDRESSES, 
RESOLUTIONS,  ETC. 


SELECTED  "  CHAPEL  TALKS." 


SELECTED  ADDRESSES  AND  ARTICLES. 


DR.  BURLESON  AS  A  PREACHER 

WITH  SELECTED  SERMONS. 


MANY  OF  "THE  OLD  GUARD"  SERIES  OF 
BIOGRAPHIES. 


MANY  ARTICLES  ON  TEXAS  HISTORY. 


COMPILED  AND  PUBLISHED  BY 

MRS.  GEORGIA  J.  BURLESON. 


Entered  according  to  act  of  Congress,  in 
the  year  1901,  by  Mrs.  Georgia  J.  Burleson,  in 
the  ofiBce  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Wash- 
ingt'in. 


y^O^' 


V/ 


DcMcation. 

<*^ 

TO  THE 

Pioneer  Teachers,  Preachers  and  Laymen, 

Who  Struggled  and  Sacrificed  to  lay  the 

Foundation  of  the  Present 

Empire  of  Texas 

AND 

To  the  Ten  Thousand  Students  of 
Dr.  Burleson 

and  the  Thousands  of  Men  and  Women   who   have 

Gained  Inspiration  from  His  Life  of 

Labor,  th  s  Booi<    s 

Affectionately  Dedicated  by  his  Wife. 


PUBLISHER'S  PREFACE. 


For  several  years  the  students  and  friends  of  Dr.  Burle- 
son, as  well  as  the  public  in  general,  have  been  expecting  a 
Memoir  in  which  would  be  crystalized  in  book  form,  from  his 
own  hand,  what  he  deemed  most  worthy  of  preservation  in  his 
long  and  eventful  career. 

For  many  years  he  contemplated  writing  such  a  book. 
Hundreds  of  his  friends  have  urged  him  not  to  put  it  off 
until— too  late. 

But  Dr.  Burleson  was  a  busy  man.  His  time,  his  ener- 
gies, his  life,  were  given  to  Baylor  University,  to  the  Baptists 
of  Texas  and.  to  the  whole  country.  These  have  received  all 
of  good  his  life  could  give.  But  the  Memoir  was  never  pub- 
lished. 

Many  of  his  sermons  and  addresses  were  published  in 
newspapers  and  magazines  but  they  were  never  carefully  pre- 
pared so  as  to  be  available  for  book  use.  This  was  left,  alas ! 
to  be  done  when  he  had  leisure. 

He  wrote  hundreds  of  articles  on  Texas  History,  which 
Avere  published  in  newspapers.  But  whatever  may  be  said  of 
Dr.  Burleson's  qualifications,  penmansJiip  was  one,  for  which 
he  never  received  commendation.  This,  coupled  with  the 
mistakes  incident  to  the  rush  and  hurry  of  newspaper  work, 


Publisher's  Preface.  vii 

together  with  the  fact  that  the  "proof"  was  never  corrected 
by  him.  is  sufficient  explanation  of  the  typographical  errors 
his  published  articles  contain. 

This  was  the  condition  of  his  literary  affairs  when  ha 
was  stricken  of  his  last  sad  illness. 

By  his  last  will  and  testament  the  task  was  imposed  upon 
me  of  collecting  and  publishing  such  of  his  writings  as  might 
be  deemed  of  benefit  to  his  students  and  their  descendants — 
to  Texas,  which  he  loved  so  well. 

The  responsibility  was  accepted  as  a  sacred  duty  to  the 
living  as  well  as  to  the  dead. 

The  work  is  done,  how  well  the  reader  will  judge. 

In  this  great  work  I  have  been  fortunate  in  two  partic- 
ulars: 

First:  In  securing  the  services  of  the  Hon.  Harry 
Haynes  to  write  Part  I — Biography  of  Dr.  Burleson.  Mr. 
Haynes  was  an  early  and  devoted  student  of  my  late  husband, 
as  well  as  a  warm  personal  friend.  He  possesses  an  extensive 
personal  knowledge  of  Dr.  Burleson's  work  in  Texas.  Mr, 
Haynes  is  a  man  of  learning  and  a  writer  whose  pen  has  made 
this  section  of  the  book  one  which  will  be  of  great  interest  to 
the  reader,  and  one  which  needs  no  commendation  at  my 
hands. 

Second :  In  the  providence  of  God,  I  have  had  the  ser- 
vices of  my  son,  Mr.  Richard  A.  Burleson,  who  has  given  his 
entire  time  to  the  work  of  preparing  and  publishing  this  vol- 
ume. While  I  have  been  the  nominal  and  responsible  pub- 
lisher, yet  all  the  actual  work  and  worry,  both  mental  and 
financial  have  fallen  upon  him.  He  has  left  his  business  and 
given  all  his  time  and  energy  to  the  collecting  of  material, 
issuing  circulars,  making  contracts,  etc.,  etc.,  and  has  had 
entire  charge  of  the  work  of  getting  the  book  in  the  hands  of 
the  agents  and  through  them  to  the  public.  There  are,  of 
course,  many  mistakes  which  could  not  be  avoided,  yet  what- 


viii  Publisher's  Peeface. 

ever  of  credit  may  be  due  the  puhlisher  I  hereby  cheerfully 
award  to  him. 

I  desire  to  call  attention  to  the  frequent  repetition  of  the 
same  facts,  circumstances  and  illustrations  in  different  articles : 
Especially  in  Texas  History,  in  the  '^Old  Guard"  Biographies 
and  in  the  Anniversary  Sermons.  This  condition  would  not 
exist  had  Dr.  Burleson  lived  to  write  his  own  Memoirs.  As 
the  matter  was  left  to  me  it  was  absolutely  impossible  to  correct 
this  without  rewriting  the  entire  work.  This  would  have 
destroyed  the  individuality  of  Dr.  Burleson  simply  to  gain 
unity  in  the  work.  A  favorite  quotation  with  the  Doctor  was 
"Paint  me  as  I  am."  So  you  have  it  as  he  wrote  it.  "Judge 
it  as  ye  may." 

In  conclusion,  I  value  criticism.  Any  suggestions  any 
one  may  see  fit  to  make  will  be  thankfully  received  and  duly 
appreciated. 

Affectionately  yours, 

GEOKGIA  J.  BURLESON. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


PAKT  I — Biography  of  Dr.  Burlesoj^. 

Page 

CiiAPTEK  I— Genealogy,  General  Remarks,  Importance  Attached 
to  the  Subject  by  Royal  Families,  Leads  to  Ancestral  Wor- 
ship, Origin  and  Genealogy  of  the  Burleson  Family,  Sir 
Edward  Burleson,  Aaron  Burleson,  General  Ed.  Burleson, 
Dr.  R.  C.  Burleson 5 

Chapter  II— Settlement  of  North  Alabama,  Desperate  Resistance 
by  Indian  Tribes,  Expeditions  of  Ponce  DeLeon,  Vasquez, 
Pamphilo,  DeSoto,  LaSalle,  Iberville,  Mississippi  Scheme, 
Western  Company,  Tecumseh  an  Indian  Warrior,  Stirs  the 
Tribes  and  Incites  the  War  of  1813,  Plan  of  His  Warfare, 
General  Government  Appealed  to.  Heroic  Settlers,  Volun- 
teers Under  General  Andrew  Jackson,  Captain  Jonathan 
Burleson  Commands  a  Company,  Close  of  the  War,  Immi- 
grants Pour  into  the  Country 15 

Chapter  III— Flint  River,  North  Alabama,  Home  of  Jonathan 
Burleson,  Settles  Here  in  1814,  Erects  a  Cabin,  Opens  a 
Farm,  Raises  a  Large  Family,  Amasses  a  Fortune,  Rufus  C. 
Burleson  Born  August  7,  1823,  Instructed  by  His  Mother, 
Learns  Rapidly,  Incidents  and  Anecdotes  of  His  Boyhood, 
Discovers  a  Cave,  Plays  Detective 24 

Chapter  IV — Early  Educational  Advantages  of  North  Alabama, 
Rufus  Enters  a  District  School,  Rapid  Advancement,  At- 
tends Summerville  Academy,  School  at  Danville,  Death  of 
His  Mother,  Conversion  and  Baptism.  Ambition  to  be  a 
Lawyer,  Impressions  to  Preach,  Enters  Nashville  University, 
Licensed  to  Preach,  Health  Fails,  Returns  to  His  Father's 
Farm  33 

Chapter  V — Young  Rufus  Anxious  to  Return  to  the  Univer- 
sity at  Nashville,  His  Father  Objects,  Fearing  His  Health 
Would  Again  Fail,  Compromise,  Teaches  in  Mississippi  Five 
Years,  First  Contract,  Called  to  the  Pastorate,  Ordination  by 
the  Catalpa  Baptist  Church,  June  8th,  184.5,  Dr.  Wm.  Carey 
Crane  Clerk  of  the  Council 40 


X  Table  of  Contein'ts. 

Page. 

Chapter  VI — Mr.  Burleson  Teaches  in  ^Mississippi  from  1841  to 
1845,  Pursues  His  Studies,  Called  to  the  Pastorate,  Dr.  Alex- 
ander Campbell,  Wave  of  Religious  Disaffection,  Mr,  Burle- 
son Enters  the  Field  of  Polemics,  Doctrinal  Sermons, 
Articles  in  the  Tennessee  Baptist,  Meets  W.  H.  Muse,  a 
Classmate,  a  Warm  Discussion,  Formula  for  Killing  Baptists, 
Resigns  as  Teacher  and  Pastor,  Parting  Between  Preacher, 
Parishioner,  Parent  and  Pupil 46 

Chapter  VII — From  Mayhew  Prairie  Mr.  Burleson  Returns  to 
His  Father's  Farm,  Reviews  the  Scenes  of  His  Boyhood, 
Preaches  to  His  Old  Church,  Bids  Farewell  to  Family  and 
Friends,  Rides  Away  to  Covington  and  Enters  the  Western 
Baptist  Theological  Seminary,  Graduates  June  8th,  1847, 
Consecrates  His  Life  to  Texas.  Incidents  While  at  the  Semi- 
nary, Beautiful  Story  of  Dr.  William  A.  Ashmore,  That  Had 
Its  Culmination  in  Texas,  Southern  People  Slandered. 
Theological  Student  Resents  It,  Challenge  Passed,  a  Duel 
Arranged,  Young  Burleson  Prevents  It 5S 

Chapter  VIII — Mr.  Burleson  Applies  for  Appointment  as  Mis- 
sionary to  Texas  to  the  Missionary  Board  of  the  Southern 
Baptist  Convention,  Early  Texas  Missions,  Mrs.  Cole's  State- 
ment, Baptist  Preachers  in  Texas  as  Early  as  1812,  .Tames  R. 
Jenkins,  A.  Buffington.  H.  R.  Cartmell.  Birth  of  Organized 
Missions,  Mr.  Burleson's  Services  Accepted.  Assigned  to 
Duty  at  Gonzales,  Studies  Texas  History,  Character  of  the 
Early  Missionaries 62 

Chapter  IX— Rev.  Wm.  M.  Tryon  Called  to  the  Houston  Pastor- 
ate December  1st,  1845,  Dies  at  Sundown  November  16th, 
1847,  Resolutions  of  the  Houston  Church,  Mr.  Burleson  Ap- 
pointed to  Succeed  Him,  Starts  for  Texas,  Reflections  En 
Route.  Reaches  New  Orleans.  Takes  a  Steamer  and  Ari'ives 
in  Galveston  January  5th,  1848,  Meets  Dr.  J.  F.  Hillyer. 
Preaches  His  Fii*st  Sermon  in  Texas  From  the  Text,  "For  I 
Determined  Not  to  Know  Anything  Among  You  Save  Jesus 
Christ  and  Him  Crucified" 69 

Chapter  X— Mr.  Burleson's  Arrival  in  Houston,  Meets  a  Cordial 
Reception,  Confronted  with  Difficulties,  Members  Discour- 
aged, Disbanded  Soldiers  from  Mexico,  Gold  Discovered  in 
California,  Excitement  in  Texas,  People  Restless,  Revival  in 
Galveston,  Results,  Rev.  Noah  Hill 75 

Chapter  XI— Returns  to  Houston  From  Galveston  Meeting, 
Pi'osecutes  Church  Work,  Accessions,  Fame  as  an  Evangelist. 
Receives  Many  Invitations  to  Hold  Meetings,  Revival  in  Bren- 
ham.  Congregation  of  One  Man,  Boys  Try  to  Smoke  Him  Out. 
Devil  With  Hot  Chain.  Judge  Baylor's  Exhortation,  New 
Years  Creek  Church.  Forms  an  Arm  at  Brenham,  Mr.  Burle- 
son Presides  Over  the  Conference,  and  is  Elected  First 
Pastor 83 


Table  of  Contents.  xi 

Page 
Chapter  XII— Mr.  Burleson's  Estimate  of  tbe  Pastorate, 
Authority  of  tlie  Church,  All  Legislation,  Canon,  Creed  or 
Decree  not  Authorized  by  the  Word  of  God  Rejected,  Opposi- 
tion to  a  Union  of  Church  and  State,  Indefinitely  Called  to 
Houston  Pastorate,  Dr.  A.  J.  Gordon,  Diversity  of  Minis- 
terial Gifts,  Ml-.  Burleson  Stricken  with  Yellow  Fever, 
Cholera,  Called  to  Pastorate  at  Huntsville,  Ala.,  Declines, 
Visits  Independence,  Dr.  H.  L.  Graves  Resigns  I'residency  of 
Baylor  University,  Mr.  Burleson  Elected  to  Succeed  Him, 
Sees  Larger  Opportunities  for  Usefulness  and  Accepts.  Resign 
at  Houston,  Resolutions  of  the  Church 91 

Chapter  XIII— Wisdom  of  Texas  Pioueer  Baptists  in  Founding 
Educational  Institutions,  Union  Association  Organized,  Texas 
Baptist  Education  Society  Formed,  Objects  Delayed  by  the 
Mexican  Invasion,  Baptist  University  Projected,  Charter 
Issued  by  the  Republic  of  Texas.  Its  Name.  Beautiful  Story  of 
Rev.  Wm.  M.  Ti-yon  and  Judge  R.  E.  B.  Baylor,  Towns  Com- 
peting for  Location,  School  Located  at  Independence,  Sub- 
scription List,  Dr.  Henry  L.  Graves  First  President 9& 

Chapter  XIV— Baylor  University  Born  in  a  Storm,  Santa  Fe  Ex- 
pedition, Somerville  Campaign,  Battle  of  Mier,  Texas  a  New 
Country,  Unsettled  Conditions,  Slow  Progress  of  all  Schools,  * 
Judge  A.  S.  Lipscomb,  Personal  Popularity.  Nominates  Mr. 
Burleson  for  President,  Providence  Leading,  Mr.  Burleson's 
First  Ambition,  States  Conditions  of  His  Acceptance,  State 
Convention,  Mass  Meeting.  Confers  with  Other  "College  Presi- 
dents, Outlines  His  Policy  for  Government  of  the  School.  . .  .   IIQ 

Chapter  XV— First  Session  of  Baylor  Under  Dr.  Burleson's 
Presidency,  Difficulties  Encountered,  School  Reported  to  be 
Dead.  Method  of  Correcting  Report,  Dr.  Burleson  a  Born 
Advertiser,  First  Catalogue  Issued.  Rev.  .Tames  Huckins  Ap- 
pointed General  Financial  Agent,  His  Letter  to  the  Trustees, 
President  Burleson  Impresses  the  Trustees  with  the  Stupend- 
ous Work  of  Building  a  Great  University 119 

Chapter  XVI— Effects  of  the  Revolutions  Between  Texas  and 
Mexico  in  1836  and  Between  the  United  States  and  Mexico 
in  1846  Still  Perceptible,  Mexicans  Muttering,  Texans  on  the 
Alert,  Successful  Canvass  by  the  Financial  Agent  of  Baylor 
in  the  States.  His  Report,  Commences  Work  in  Texas.  Lonely 
Travels,  Sleeps  Under  Trees.  President  Burleson's  Compensa- 
tion for  the  First  Year,  Attendance 129 

(Chapter  XVII— Miss  Georgia  .Jenkins,  Birth,  Comes  to  Texas 
with  Her  Father  in''1836.  Attends  Judson  Female  Institute. 
Graduates  with  Honor,  Temperance  Demonstration  in  Old 
Washington.  Marriage  in  3853,  Bridal  Tour  to  New  Orleans, 
First  Dinner  at  Home,  Consulted  by  Her  Husband  on  all 
Important  Matters.  Domestic  Policy.  Sacrifices  and  Struggles 
for  the  Cause  of  Education  in  Texas,  Her  Character 134 


xii  Table  of  Contents. 

Pagb 

Chapter  XVIII— Baylor  Now  a  Real  University,  Every  Facility 
for  a  Complete  Education  Offered,  a  College  Code  Adopted, 
Duties  of  the  President  and  Trustees  Defined,  Admission  of 
Students,  Course  of  Instruction 142 

Chapter  XIX— Close  of  the  Fall  Term  of  1854,  School  in  Prosper- 
ous Condition,  Three  Literary,  and  Several  Secret  Societies 
Formed,  Society  Demonstration,  Address  of  Rev.  R.  H.  Tala- 
ferro,  Pi-esident  Burleson  Unfavoral)]y  Impressed  with  the 
Effect  of  These  Societies  on  the  Student  Body,  Delivers  a 
Lecture  on  the  Subject  in  185.5,  Which  was  Repeated  and 
Elaborated  Before  the  State  Teachers'  Association  at  El 
Paso  in  1898,  The  El  Paso  Address,  Hazing,  The  Practice 
Suppressed  in  Baylor  University 150 

Chapter  XX — Dr.  Burleson's  Foresight,  Predicts  Future  of 
Texas  and  Baylor  University  in  a  Letter  to  His  Brother, 
Richard,  in  18-54,  Creation  and  Criticism,  Similarity  and  Dis- 
similarity Between  R.  C.  and  R.  B.  Burleson,  Baptism  of 
General  Sam  Houston,  Bapistry  of  Independence  Church, 
Coffin  Shaped,  Filled  With  Logs,  Place  Changed,  Descrip- 
tion of  this  Historic  Spot,  Photogi-aphed  for  the  First  Time, 
for  This  Volume,  by  Thomas  A.  Holland 158 

Chapter  XXI— Baylor  University  From  1855  to  1860.  Brilliant 
Faculty,  Impressions  Made  on  the  Character  of  the  Students, 
a  Personal  Testimony,  Independence  a  Small  Village,  Board- 
ing Facilities  Inadequate,  Discontent  Among  Students,  Presi- 
dent Burleson  Erects  a  Three-story  House,  Two-story  Annex, 
Assumes  a  Heavy  Financial  Obligation,  Disastrous  Drought 
in  1857,  Affects  Attendance.  Storm  of  September  8th,  1900. .   169 

Chapter  XXII— Facilities  of  the  University  Enlarged,  Depart- 
ments of  Law  and  Theology  Established.  Address  of  Judge 
James  Jeffries.  Faculty  of  the  Law  School,  Reminiscences, 
Theological  Department.  Assumed  No  Great  Proportions  on 
Account  of  the  War  Between  the  States 175 

Chapter  XXIII— Legal  Relations  of  Baylor  University  to  Texas 
Baptist  State  Convention,  Committee  Report,  An  Exhaustive 
Discussion,  Logical  Presentation,  Conclusions 185 

Chapter  XXIV— Chapel  Talks,  Subjects  Discussed,  Extract  from 
a  Student's  Letter,  Good  Impressions  Made,  Detective  Bird, 
Anecdotes  and  InciSents,  A  Carriage  Ride,  Takes  a  Nap, 
Breaks  Up  a  Turkey  Supper,  A  Primitive  Elevator.  Dr.  Burle- 
son Pays  a  Reward  for  the  Return  of  His  Buggy,  Declines 
the  Noun  Res,  Builds  a  Gymnasium,  Plays  Hot  Ball 204 

Chapter  XXV — Controversy  Between  President  Burleson  and 
Principal  of  the  Female  Department,  Called  Before  the  Board 
of  Trustees,  Submitted  Their  Grievances  in  Writing,  Each 
Appears  in  His  Own  Behalf.  Findings  of  the  Trustees, 
Accepted  as  Satisfactory,  Stringent  Resolutions  of  the  Board, 
High  Regard  of  Trustees  for  Heads  of  Both  Departments. . .  .213 


Table  of  Conte>'ts.  xiii 

Page 
Chapter  XXVI— Controversy  Between  President  Burleson  and 
Pi'of.  Clark  Passes  Beyond  Their  Control,  Talien  Up  by 
Friends,  Permeates  the  Entire  Community,  Publication  of  a 
Pamphlet  Precipitates  a  Church  Trial,  Exciting  Scenes,  A 
Close  Vote,  General  Houston  Present,  Meeting  Between 
General  Houston  and  Dr.  Burleson,  Revival  in  the  Independ- 
ence Church,  Dr.  Burleson's  Triumph,  Letters  of  the  Faculty 
and  Senior  Class  Sustaining  Him,  General  Houston  Pledges 
Dr.  Burleson  His  Undying  Devotion,  Houston's  Deposition  by 
the  Texas  Legislature,  Visits  Independence  to  Confer  With 
His  Friend,  Dr.  Burleson 222 

©HAPTER  XXVII— Resigns  the  Presidency  of  Baylor  University 
at  Independence,  Letter  to  the  Board  of  Trustees,  Exalted 
Spirit  Manifested  by  Dr.  Burleson  in  Retiring  from  the 
School,  Summary  of  Ten  Years'  Work  at  Independence 233 

Chapter  XXVIII — Union  Association  Mother  of  the  Convention, 
Appoints  a  Central  Committee,  Meeting  Called,  Convention 
Organized  September  8th,  1848.  at  Anderson,  List  of  Churches 
and  Delegates,  Di-.  H.  L.  Graves,  First  President,  Rufus  C. 
Burleson  First  CoiTesponding  Secretary,  Other  Officers,  Con- 
stitution, Report  of  Committee  on  Establishing  a  Paper, 
Advise  that  Paper  be  Established,  but  Convention  to  Assume 
no  Financial  Responsibility,  Character  and  Work  of  Conven- 
tion, and  its  Influence  on  the  People  of  Texas 23G 

Chapter  XXIX— Dr.  Burleson's  Appearance  in  the  State  Con- 
vention, September  8th,  1848,  Marks  His  Entrance  Into  Public 
Life  in  Texas,  Report  of  Committee  on  Education.  First  Bap- 
tist Paper  in  Texas.  Mr.  Burleson  Invites  the  Convention  to 
Hold  Second  Session  in  Houston,  Convention  Met  May  11th, 
1849.  Re-elected  Corresponding  Secretary,  Mr.  Burleson's 
Report  as  Corresponding  Secretary,  List  of  Baptist  Preachers 
in  Texas  in  1849,  Conditions  in  1849  and  1901  Compared. 
Early  Texas  Heroes  and  Heroines,  Their  Sacrifices  Make 
Present  Conditions  Possible 24G 

Chapter  XXX— In  1852  Convention  Meets  in  Marshall,  1853  in 
Huntsville,  At  Both  Meetings  Dr.  Burleson  Renews  His 
Efforts  for  the  Establishment  of  a  Paper,  His  Report  as  Cor- 
responding Secretary,  Reviews  the  Year's  Work.  Baylor  Uni- 
versity, Meetings  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  J.  W.  D.  Creath, 
His  Consecration  and  Charactei-,  His  Saddle  Horse,  .John  the 
Baptist,  Dr.  Burleson's  Report  for  1853,  Work  Encouraging 
Along  All  Lines,  Special  Committee  Appointed  to  Visit  Baylor 
University,  President  Burleson  and  Prof.  Clark  Made  Honor- 
ary Members  of  the  Convention 2.56 


xiv  Table  of  Contents. 

FAQES 

Chapter  XXXI— Meeting  of  the  State  Couvention  in  1854,  Bap- 
tist Atfairs  Reach  the  High  Water  Marli,  Baylor  University 
Reported  by  the  Committee  and  Trustees  to  Be  in  a  Flourish- 
ing Condition,  Bounding  Report  of  Rev.  Isaac  Parks  on  Minis- 
terial Education,  Annual  Report  of  Corresponding  Secretary 
Burleson,  Last  Official  Report  to  the  Couvention,  Tenders 
His  Resignation  to  Devote  Himself  to  the  Interest  of  the 
School.  Recommends  Rev.  .J.  B.  Stiteler  as  His  Successor, 
Rev.  C.  H.  Stiteler  Elected 264 

Chapter  XXXII— Importance  of  the  Office  of  Corresponding  Sec- 
retary, All  Work  Done  Largely  Under  His  Advice,  Mr.  Bur- 
leson Having  no  Precedents,  Blazed  His  Ovrn  Way,  Made  His 
Own  Path,  Attends  Meeting  of  the  Union  Association,  Writes 
the  Circular  Letter,  "Preaches  the  Introductory  Sermon,  De- 
livers the  Semi-Centennial  Address  at  Sealy  in  1890,  Return 
to  Convention,  Report  of  Committee  on  Education,  Indian 
Missions,  Pioneers  Thoroughly  Saturated  with  the  Spirit, 
Committee  Appointed  to  Open  Correspondence  with  the  Board 
of  Managers  of  the  American  Indian  Mission  Association. . .  .  272 

Chapter  XXXIII — Convention  Ready  to  Place  Any  Honor  at  Dr. 
Burleson's  Command,  Elected  Vice-President  in  185G,  A  Jubi- 
lee Session,  Last  Paragraph  in  the  Proceedings,  H.  Clark 
and  P.  B.  Chandler  the  only  Known  Survivors  of  These 
Early  Conventions,  Convention  Adjourned  to  Meet  in  Cald- 
well, but  Place  Changed  to  Huntsville  on  Account  of  Severe 
Drought,  Convention  of  1857,  General  Houston  a  Delegate  and 
Offers  Report  on  InHian  Missions,  Romantic  Chapter  in  Gen. 
Houston's  Life,  Lives  with  the  Indians,  Conversant  with 
Indian  Character,  and  Competent  to  Discuss  Indian  Missions, 
Dr.  Burleson's  Report  and  Resolution  on  Indian  Missions, 
Dr.  H.  F.  Buckner  and  His  Consecrated  Co-Laborers 282 

Chapter  XXXIV— Texas  Pathmakers  Came  in  a  Struggle,  Lived 
Amid  Conflict,  Worked  Without  Means,  and  Built  for  All 
Time,  Not  Moved  by  the  Courage  of  Cowards,  but  From  a 
Sense  of  Duty  and  Love  for  Humanity,  To  Say  They  Were 
Not  Successful  Would  Be  to  Brand  a  Thousand  Records  as 
Brazen  Lies.  Dr.  Burleson  Elected  President  of  the  Conven- 
tion in  1858,  Re-elected  in  1859.  Rev.  H.  Garrett  Reports 
Baylor  Booming,  New  Buildings  Erected,  Dr.  Burleson  Takes 
a  Vacation,  Travels  East,  Visits  the  Mammoth  Cave,  Bottom- 
less Pit,  Fat  Man's  MiserJ^  Bunyan's  Way.  Echo  River. 
Gorin's  Dome,  Methodist  Church 291 


Table  of  Contents.  xv 

Page 

'Chapter  XXXV— Dr.  Burleson's  Dominating,  Absorbing  Purpose 
Was  to  Malie  Baylor  University  the  Peer  of  Any  Institu- 
tion of  the  Continent,  A  Man  of  Many  Ideas,  Interested  in 
All  Public  Questions,  Early  Canvass  for  Railroads,  Elected 
Vice-President  at  the  Fifteenth  Session  of  tlie  State  Conven- 
tion, Published  Proceedings  of  State  Convention  in  1848  and 
1898,  First  Catalogue  of  Baylor  University  in  1852,  and 
Catalogue  of  Same  School  in  1898  Compared.  Curtain  on  First 
Era  of  Dr.  Burleson's  Life  Dropped,  Scene  Shifted  to  Waco.    299 

■Chapter  XXXVI— Education  in  Texas  Under  Spanish  Dominion 
and  Mexican  Rule,  Population,  Society,  Missions,  Revolution 
in  Mexico,  The  Empire,  Republic,  Constitution  of  182-4,  Pro- 
visions for  Education  Under  the  Federal  Constitution,  Con- 
stitution of  Coahuila  and  Texas,  Provisions  for  Public 
Schools  in  the  State  Constitution,  The  First  American 
School,  Report  of  Almonte,  Efforts  of  the  Colonists  Toward 
Education,  The  First  Female  Academy  in  Texas,  Independ- 
ence Academy,  Baylor  University,  Description  of  a  Mexican 
School  in  1825,  Character  of  the  American  Colonist,  Gen. 
Antonio  Lopez  de  Santa  Anna,  Revolt  of  the  American  Col- 
onists     303 

"Chapter  XXXVII — Education  in  Texas  Under  the  Republic, 
The  Declaration  of  Independence,  The  Constitution  of  1838, 
The  First  Congress  of  the  Republic,  Establishment  of  Schools, 
The  First  Charter  of  the  Republic  to  Independence  Academy, 
The  Act  to  Establish  a  State  University,  President  Lamar's 
Message  on  Education,  Area  of  the  Republic,  Land  Grants 
for  Educational  Pui-poses.  Baylor  University  at  Independ- 
ence, School  at  San  Augustine 313 

'Chapter  XXXVIII — Progress  of  Education  in  Texas  Under 
State  Rule,  Annexation  of  Texas  to  the  United  States,  Texas 
Retains  Her  Unappropriated  Public  Domain,  The  Constitu- 
tion of  1845,  Legislative  Provision  for  Education,  Dr.  R.  C. 
Burleson  Arrives  in  Texas,  The  Civil  War  1861  to  1865,  The 
Constitution  of  Texas  as  a  State  in  the  Confederacy.  Sur- 
render of  the  Confederacy,  The  Interregnum  Followed  by 
Military  Occupation,  The  Peabody  Fund,  Its  Influence  on 
Education    321 

'Chapter  XXXIX— Education  in  Texas  Under  the  Provisional 
Government,  Military  Occupation,  Emancipation  Order,  Ham- 
ilton Provisional  Governor,  Organization  of  the  Civil  Govern- 
ment. Election  Order.  Constitution  of  1866,  Throckmorton 
Governor,  Provision  for  Education,  Republican  Reconstruc- 
tion, Civil  Governor  Removed,  E.  M.  Pease  Appointed  Pro- 
visional Governor,  Constitution  of  1868.  Provisions  for  Educa- 
tion. First  Public  Free  School  in  Texas  was  Opened  Septem- 
ber 4th.  1871,  Dr.  B.  Sears'  Report  as  General  Agent  of  the 
Peabody  Fund.  The  Taxpayers'  Convention 329 


xvi  Table  of  Contents. 

Pagb 

Chapter  XL— Tlie  Peabody  Educatioa  Fund,  George  Peabody, 
His  Character,  His  Death,  Munificent  Bequest,  Dr.  Barnas 
Sears  General  Agent  of  the  Fund,  Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson's 
Appointment  as  Lecturer  for  the  Fund  in  Texas,  His  First 
Quarterly  Report 335 

Chapter  XLI— Address  of  Hon.  Robert  C.  Winthrop,  Chairman, 
Before  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Peabody  Education 
Fund,  Appropriation  of  the  Fund  to  Texas  in  1877,  Dift'er- 
.  enees  Regarding  Appointment  of  Superintendents  of  Peabody 
Schools,  Dr.  R.  C.  Burleson's  Letter  on  the  Subject,  Annual 
Report  of  Dr.  B.  Sears  for  1877.  Dr.  Burleson  Charged  With 
Sectarian  Bias,  Vigorous  Denial,  More  of  the  Pioneers  of 
Texas,  Joint  Canvass  of  tlie  State  by  Drs.  Sears  and  Burle- 
son     345 

Chapter  XLII— Progress  of  Public  Education  in  Texas,  Applica- 
tion of  the  Peabody  Fund,  Aid  to  City  Schools,  Dr.  Burleson's 
Report  as  State  Lecturer,  Dr.  Sears'  Report  as  General  Agent 
for  1878,  Dr.  Burleson's  Great  Interest  in  Education  in 
Texas,  Offers  His  Services  to  Dr.  Sears  Without  Compensa- 
tion, Offer  Accepted 353 

Chapter  XLIII— A  Brief  Review  of  the  Administrations  of  Gov- 
ernors Coke  and  Hubbard,  with  Reference  to  Education, 
Governor  Roberts'  First  Administration,  State  Teachers'  Con- 
vention at  Austin,  Dr.  Sears'  Proposition  for  a  Normal  In- 
stitute, Dr.  Burleson's  Letter  to  Governor  Roberts  on  Free 
Schools,  The  Public  on  Governor  Roberts  and  Dr.  Burleson 
Because  of  the  Veto,  Dr.  Burleson's  Reply  to  a  Newspaper 
Attack,  on  His  Letter  to  Governor  Roberts 360 

Chapter  XLIV— Texas  State  Educational  Association,  Texas 
Teachers'  Convention  Organized  at  Mexia,  An  Important 
Called  Meeting  at  Mexia  August  0th,  1879,  A  Convention  of 
Teachers  at  Austin,  Di*.  Burleson's  Statement  of  Convention's 
Work,  The  Teachers'  Recommendations  to  the  Legislature, 
Committee  Report  on  University  of  Texas,  Dr.  Burleson 
Chairman,  Last  Meeting  of  Texas  Teachers'  Convention, 
Ceased  to  Exist  Where  it  was  Organized  June  30th,  1880, 
Merged  into  the  Texas  State  Educational  Association,  Gov. 
O.  M.  Roberts  Addressed  the  Meeting,  Organization  of  the 
T.  S.  E.  A.,  July  1st,  1880,  Its  Continued  Success 371 

Chapter  XLV— Dr.  R.  C.  Burleson's  Address  Before  the  Texas 
Teachers'  Convention  in  Galveston  June  30th,  1890,  Pithy  and 
Pointed,  Breezy  and  Bright,  Witty  and  Wise,  Learned  and 
Logical,  Education,  Public  and  Private,  The  Sam  Houston 
Normal  Institute  Suggested  for  the  First  Time,  Other 
Matters 382" 


Table  of  Contents.  xvii 

Page 
Chapter  XLVI— Progress  of  Education  in  Texas,  Development 
of  State  Institutions,  Dr.  B.  Sears'  Report  for  1879,  Establish- 
ment of  State  University,  Corner  Stone  Laid  November  ITtli, 
1883,  Educational  Measures  Passed  During  Gov.  Roberts- 
Administration,  Prairie  View  Made  a  Brancli  of  the  Univer- 
sity, Medical  University  at  Galveston  Opened  October  1st, 
1891,  Summer  Normals,  Value  of  School  Property,  Charitable 
Institutions,  Generosity  of  the  People  in  Favor  of  Education  393 

Chapter  XLVII— Resolution  of  the  East  Texas  Convention  Octo- 
ber 32th,  1867;  Organization  of  the  Baptist  General  Associa- 
tion of  Texas  July  17th,  18G8,  Gen.  James  E.  Harrison,  of 
Waco,  Elected  President,  R.  C.  Burleson.  Corresponding  Sec- 
retary, Gen.  Joseph  W.  Speight,  Chairman  of  Committee  to 
Remodel  Constitution,  Dr.  Burleson  Moves  to  Send  Fraternal 
Delegates  to  State  Convention,  Dr.  Burleson  Elected  Corre- 
sponding Secretary  for  the  Fourth  Time 402 

Chapter  XLVIII— Growth  of  the  General  Association,  Dr.  Burle- 
son Elected  President  at  Jefferson  July  25th,  1873;  Re-elected 
at  Dallas,  1874;  Sherman,  1875;  Waco,  1876;  Paris,  1877; 
Fort  Worth,  1878;  Pittsburg,  1879;  Served  the  Association  as 
Corresponding  Secretary  and  President  Eleven  Consecutive 
Years,  Movement  to  Establish  Organic  Connection  Between 
General  Association  and  Waco  University,  The  Pott's  Reso- 
lution, Movement  Consummated  at  Sulphur  Springs  in  1882, 
A  Sketch  of  the  Consolidation  Movement  Resulting  in  the 
Union  of  all  the  General  Baptist  Conventions  in  the  State. . .  407 

Chapter  XLIX— First  Session  of  the  Consolidated  Convention  in 
Waco,  June  26th,  1S86,  Dr.  Burleson  Member  of  the  Board 
of  Directors,  Constitution  of  the  Convention,  Dr.  Burleson 
Continued  on  the  Board  of  Directors  at  Dallas  in  1887,  and 
Made  Chairman  of  Committee  on  Colored  Population,  Bishop 
College,  Vice-President  in  1889  and  1890,  Elected  President 
in  1892  at  Belton  and  Re-elected  at  Gainesville  in  1893 415 

Chapter  Lf— Dr.  Burleson  and  His  School  Work  at  Waco.  Trinity 
High  School,  S.  G.  O'Brien,  First  President,  Waco  Classical 
School,  J.  C.  West,  President,  Dr.  Burleson  Elected  President 
and  Name  Changed  to  Waco  University,  Gen.  Speight's  Let- 
ter, Dr.  Burleson  Visits  Waco  April  15,  1861,  Accepts  the 
Presidency,  Civil  War  of  1861  Again,  Professors  and  Students 
Enlist  in  the  Confederate  Army,  Dr.  Burleson  Chaplain  of  the 
Fifteenth  Regiment,  Session  of  1865,  Co-Education,  Resolu- 
tion of  Trustees 423 


xviii  Table  of  Contents. 

Page 

Chapter  LI— Years  that  Follow  the  War,  a  Crisis  in  the  History 
of  all  Enterprises,  People  Restless,  Changing  Conditions,  Dr. 
Burleson  Quick  to  Grasp  the  Situation,  Knew  What  to  Do, 
and  Did  It,  Girded  on  His  Armor,  Took  the  Field  and 
Preached,  Lectured  and  Wrote,  Confidence  in  the  Security  of 
Waco  Inspired,  Elected  President  of  Sheveport  University, 
Degree  of  D.  D.  Conferred  by  Howard  College,  Dr.  Burleson 
Keeps  Track  of  Old  Students,  Reference  to  the  Manner  in 
Which  He  Marked  Catalogues,  Every  Page  in  His  Wox'king 
Testament  Marked,  Address  to  the  Baptists  of  Texas 433 

Chaptek  LII— Reconstruction  of  the  Educational  Affairs  of 
Texas  Baptists,  Question  of  Removing  the  Schools  from  In- 
dependence, Educational  Union,  Centennial  Commission, 
Navasota  Resolutions,  Dr.  Burleson  Attends  American  Bap- 
tist Educational  Commission  in  1874,  Receives  the  Degree  of 
LL.D.  from  Keachi  College,  Unification,  Hayden  Preamble 
and  Resolutions  at  Ennis,  Issue  Joined,  Line  Drawn,  and 
Every  Baptist  Steps  on  One  Side  or  the  Other,  Baptist  State 
Convention  at  Lampasas,  Resolutions  on  Removal,  Committee 
Appointed,  Dr.  Burleson's  Position,  Joint  Meeting  of  Com- 
mittees from  Convention  and  Association  at  Temple,  Plan  of 
Consolidation  Adopted,  Consolidated  University  Goes  to 
Waco,  Female  College  to  Belton 442 

Chapter  LIII— Results  of  Baptist  Educational  Reconstruction  in 
Texas,  First  Session  of  the  Consolidated  School,  Dr.  Burle- 
son's Remarks,  Transfer  of  Property  of  Waco  University, 
Gen.  Speight,  President,  and  W.  H.  Jenkins,  Secretary,  of 
the  Old  Board,  Their  Faithfulness,  B.  H.  Carroll,  President 
of  the  New  Board,  His  First  Report  to  the  Convention,  New 
College  Campus  Purchased,  and  New  Buildings  Erected.  In 
1893  All  Debts  Paid,  Co-Education  Readopted  After  Ten 
Years'  Trial,  Dr.  Burleson  a  Hard  Worker,  In  Baylor,  His 
Rosiest  Dream  Realized,  Exposure  in  Early  Days  in  Texas. 
Advanced  in  Life,  Elected  President  Emeritus  on  Full  Pay, 
His  Letter  of  Acceptance,  Trustees  Kneel,  Dr.  Burleson  Leads 
in  Prayer,  Public  Career  Closes  in  a  Spirit  of  Human  Mag- 
nanimity, and  Flow  of  Christian  Fellowship  and  Love 457 

After- Word 466 


PAKT  II — "Funeral  of  Dr.  Burleson. 

(Waco  Auditorium,  May  15th,  1901.) 

Prayer  by  Dr.  A.  M.  Johnson 475 

Funeral  Sermon  by  Dr.  W.  H.  Parks 476 

Address  by  Dr.  S.  J.  Anderson 481 

Address  by  Supt.  J.  C.  Lattimore 483 

(Representing  Public  Schools.) 


Table  of  Contexts.  xix 

Page 

Speech  of  M.  B.  Davis 486 

(Representing  The  Press.) 

Speech  of  Prof.  W.  H.  Pool 487 

(Representing  Old  Students.) 

Speech  of  Dr.  Addison  Clarli 488 

(Representing  Sister  Schools.) 

Speech  of  Dr.  D.  R.  Wallace 489 

(Representing  Faculty  of  ISol.) 

Speech  of  Rev.  E.  A.  Puthuff 491 

(Representing  Missionary  Students  to  Foreign  Lands.) 

Speech  of  Mr.  E.  P.  Alldredge 494 

(Representing  Student  Body  of  Baylor.) 

Speech  of  Mayor  J.  W.  Riggins 496 

(Representing  City  of  Waco.) 

Address  by  Dr.  O.  H.  Cooper 498 

(Representing  Baylor  Faculty.) 

Speech  of  Hon.  W.  B.  Denson 499 

(Representing  Baylor  Trustees.) 
Hesolutions  Adopted  by  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Baylor  Uni- 
versity     501 

Speech  of  Hon.  W.  S.  Baker 506 

(Representing  Old  Students.) 

Resolutions  Adopted  by  the  Faculty  of  Baylor  University 507 

Address  by  Dr.  O.  I.  Halbert— "Home  Life  of  Dr.  Burleson"' 510 

(Contributed  after  the  Funeral.) 
Address   by   Hon.   W.   B.   Denson— "Dr.   Burleson  a   Model  for 

Texas    Youths" 512 

(Contributed  after  the  Funeral.) 


PART  III — Chapel  Talks  by  Dr.  Burleson. 

Introduction   521 

Young  People:    Their  Duties  and  Perils 522 

Moses,  The  Grand  Model  of  Preparation 524 

Jonah,  or  Running  Away  from  Duty 526 

Do  Thyself  no  Harm 528 

Absalom  or  Filial  Ingratitude 531 

There  is  a  Time  to  Laugh 533 

The  Crime  of  Parental  Partiality 535 


XX  •   Table  of  Contents. 

PART  IV — Selected  Addkesses  and  Aeticles  by 
Dr.  Burleson. 

Page 
General  Sam  Houston.    Address  delivered  before  the  Texas  Leg- 
islature March  2d,  1893,  at  the  Memorial  Services  on  the  One 
Hundredth  Anniversary  of  the  Birth  of  Gen.  Sam  Houston, 
and  the  57th  of  Texas  Independence.     (This  address  covers 

all  the  various  points  of  Gen.  Houston's  eventful  life.) 545 

Gen.  L.  S.  Ross— A  True  Model 588 

Senator  Richard  Colie 593 

The  Mirage  in  Texas 595 

An  Early  Texas  Missionary  Among  the  Wolves 597 


PART  V — Dr.  Burleson  as  a  Preacher. 

(With  Selected  Sermons  by  Dr.  Burleson.) 

"Dr.  Burleson  as  a  Preacher,"  by  Hon.  W.  B.  Denson 607 

Sermon  on  "Family  Government" 612 

"Behold  the  Lamb  of  God"— His  57th  Anniversary  Sermon,  de- 
livered Nov.  12th,  IS97 632 

Sermon   on    "The   Deaconship"— Dedicated    to    the    Deacons   of 
Texas 651 


PART  YI— Many  OE  "The  Old  Guard"  Series  of 
Biographies. 

Introduction 66S 

James  R.  Jenlvins 667 

The  Old  Guard— Their  Work  and  Co-laborers 664 

Wm.  M.  Tryon 669- 

.Tames  Huckins 675 

Z.  N.  Morrell 681 

R.  B.  B.  Baylor 689 

Noah  T.  Byars 695 

Hosea  GaiTett 70O 

D.  B.  Morrill 703 

A.  C.  Horton 706: 

Isaac  Van  Zandt 712 

A.  G.  Haynes 714 

Tyrell  J.  Jackson 717 

Gail  Borden,  Jr r 721 

T.   J.   Pilgrim 72?^ 

Mrs.  Dickinson— "The  Heroine  of  the  Alamo" 735 

M.  V.  Smith 741 


Table  of  Contents.  xxi 

PART  VII — Articles  by  Dr.  Burleson  on  Texas  History. 

(Condensed  and  Interesting  Sketch  of  Texas  History,  dis- 
cussed under  the  "Seven  Eras,"  with  many  articles, 
throwing  light  on  Texas  History,  gathered  by  Dr.  Burle- 
son during  54  years  of  study  and  association  with  Texas 
Pioneers  and  Patriots). 

Page 

Texas— Name,  Size,  Climate,  History 749 

Address  to  Texas  Veterans 764 

Era  of  INIissions 779 

Era  of  Fredonians  or  Filibusters 783 

Era  of  Colonization 792 

Stephen  F.  Austin 798 

Ptevolution   801 

Siege  and  Fall  of  the  Alamo 815 

^The  Fort  Parker  Massacre _. 817 

The  Mexican  War 826 

The  Great  Comanche  Raid  of  1840 834 

Geu.  Woll's  Invasion  and  the  Mier  Expedition 840 

Presidents  of  the  Republic 847 

Annexation 856 

Seventh  Era  of  Texas  History 861 

Hon.  J.  Pinkney  Henderson 867 

Hon.  George  Tyler  Wood 869 

Hon.  E.  M.  Pease 873 

Gen.  Ed.  Burleson 876 

Railroads    881 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Dr.  Ruf us  C.  Burleson Frontispiece 

.Tona'than  Burleson    26 

The  Old  Mountain  Home,  Alabama 29 

Cold  Cave 31 

Flint  River,  where  Dr.  Burleson  was  Baptized 35 

:\It.  Pisgah  Church.  First  Church  Dr.  Burleson  was  a  Member  of.    54 

A  Page  from  Dr.  Burleson's  Bible 67 

A.  S.  Lipscomb Ill 

On  the  Old  College  Campus  at  Independence 114 


xxii  List  of  Illustrations. 

Page 

Old  Baylor  University  Buildings  at  Independence 121 

Dr.  Burleson  and  Wife  in  1853 135 

Mrs.  Georgia  J.  Burleson 140 

Richard  B.  Burleson 161 

Pool  where  Dr.  Burleson  Baptized  Gen.  Sam  Houston 16G 

Baptistry  of  the  Independence  Church 168 

Dr.  Burleson's  First  Faculty  at  Baylor  University 170 

Different  Portraits  of  Dr.  Burleson 195 

Baylor  University 309 

The  R.  C.  and  R.  A.  Burleson  Home,  Waco 414 

S.  L.  Morris  and  Family 470 

R.  A.  Burleson  and  Family 470 

Dr.  Burleson's  Grave 516 

Gen.  Sam  Houston's  Grave 583 

.Tames  Huckins 675 

Z.  N.  Morrell 681 

R.  E.  B.  Baylor 689 

Grave  of  Judge  R.  E.  B.  Baylor 694 

N.  T.  Byars 695 

Hosea  Garrett 700 

A.  G.  Haynes 714 

Gail  Borden 721 

The  First  Sunday  School  in  Texas 733 

Landing  of  LaSalle 750 

Murder  of  LaSalle 755 

Santa  Anna  Behind  Lieut.  Sylvester 762 

Executive  Mansion  764 

Aztec  Indians  Discovering  Texas 765 

Siege  of  Alamo 771 

Santa  Anna  at  San  Jacinto 773 

Santa  Anna  Before  Gen.  Sam  Houston 775 

Battle  of  San  Jacinto 777 

The  Alamo 780 

Priests  and  Attendants  Leaving  the  Alamo 782 

Mrs.  Long  Firing  the  Cannon 791 

Stephen  F.  Austin 798 

Santa  Anna 804 

Bowie  Being  Canned  over  the  Line 816 

Presidents  of  the  Republic •  847 

The  Governors  of  Texas 860.  864 

The  State  Capitols 872 

Gen.  Ed.  Burleson 877 


PART  I. 


BIOGRAPHY  OF  DR.  BURLESON 


BY 


HARRY  HAYNES. 


EXORDIUM. 


A  long  life  has  passed  under  view,  the  story  of  which  is 
recited  in  the  following  pages.  It  was  not  a  life  of  idleness 
and  ease,  but  one  of  ceaseless  planning,  and  constant  toiling. 

To  write  the  life  of  an  idler  would  be  an  easy  task,  since 
Paul  by  one  of  his  masterly  strokes  in  a  communication  to 
Timothy,  furnishes  a  matchless  model  for  the  biography  of 
all  the  slothful  who  lived  both  before  his  day  and  in  all  suc- 
ceeding ages.  "Wandering  about  from  house  to  house;  and 
not  only  idle,  but  tattlers  also  and  busybodies,  speaking  things 
which  they  ought  not." 

To  write  the  life  of  a  busy  man  is  a  very  different  propo- 
sition, and  tlie  energy  of  the  biographer  can  be  no  less  than 
the  hero  of  the  narrative  he  faithfully  relates. 

The  value  of  all  history  consists  in  its  accuracy  and  relia- 
bility, and  hence  the  task  of  the  historian  is  by  no  means 
trifling,  but  both  difficult  and  arduous.  Oliver  Wendell 
Holmes  states  this  truth  most  forcefully  when  he  says : 

"The  age  of  mystery  with  its  hoarded  power, 
That  girth  the  tyrant  in  his  storied  tower, 
Have  past  and  faded  lilie  a  dream  of  youth, 
And  riper  eras  ask  for  history's  truth." 

As  the  whole  mass  of  uncounted  and  countless  stars  that 
form  the  firmament  is  composed  of  single  shining  specks,  so 
is  the  sum  of  a  busy  man's  life  made  up  of  little  events,  which 
in  their  concrescence,  form  a  mighty  force.  To  recite  every 
act,  and  reproduce  every  event  is  impossible,  just  as  an  effort 
would  be  to  enumerate  the  stars.     The  work  of  the  biographer 


4  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

therefore,  like  the  task  of  the  portrait  painter,  is  only  an 
honest  effort  to  reproduce  the  original  as  nearly  as  possible. 

Too  often  the  lives  of  men,  who  have  won  renown,  are 
hurled  before  our  vision  like  resplendent  meteors.  We  are 
dazzled  with  the  view,  because  he  is  enrobed  with  all  his  dis- 
tinguishing perfections  and  eminence,  we  can  not  rightly 
appreciate  his  character  or  methods,  because  we  do  not  see 
his  previous  footsteps.  In  the  present  case,  we  have  com- 
menced our  story  even  beyond  Dr.  Burleson's  birth,  moved 
along  in  orderly  procession,  withholding  nothing  intentionally 
from  the  public,  connecting  his  boyhood  with  his  manhood, 
his  child  life  on  the  frontier  of  Alabama,  with  his  residence 
in  Waco,  at  the  head  of  a  great  institution  of  learning. 

We  have  performed  the  service  with  some  degree  of  en- 
thusiasm, have  been  assiduous  and  diligent  in  our  search  for 
facts,  painstaking  and  careful  in  our  investigations,  and  loyal 
to  our  trust,  but  are  aware  that  the  work  is  imperfect. 

Some  will  read  this  book,  and  recall  incidents  in  Dr.  Bur- 
leson's life  not  recorded,  and  wonder  why  they  were  omitted. 
Let  all  such  critics  bear  in  mind  that  the  book  would  have 
been  subject  to  the  same  criticism  if  they  had  been  the  author. 

Others  will  say,  the  facts  of  Dr.  Burleson's  life  have  not 
been  correctly  recited;  others  will  say  his  character  has  not 
been  properly  presented;  still  others  will  say  our  deductions 
are  faulty  and  illogical. 

Amid  all  this  adverse  comment,  we  will  derive  comfort 
and  consolation  from  the  reflection,  that  from  Lord  Macaulay 
down,  critics  are  but  men,  frail  and  fallible  men. 


drexAJxyu/cJrcuJAA^^ 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson. 


CHAPTER  I. 


Genealogy — General  Remarks — Importance  Attached 
TO  THE  Subject  by  Koyal  Families — Leads  to  Ances- 
tral Worship — Origin  and  Genealogy  of  the  Burle- 
son Family — Sir  Edward  Burleson — Aaron  Burle- 
son— Genl.  Ed.  Burleson — Dr.  R.  C.  Burleson. 


^^    IISTCE  the  shimmering  shining  sun  arose  from  its  bed 
^^m       of   nothingness    in    the   east,    imparting   light    and 
'      warmth  to  a  chilly  cheerless  earth,  there  has  never 
been  a  time  in  the  world's  history,  when  the  subject  of  gene- 
alogy was  not  considered  of  the  highest  importance. 

Indeed  it  has  its  origin  in  the  first  chapter  of  all  history, 
for  God  said  after  the  work  of  creation  had  been  finished  and 
pronounced  good,  "Let  us  make  man  in  our  own  image." 

Closely  following  the  execution  of  this  purpose.  He 
assumes  the  role  of  the  genealogist  and  declares  "These  are 
the  generations  of  the  heavens  and  earth." 

Following  this  example,  nearly  all  the  Old  Testament 
writers  evidently  studied  the  subject  most  profoundly, 
and  devote  much  time  to  gi^^ng  the  lineal  descent  of  the 
ancient  Patriarchs  and  Prophets. 

Not  only  so,  but  the  first  sentence  in  the  Xew  Testament 
is,  "The  book  of  the  generation  of  Jesus  Christ,"  followed  by 
the  Savior's  genealogy.  These  inspired  writers,  while  devot- 
ing less  space,  and  covering  more  circumscribed  lines,  attach 
even  greater  importance  to  the  subject,  for  they  fully  appre- 
ciate the  fact  that  the  Divine  authority  for  the  ISTew  Dispen- 
sation,   depends   upon   their    ability    to    establish   the    truth 


6  The  Life  axd  Writings  of 

unmistakably,  that  Jesus  Christ  was  the  Son  of  God,  since 
He  was  the  Alpha  and  Omega  of  the  Dispensation  of  Grace. 

From  the  creation  of  Adam  on  down  to  the  birth  of 
Christ,  prophets,  priests,  and  apostles  magnify  the  subject. 

The  early  historians  using  the  Bible  as  a  model  of  nar- 
ration, included  nearly  all  history  under  the  head  of  gene- 
alogy, making  no  distinction  between  current  happenings, 
tribal  events,  and  the  ancestors  of  men. 

Later  on,  as  the  generations  increased,  it  became  a  distinct 
branch  of  learning,  and  was  pursued  with  much  assiduity. 
The  ambition  of  the  people  to  present  unbroken  lines  of 
descent  in  primitive  days,  was  carried  to  a  most  absurd  extent, 
and  gave  rise  to  Totemism,  a  form  of  religion  originating  in 
Egypt,  and  handed  down  to  the  present,  through  successive 
generations  of  semi-savage  people. 

A  man's  Totem  may  be  of  the  animal  or  vegetable  world, 
but  all  ha^-e  Totems,  to  which  their  descent  is  clearly  traced 
with  all  collateral  branches. 

Among  the  Chinese,  devotion  to  this  science,  and  the 
awful  sacredness  with  which  genealogical  connection  wag 
worked  out  and  preserved,  has  evidently  led  to  ancestral  wor- 
ship, to  which  they  are  wedded,  and  which  they  so  successfully 
perpetuate. 

In  Greece  and  Athens,  so  much  importance  was  attached 
to  the  subject,  and  so  much  stress  laid  upon  the  matter  of 
family  connection,  both  by  the  Aristocracy  and  Plebians, 
that  a  contestant  in  the  athletic  sports  of  these  people,  was 
required  to  present  his  pedigree. 

From  the  sixth  to  the  eleventh  century,  enthusiasm  on 
this  subject  seems  to  have  subsided  to  a  large  extent,  but  the 
days  of  Feudalism  in  Europe,  created  what  the  leaders 
thought  to  be  a  necessity  for  them  to  establish  their  superiority 
over  the  common  vassal,  so  that  the  spoils  might  fall  only  to 
the  better  classes.  Scholars  were  therefore,  put  to  work  by 
Feudal  Lords,  to  trace  ancestral  lines.  The  disorder  and 
darkness  of  the  preceding  centuries,  presented  difficulties 
which  obstructed  their  path  of  sober  research,  and  supplied 
an  excuse  for  making  their  escape  into  the  realm  of  imagina- 
tion and  conjecture. 

Little  trouble  therefore  was  had  in  clearly  connecting 


Dr.  Eufus  C.  Burleson.  7 

these  lords  with  some  famous  progenitor;  when  tlie  property 
ruthlessly  wrested  from  an  inferior  and  weaker  people,  became 
theirs  by  divine  right. 

Coming  on  down  to  the  effete  despotisms  of  the  East,  and 
monarchical  countries  of  Europe,  the  question  of  genealogy 
is  not  only  a  question  of  family  pride,  but  one  of  much  prac- 
tical value  and  utility;  at  the  same  time,  as  was  the  case  in 
the  days  of  Feudalism,  society  is  lead  by  those  wdio  are  able 
to  trace  their  lineage  to  a  royal  source.  Political  positions 
depend  upon  family  connections;  vast  landed  estates  become 
the  property  of  royal  families  exclusively ;  far-reaching  trans- 
portation facilities  are  controlled  by  favorites  of  the  Throne, 
and  nearly  all  valuable  franchises  granted  to  those  who  have 
descended  from  royal  stock. 

In  these  countries  title  comes  with  birth,  title  means 
possessions,  possessions  mean  position,  and  position  means 
power,  whether  brains  come  with  birth  or  not. 

In  Great  Britain,  less  than  30,000  people  out  of  a  total 
population  of  42,000,000  own  the  landed  estate  of  the  United 
Kingdom,  and  every  officer  of  the  government,  from  Edward 
VII,  to  his  equerries,  holds  his  position  by  right  of  royal 
descent. 

What  is  affirmed  of  Great  Britain  may  be  said  also  of 
Germany,  Russia,  Austria  and  other  countries  of  Europe, 
and  in  a  much  wider  sense,  is  true  also,  of  the  centralized 
despotisms  of  -the  east,  social,  civil  and  financial,  among 
these  people,  little  men  intellectually  speaking,  are  made  great 
by  the  favors  of  fortune,  and  great  minds  suppressed  by  the 
frowns  of  the  same  senseless  potentate. 

In  these  countries  of  slow  development,  and  fettered 
brains,  the  answer  to  the  question,  "who  am  I?"  is,  "I  am  royal 
or  nothing."  So  vital  are  the  issues  involved  and  so  much 
depends  upon  descent,  that  genealogy  is  classed  with  astron- 
omy, mathematics,  and  other  sciences;  is  governed  by  rules 
and  principles,  and  in  many  places  pursued  as  a  learned  pro- 
fession. 

Here,  where  people  have  lived  from  the  dawn  of  time, 
and  generations  have  run  far  into  the  thousands,  the  line  of 
descent,  and  ancestral  connection,  is  so  ramified,  complicated 


8  The  Life  and  Weitings  of 

and  intricate,  the  task  of  the  genealogical  expert  or  professor, 
involves  endless  work  and  research;  and  the  result  a  matter 
of  such  moment,  he  is  richly  rewarded  for  his  service.  Then 
too,  the  intricacy  of  the  proposition  makes  room  for  perpetrat- 
ing frauds;  these  frauds  bring  to  the  front  rival  claimants  for 
a  throne  or  valuable  property,  which  conditions  have  precipi- 
tated some  of  the  bloodiest  wars,  .in  the  annals  of  the  world. 

Such  is  the  complexity  of  the  question,  and  with  so  many 
difficulties  is  it  beset,  that  an  unbroken,  and  clearly  estab- 
lished line  covering  more  than  a  dozen  generations,  is  very 
rare;  although  Victoria,  late  Queen  of  England,  and  Empress 
of  India,  claimed  to  have  clearly  traced  her  family  connection 
to  King  David.  Menelok,  King  of  Abyssinia,  claims  to  have 
established  the  fact  that  he  was  a  consanguineous  relative  to 
the  Queen  of  Sheba;  and  many  of  the  Arabian  Shieks  have 
pedigrees,  conclusively  showing  a  direct  and  unbroken  descent 
from  N'oah. 

Family  trees  are  planted,  upon  which  branches  spring  by 
the  creative  touch  of  the  unscrupulous,  professional  genealo- 
gist, in  any  desired  direction,  to  which  nutrition  is  furnished 
by  any  distinguished  blood  desired. 

Missing,  or  broken  links  in  lines  of  descent,  are  fur- 
nished for  a  stipulated  fee  on  application  as  readily  as  a  skill- 
ful attorney  could  write  a  legal  contract.  And  since  a  fam- 
ily in  Continental  or  Eastern  countries  amounts  to  little,  in 
the  social  and  poltical  realm,  without  a  coat  of  arms,  ingeniug 
artists  fiirnish  these  ancient  evidences  of  family  distinction 
upon  short  notice  for  an  interesting  consideration. 

It  has  been  said,  ''the  road  to  fame  is  royal."  This  is 
unquestionably  true  in  some  countries,  but  not  the  whole 
truth;  it  is  sometimes  a  matter  of  cold-blooded  business. 

It  is  not  asserted  that  the  laws  of  primogeniture  and 
heredity,  in  civil,  social  and  business  affairs,  are  either  al- 
ways disastrous  and  unsatisfactory ;  far  from  it ;  some  thrones 
have  been  filled  by  hereditary  monarchs  that  were  towers  of 
strength,  who  designed  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  coun- 
try and  weal  of  the  people.  Vast  fortunes  have  been  con- 
trolled by  men  who  were  moved  in  all  enterprises  by  patriotic 
and  philanthropic  motives.     The  scepter  in  society  has  been 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  9 

wielded  by  leaders  whose  lives  were  well  ordered  and  whose 
purposes  were  pure;  but  the  correctness  of  these  systems  is 
not  justified  by  these  exceptional  instances.  They  are  mere 
accidents.  Nero,  the  demon,  was  made  Emperor  of  Rome  by 
the  same  rules  and  process  that  Bess  the  Good  was  made  Queen 
of  England. 

In  democratic  America  some  attention  is  paid,  some 
thought  bestowed,  and  some  study  made  of  family  history  and 
genealogical  descent,  but  for  a  very  dissimilar  purpose.  Here 
commanders  of  our  mighty  armies  rise  from  the  ranks,  tailors, 
tanners  and  woodchoppers  become  Presidents;  mill  boys  our 
matchless  orators;  farm  hands  our  greatest  authors,  and  rail- 
road laborers  our  college  professors.  In  the  struggle  of  life, 
progenitors,  antecedents,  and  connections  count  for  very  lit- 
tle, and  family  history  is  merely  a  matter  of  family  pride  and 
satisfaction.  True,  there  are  castes  and  classes  among  the 
American  people,  and  sharp  distinctions  in  society,  but  these 
conditions  are  not  the  result  of  fortunate  birth  or  kinship; 
they  are  due  solely,  and,  we  say  with  pride,  exclusively  to 
the  excellence  of  our  civil  institutions,  the  cultivation  of  the 
mind,  and  proper  use  of  opportunities. 

Here,  as  in  no  other  country  on  the  globe,  the  fetters 
have  been  stricken  from  the  soul,  the  shackles  from  the  mind, 
and  the  standard  of  merit  alone  established.  Every  condi- 
tion is  favorable  for  the  highest  moral  and  intellectual  devel- 
opment, and  opportunities  are  open  to  all  alike,  regardless 
and  irrespective  of  family  antecedents  and  connections.  Still 
there  is  both  pleasure  and  profit  in  the  study  of  family  his- 
tory, and  satisfaction  derived  from  a  knowledge  of  our  origin. 
For  these  reasons,  and  for  this  purpose,  it  is  proposed  to  take 
a  cursory  glance  at  the  lineage  and  history  of  the  Burleson 
family. 

"The  history  of  a  family  is  like  that  of  a  race.  They 
stand  apart  by  themselves.  Their  patronymic  is  their  birth- 
mark. They  trace  it  along  the  line  of  generations.  In 
retrospection  and  prospection  it  is  with  them  a  living  string. 
The  diverging  lines  and  strains  of  other  blood  are  lost  to  sight 
and  forgotten  when  a  few  years  have  past,  but  the  paternal 
name  stands  as  a  beacon.     Those  who  bear  it,  ask  what  those 


10  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

who  have  borne  it  before  have  been,  and  what  those  to  bear 
it  hereafter,  shall  be. 

This  is  not  a  mere  string  of  names  and  dates.  The  cen- 
turies come  and  go,  and  with  them  men  live  and  die,  but  the 
soul  of  the  father  lives  in  the  son  who  bears  his  name.  Dr. 
S.  S.  Burleson,  an  "eminent  philologist,  who  devoted  much' 
study  to  the  origin  of  the  Burleson  family  and  the  etymology 
of  the  name  says,  "there  is  reason  to  conclude  that  the  name  is 
of  Scandinavian  origin.  It  may  be  fairl}^  formed  from  the 
Danish  word  'Burlare,^  and  the  common  affix  son  or  sen, 
which  taken  together,  and  used  in  a  patronymic  sense,  plainly 
signify  the  children  of  the  'heavy  timbered  hills.'  I  have 
been  assured  by  graduates  of  the  universities  of  Upsala  and 
Copenhagen  that  the  name  was  clearly  Scandinavian,  and 
was  in  use  in  their  countries  at  this  time. 

The  Burlesons  may  be  joined  by  the  ties  of  blood  with 
the  fierce  Norwegian  vikings,  whose  ships  ploughed  all  the 
western  seas,  or  with  the  stern  and  strong  Danish  invaders  of 
England,  in  the  days  of  her  early  history.  These  men  have 
left  their  mark  upon  the  ages.  It  was  no  curse  to  England 
that  Canute,  Harold  and  Hardicanute  ruled  on  her  shores. 
They  brought  elements  of  great  strength,  and  a  descent  from 
such  ancestr}'-  is  not  inglorious." 

While  speaking  thus  positively,  there  was  evidently  some 
doubt  in  this  great  scholar's  mind  as  to  the  correctness  of  his 
conclusions,  for  he  goes  on  to  remark,  "we  may  be  exiles  from 
Erin,  and  find  our  place  somewhere  between  Malin  head  and 
old  Cape  Clear,  or,  we  may  look  in  the  land  of  Owen  Glen- 
dower,  and  find  our  home  between  the  Severn  and  the  Dee. 
On  the  cliffs  of  Scotia  we  may  plant  our  feet,  and  by  loch 
and  frith  from  Pentland  to  Solway,  seek  the  glen  where  our 
fathers  were  nurtured.  The  chalk  cliffs  of  eastern  Albion 
may  be  the  bound  of  our  search,  or  we  may  pass  onward 

Round  the  shores  where  runic   Odin, 

Howls  his  war  song  to  the  gale, 
Round  the  land  where  rough  Lafoden, 

"Whirls  to  death  the  roaring  whale. 

Again,  we  may  stand  on  The  Skaw  of  Juttance,  and 


De.  Rufus  C.  Burlesox.  11 

gazing-  across  the  waters  of  the  Cattegal  to  Gattland  say  here, 
or  there  was  our  place,  in  the  days  of  our  fathers." 

Another  learned  member  of  the  family,  who  devoted 
much  time  to  a  study  of  its  history  says,  "The  family  is  of 
Welch  origin,  and  the  name  comes  from  Buries  or  Burley, 
from  which  the  English  adjective  is  derived.  Buries  or 
Burley,  originally  meant  a  mountaineer,  or  thick,  heavy 
strong  man,  and  originated  in  the  mountains  of  Wales.  The 
name  -±00  years  ago  was  spelled  Burleyson,  which  is  still 
retained  by  some  members  of  the  family." 

However  this  may  be,  whether  of  Welch,  Celtic  or  Scan- 
dinavian origin  the  Burlesons  may  be  said  to  be  of  English 
descent  for  the  reason  we  find  them  in  England  and  Wales 
during  the  14th,  15th  and  IGth  centuries  and  by  their  cour- 
age, enterprise  and  loyalty,  successfully  assisting  in  repelling 
all  invasions,  placing  an  English  ship  on  every  sea,  planting 
the  British  standard  upon  every  continent,  encircling  the 
earth  with  its  commerce,  and  aiding  in  making  Great  Britain 
the  mightiest  empire  in  strength  and  extent  the  world  ever 
knew. 

The  American  branch  of  the  Burleson  family  are 
descendants  of  two  brothers.  Sir  Edward  Burleson,  who  emi- 
grated from  England  in  1716,  and  settled  in  Connecticut, 
and  Aaron  w^ho  came  from  the  same  country  eight  years  later 
in  1724,  and  settled  in  I^orth  Carolina.  Dr.  R.  C.  Burleson 
states  that  Sir  Edward  and  Aaron  were  brothers.  Dr.  S.  S. 
Burleson  states  that  the  exact  relationship  was  not  known. 
They  spelled  their  names  in  the  same  way,  and  possessed  some 
family  characteristics  in  common,  but  it  is  by  no  means  cer- 
tain they  were  as  closely  related  as  Dr.  R.  C.  Burleson  be- 
lieved. The  continent  at  that  time  was  very  sparsely  settled, 
and  a  congenial  neighbor  a  thing  not  to  be  despised.  Besides, 
tribes  of  savage  Indians  infested  every  part  of  the  country, 
and  they  objected  to  the  settlement  of  their  territory  by  the 
Europeans,  consequently  settlements  or  colonies  frequently 
suffered  from  their  incursions  unless  strong  enough  to  suc- 
cessfully resist  their  assaults.  With  these  conditions  in  mind, 
it  would  seem,  when  Aaron  decided  to  remain  here  in  1724, 
without  personal  predilection  for  any  particular  part  of  an 


12  The  Life  and  "Writings  of 

almost  unknown  \vilderness,  he  would  have  preferred  for 
many  reasons  Connecticut,  where  Sir  Edward  had  settled 
eight  years  previous. 

If  they  were  brothers,  they  seemed  to  have  entertained 
^videly  different  views  on  many  questions,  as  they  drifted  in 
opposite  directions,  and  maintained  separate  family  relations. 
Sir  Edward  and  his  descendants,  being  what  is  commonly 
termed  northern  people,  while  Aaron  and  his  progeny  were 
southern  in  sympathy  and  sentiment. 

An  incident  is  related  of  the  war  between  the  states, 
which  furnishes  some  evidence  that  Edward  and  Aaron  were 
brothers,  though  it  is  by  no  means  conclusive. 

After  the  battle  of  Petersburg,  Virginia,  April  2d,  1865, 
between  the  armies  of  the  ISTorth  and  South,  a  Federal  cavalry 
regiment  captured  a  squad  of  hungry  Confederates.  A  Con- 
federate soldier  called  to  a  comrade  and  begged  a  crust  of 
bread,  saying  he  had  tasted  no  food  for  twenty-four  hours. 
The  comrade  replied  that  he  had  no  bread  and  was  in  precisely 
the  same  fix.  A  gallant  Federal  officer  pulled  off  his  well- 
filled  haversack  and  said,  "here  boys,  divide  this  between  you, 
for  humanity's  sake."  The  Confederate  said,  "please  tell 
me  your  name  that  I  may  never  forget  your  timely  gen- 
erosity." The  Federal  colonel  replied,  "My  name  is  John 
Burleson,  of  Vermont." 

"John  Burleson  of  Vermont,  John  Burleson  of  Ver- 
mont," ejaculated  the  surprised  Confederate,  "Why  my  name 
is  John  Burleson,  have  you  Burlesons  in  Vermont?" 

"Oh,  yes  scores  and  hundreds  of  them.  Have  you  Bur- 
lesons in  the  South  ?" 

"Thousands  and  thousands,"  the  hungry  Confederate 
replied. 

This  incident  led  to  a  very  extensive  correspondence 
between  the  JSTorthern  and  Southern  branches  of  the  family, 
after  the  close  of  the  war,  which  brought  out  the  fact  already 
stated,  that  Sir  Edward  came  from  England  in  1716,  and 
settled  in  Jewett  City,  Connecticut,  and  Aaron  came  in  1724, 
and  failing  to  locate  his  brother  settled  in  Buncombe,  now 
Mitchell  county,  ISTorth  Carolina. 

Some  stress  has  been  laid  on  the  relationship  of  these  two 


Dr.  Eufus  C.  Buklesox.  13 

colonists,  and  the  evidence  partially  given,  for  the  reason,  it 
is  important  from  a  family  point- of  view,  and  of  interest  to 
the  student  of  history.  It  is  fairly  well  established  from  relia- 
ble records,  that  Sir  Edward  and  Aaron  were  the  first  Burle- 
sons  to  come  to  America,  and  that  from  them,  all  the  Bnrle- 
sons  are  descended.  If  they  w^ere  brothers,  or  more  remotely 
related,  there  is  established  a  connection  between  all  branches 
of  this  numerous  and  distinguished  family. 

The  Burlesons  are  not  only  great  hosts  in  numbers,  but 
they  are  widely  diffused,  and  have  been  potent  factors  in  the 
settlement  and  development  of  this  mighty  country. 

They  are  found  now  in  the  states  of  jSTew  York,  Vermont, 
Ohio,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  Indiana,  Illinois,  California, 
Georgia,  Alabama,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Missouri,  Missis- 
sippi, Minnesota,  Louisiana,  Arkansas,  Texas,  and  some  of  the 
Territories. 

Here  they  have  lived  since  before  the  birth  of  the  nation, 
during  colonial  days,  and  wherever  found,  they  have  filled 
with  signal  success  positions  in  every  sphere  of  life. 

In  educational  affairs,  they  have  been  presidents,  and 
college  professors;  in  religion,  pastors  of  strong  churches;  in 
mercantile  pursuits,  proprietors  of  prosperous  business  con- 
cerns. In  industrial  enterprises,  they  have  been  leaders  and 
originators,  and  the  success  of  some  of  the  greatest  business 
ventures  in  the  country,  such  as  the  Armour  Packing  Com- 
pany and  the  "Willimantic  Th?:ead  Company,  is  due  to  their 
business  acumen. 

I^ot  only  so,  but  the  spirit  of  adventure  has  characterized 
certain  members  of  the  family,  and  we  find  them  pushing  out 
to  the  border,  erecting  log  cabins,  felling  forests,  opening 
farms,  raising  food  stuffs,  teaching  old  field  schools,  organiz- 
ing and  supplying  weak  churches,  and  discharging  with  match- 
less courage  and  heroism,  all  the  arduous  duties  of  the  pioneer 
frontiersman  and  foundation  builder.  Patriotism,  or  a  love 
of  country  has  been  a  marked  characteristic  of  the  family,  and 
a  martial  spirit  always  developed,  when  the  country's  exigen- 
cies required. 

A  Burleson  was  a  member  of  George  Washington's  staff, 
there  were  Colonels,  Captains  and  privates  bearing  that  name 


14  The  Life  and  "Writings  of 

in  the  Revolutionary  army,  and  the  battlefields  of  Bunker 
Hill,  Brandy^vine,  and  Saratoga,  were  stained  with  Burleson 
blood. 

In  the  war  of  1812  they  come  again  in  larger  numbers, 
and  greater  force,  to  the  defense  of  their  countiy,  displaying 
their  usual  gallantry  and  dash  at  Lundy's  Lane,  Sackett's  Har- 
bour, Osewego,  and  Queentown  Heights.  They  were  again  in 
the  saddle  in  the  war  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico 
in  1846,  shot,  fought  and  mingled  their  shouts  of  victory  with 
Taylor's  army  at  Buena  Vista,  Monterey,  Palo  Alto  and 
Reseca  de  la  Palma. 

When  our  own  loved  Texas  was  in  the  throes  of  a  revo- 
lution with  Mexico  in  1836,  the  Burlesons  were  here,  and  re- 
sponded to  the  appeals  of  a  young  and  poorly  equipped  colony, 
struggling  for  freedom  against  a  much  more  powerful  country. 

General  Ed.  Burleson  who  was  a  bom  commander  and 
military  genius,  and  who  had  seen  some  service  under  General 
Andrew  Jackson  in  the  Creek  war  of  1812,  was  made  a  Colonel 
in  the  hasty  organization  of  the  Texas  army.  He  soon  rose 
to  the  rank  of  a  general,  and  was  with  Houston  at  San  Jacinto, 
where  he  rendered  most  valuable  aid  in  that  triumph,  which 
forever  settled  the  question  of  separation  of  Texas  from 
Mexico,  and  the  establishment  of  Texas  freedom. 

We  have  thus  offered  some  reflections  on  the  subject  of 
genealogy  in  general,  given  briefly  the  origin  of  the  Burleson 
family,  hurriedly  traced  the  history  of  the  family  from  Eng- 
land to  the  Xew  World,  and  told  in  a  word,  of  their  lives  in 
more  than  a  score  of  states. 

In  the  follo^^ang  chapters  we  propose  to  tell  the  story  of 
the  life  of  Dr.  R.  C.  Burleson,  one  of  the  most  famous  mem- 
bers of  this  famous  family  of  Americans. 


De.  Rufus  C.  Buklesox.  15 


CHAPTER  II. 


Settlement  of  ISTorth  Alabama — Desperate  Resistance 
BY  Indian  Tribes — Expeditions  of  Ponce  DeLeon, 
Vasquez,  Pamphilo,  DeSoto,  LaSalle,  Iberville — 
Mississippi  Scheme  —  Western  Company  —  Tecumseh 
AN  Indian  Warrior,  Stirs  the  Tribes  and  Incites  the 
War  of  1813  —  Plan  of  His  Warfare  —  General 
Government  Appealed  to — Heroic  Settlers — Vol- 
unteers Under  General  Andrew  Jackson  —  Captain 
Jonathan  Burleson  Commands  a  Company — Close  of 
THE  War — Immigrants  Pour  into  the  Country. 


^U  OAVHERE  in  E^orth  America  have  the  aborigines  re- 
sisted European  encroachment,  and  the  permanent 
occupation  of  the  country  with  more  determination, 
than  in  that  section  originally  defined  as  East  and  West  Flor- 
ida, and  at  present,  embraced  within  the  geographical  boun- 
daries of  the  states  of  Florida,  Georgia,  Mississippi,  Tennessee 
and  Alabama. 

Powerful  Indian  chiefs  commanded  hordes  of  dauntless 
warriors,  who  being  familiar  with  these  primeval  forests  and 
all  natural  fortifications,  defeated  every  effort  made  to  settle 
the  country,  for  over  three  hundred  years. 

Ponce  DeLeon  discovered  the  coast  of  West  Florida 
March  27th,  1512,  landed,  made  some  observations,  and  re- 
turned to  Porto  Rico. 

In  the  Autumn  of  that  year  he  fitted  up  two  ships,  and 
returned  with  a  force  which  he  supposed,  would  be  suflicient 


16  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

to  subdue  the  savage  inhabitants,  and  hold  the  country  in  un- 
disturbed possession.  He  affected  a  landing  near  St.  Augus- 
tine, was  immediately  attacked  with  implacable  fury  by  the 
Indians,  many  of  his  men  killed,  the  remainder  driven  to  their 
ships,  and  the  commander,  who  had  received  a  mortal  wound, 
sailed  away  with  the  wreck  of  his  expedition  to  Cuba,  where  he 
died  soon  after  arriving. 

Vasquez  de  Ayllon  organized  a  powerful  expedition  and 
landed  on  the  same  coast  in  1525,  with  the  express  purpose  of 
subjugating  these  savage  tribes;  was  induced  to  visit  the  in- 
terior, became  a  victim  to  Indian  diplomacy,  and  every  mem- 
ber of  his  force  butchered,  and  his  object  defeated. 

In  1528  Pamphilo  de  ISTavarez  conducted  the  next  im- 
portant expedition,  with  a  view  of  subduing  these  warlike 
people.  His  fleet  consisted  of  four  ships,  a  strong  military 
force  of  four  hundred  infantry,  and  eighty  cavalry.  He 
landed  on  the  coast  of  East  Florida,  and  took  possession  of  the 
country  in  the  name  of  his  Imperial  Master.  He  explored  the 
country  as  far  as  Korth  Alabama,  conquered  several  weak 
tribes,  which  induced  him  to  believe  his  glorious  purpose 
would  be  easy  of  accomplishment.  This  effort  failed  most 
signally,  as  a  result  of  Indian  tact.  Members  of  these  capt- 
ured tribes  represented  to  I^avarez  that  they  knew  the  country, 
and  volunteered  their  services  as  guides.  The  expedition  was 
conducted  through  dismal  swamps,  tangled  jungles,  over  rapid 
flowing  rivers,  across  rugged  mountains,  through  waterless  and 
trackless  forests,  and  untrodden  wildernesses.  These  soldiers, 
bent  on  conquest,  suffered,  and  many  of  them  died  for  want  of 
food  and  water;  many  succumbed  to  disease,  and  scores  were 
killed  by  Indian  scouts,  who  constantly  harrassed  the  com- 
mand. 

Becoming  discouraged  N'avarez,  with  the  remnant  of  his 
force,  made  his  way  finally  to  the  coast,  but  by  mistake  of 
reckoning,  failed  to  find  his  vessels,  and  the  attempt  to  occupy 
the  country,  ended  in  a  most  miserable  failure. 

In  153 S  Hernando  de  Soto,  a  man  of  wealth  and  fame, 
was  fired  with  ambition  to  possess  this  country  of  fabulous 
reputed  Avealth,  although  fully  apprised  of  the  disaster  of  all 
former  attempts  in  the  same  direction.  He  was  one  of  the 
conquerors  of  Peru,  and  felt  himself  to  be  invincible. 


Dr.  Eufus  C.  Bueleson.  17 

His  militaiy  force  consisted  of  nine  hundred  and  fifty 
picked  Spanish  and  Portuguese  soldiers,  a  formidable  fleet, 
and  every  necessary  equipment.  The  expedition,  full  of  en- 
thusiasm and  confidence,  landed  on  the  Espiritor  Sonto  Bay. 

They  plunged  without  hesitation,  into  the  savage  wilds 
of  East  Florida,  and  thence  northward  into  the  southwest  sec- 
tion of  Georgia,  and  the  territory  now  known  as  Southern 
Alabama,  then  through  the  country  of  the  Seminoles,  a  most 
ferocious  and  warlike  tribe.  They  marched  and  wandered 
for  the  first  year  in  East  Florida  and  Georgia,  east  of  Flint 
river,  and  Avere  constantly  harrassed  by  the  natives. 

The  Indians  that  were  unfortunately  captured  and  forced 
to  act  as  guides  as  in  the  case  of  the  ill-fated  Navarez  expedi- 
tion, led  them  through  gloomy  forests,  and  impassable  swamps, 
until  they  reached  the  Appalachee  country,  where  they  spent 
the  first  winter. 

The  next  year  they  traversed  the  state  of  Georgia  north- 
ward, and  north  to  the  Altamaha  river,  thence  they  were  led 
northwest  to  the  barren  country  of  the  Cherokees;  thence 
down  the  valley  to  the  Coosa  river;  thence  southwest  down  the 
Alabama  valley  toward  its  junction  with  the  Tombigbee, 
where  a  most  terrible  disaster  from  a  desperate  attack  by  an 
immense  number  of  Indian  warriors,  befell  them.  Many 
were  killed,  and  all  baggage,  stores  and  equipment  burned. 

From  the  scene  of  this  reverse,  in  mid-winter,  they 
traveled  northwestward,  and  spent  the  greater  part  of  the 
second  winter  in  IsTorth  Mississippi. 

During  the  time  the  expedition  remained  here,  they  were 
attacked  by  a  large  body  of  Chickasaws;  lost  several  men  and 
much  of  what  remained  in  the  way  of  supplies.  Many  of 
their  horses  were  also  killed,  and  nearly  all  their  clothing 
burned. 

The  hostile  and  determined  savages  harrassed  them  in- 
cessantly on  all  their  marches  and  encampments,  and  every 
day's  operations  diminished  the  number  of  DeSoto's  band. 

Discouraged  from  so  many  reverses  and  serious  losses, 
they  changed  their  course,  and  traveled  north,  toward  the 
Mississippi  river,  which  they  crossed  in  rudely  constructed 


IS  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

craft,  and  with  the  wreck  of  his  once  hopeful  army  w^ent  north- 
west, in  the  direction  of  the  Ozark  mountains,  in  Arkansas. 

Here  they  spent  the  third  winter,  then  returned  to  the 
Mississippi  river,  where  DeSoto  died  from  disease  superin- 
duced by  excessive  exposure  and  hunger.  Thus  deprived  of  an 
intrepid  leader,  the  expedition  abandoned  all  further  thought 
of  conquest,  and  directed  their  course  west,  toward  the  Span- 
ish settlement.  Only  fifty  ever  reached  their  point  of  desti- 
nation. Thus  ended  the  third  well-planned,  and  well-equipped 
expedition,  to  conquer  and  subdue  the  savage  tribes  of  the 
Is^ew  World. 

From  this  time  on,  for  a  period  of  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
nine  years,  various  efforts  to  establish  colonies  and  settle  this 
unbroken  wilderness,  were  made  with  varying  measures  of 
success,  but  all  these  attempts  were  peaceable  in  character. 

In  1681  the  celebrated  French  navigator  and  explorer, 
LaSalle,  descended  the  llississippi  river  from  Canada,  touched 
at  l^atchez,  and  on  account  of  the  warlike  demonstrations  of 
the  hostile  natives,  hastened  on  toward  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
and  sailed  away.  Eeturning  in  1685,  he  attempted  to  estab- 
lish a  colony  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  river,  missed  his 
reckoning,  sailed  too  far  east,  landed  on  the  coast  of  Texas, 
discovered  his  mistake,  and  attempted  to  reach  his  objective 
point  by  traveling  across  the  state.  When  he  reached  Wash- 
ington on  the  Brazos,  the  first  and  last  capitol  of  the  Republic 
of  Texas,  a  dispute  arose  between  himself  and  his  men,  and  he 
was  assassinated  and  buried  on  the  banks  of  that  historic 
stream  a  short  distance  east  of  that  once  flourishing  commercial 
metropolis,  and  political  center. 

The  expedition  conducted  by  Iberville  in  1699,  and  after 
his  death  prosecuted  by  Bienville,  to  forcibly  colonize  the 
country,  met  the  same  unhappy  fate  that  attended  all  previous 
efforts.  Bienville  established  his  headquarters  on  the  Mobile 
river,  constructed  forts  and  stored  supplies. 

Internal  dissensions  and  schisms  arising  in  this  colony, 
coupled  with  the  annoyance  and  depredations  of  the  natives, 
caused  it  to  languish,  and  finally  fail  in  its  purpose,  although 
more  laudable  in  its  object  and  conservative  in  its  methods 
and  character,  than  any  former  attempt  of  a  similar  nature 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  19 

had  been.  In  1717  he  surrendered  all  authority  to  his  King^ 
who  conferred  all  his  franchise  to  the  "Western  Company/' 
known  as  the  "Mississippi  Scheme." 

This  effort  while  not  entirely  successful  made  some  prog- 
ress. The  plan  of  the  company  was  to  introduce  European 
colonists,  devote  themselves  to  agricultural  pursuits,  develop 
the  productive  industries  of  the  country,  and  so  conduct  their 
affairs,  as  to  create  no  friction  between  themselves  and  the 
Indian  tribes;  but  leave  them  in  undisturbed  possession  of  the 
country,  in  the  northern  portion  of  the  states  of  Mississippi, 
Alabama,  and  Georgia. 

With  the  pacific  policy  of  the  "Western  Company,"  and 
other  companies  to  whom  grants  had  been  made  and  franchises 
extended,  the  European  settlers  enjoyed  greater  security  of 
life  and  property.  But  an  occasional  outburst  of  Indian  tem- 
per, sometimes  for  a  supposed,  and  sometimes  for  a  real  griev- 
ance, would  result  in  a  wholesale  and  indiscriminate  massacre 
of  the  whites;  which  would  provoke  settlers  and  natives  alike, 
to  fly  to  arms,  and  bloody  neighborhood  and  sectional  wars 
ensued. 

Under  the  most  favorable  circumstances,  and  adhering 
to  the  most  agreeable  plans  and  methods  of  the  Indians,  it 
was  never  entirely  safe,  for  a  white  man  to  establish  himself 
in  this  portion  of  the  United  States,  until  after  the  Creek  war 
of  1813. 

Many  of  the  tribes  had  profited  by  the  thrift  and  industry 
of  the  white  settlers,  had  been  impressed  with  their  manners 
and  customs,  and  might  be  said  to  be. civilized  in  a  measure, 
and  to  an  extent ;  though  they  entertained  feelings  of  the  most 
inveterate  and  undying  hatred  toward  them. 

Emigrants,  attracted  by  the  stories  of  the  marvelous 
wealth  and  beauties  of  Korth  Alabama  and  Georgia,  came 
streaming  into  the  country,  until  at  one  time,  the  "Federal 
road"  from  Mini's  Ferry  on  the  Alabama  river,  to  the  Chatta- 
hoochee, was  completely  filled  with  white  settlers,  in  vehiclea 
of  every  description,  seeking  favorable  locations. 

This  spectacle  excited  the  suspicion  in  the  minds  of  these 
semi-civilized  natives,  that  they  would  soon  be  dispossessed  of 


20  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

their  country,  and  mutterings  and  murmurings  of  discontent 
were  heard  on  all  sides. 

Tecumseh,  a  powerful  and  successful  Indian  warrior, 
assumed  the  leadership  in  this  hour  of  disaffection,  canvassed 
all  the  tribes  as  far  south  as  Florida,  and  moved  them  with  his 
matchless  and  impassioned  eloquence,  to  combine  forces,  and 
make  common  cause  in  staying,  and  expelling  the  tide  of  em- 
migration  that  was  pouring  into  the  country.  His  speeches 
were  telling,  they  regarded  Tecumseh  as  the  greatest  warrior 
alive,  and  that  the  combined  warriors  of  all  the  tribes  under 
his  leadership  were  capable  of  successfully  coping  with  any 
people  on  earth. 

The  excitement  among  all  the  tribes  was  soon  wrought 
to  the  frenzied  point,  and  Tecumseh  had  but  to  say,  and  they 
would  dare  to  do.  The  plan  of  the  war  against  the  whites, 
was  first  to  kill  Captain  Isaacs  and  Willaim  Mcintosh ;  also  Lit- 
tle Prince,  Spoke  Kange,  and  Tallase  Tixeco,  all  prominent 
chiefs,  who  were  suspected  of  being  traitors  to  their  people; 
and  then  commence  the  slaughter  of  the  white  settlers  and  emi- 
grants. 

The  Creeks,  situated  on  the  Coosa,  Tallapoosa  and  Black 
Warrior  rivers  were  to  dispatch  the  white  people  on  the  Ten- 
saw,  and  Tombigbee  rivers.  The  Cherokees,  those  on  the 
Tennessee.  The  Georgians  were  to  fall  at  the  hands  of  tho 
lower  Creeks  and  Seminoles,  while  the  people  of  Alabama  and 
Mississippi,  were  to  be  murdered  by  the  Choctaws. 

The  plan  of  disposing  of  the  supposed  disloyal  chiefs,  wa.i 
Uartially  executed,  and  the  work  of  exterminating  the  scattered 
whites  commenced. 

Family  after  family,  became  the  victims  of  the  bloody 
tomahawk.  Peaceable  communities  were  assaulted,  and 
forced  to  abandon  their  homes,  and  seek  protection  and  shelter 
in  friendly  forests,  and  everywhere,  the  people  were  dis- 
mayed and  excited. 

They  entertained  no  thought,  however,  of  tamely  sub- 
^  mitting  to  the  murderous  intentions  of  these  frenzied,  savage 
people. 

Meetings  were  held  in  every  place  where  it  was  safe  to 
hold  them;  plans  were  discussed  and  formulated;  measures  of 


Dr.  Rums  C.  Burleson.  21 

protcctio2i  adopted;  hasty,  defensive  militarv  organizations 
fonned;  and  active  resistance  to  the  furious  savages  com- 
menced. 

The  general  government  was  appealed  to,  to  send  a  mil- 
itary force  to  protect  and  prevent  the  wholesale  massacre  con- 
templated, and  in  many  places  in  active  progress.  But  Gen- 
eral Flournoy  who  had  succeeded  General  AVilkinson  in  conv 
mand,  refused  to  send  either  volunteers,  or  regular  United 
States  troops  to  protect  the  people.  His  refusal  was  without 
justification  or  reason,  since  every  movement  of  the  Indians 
indicated  the  immediate  destruction  of  the  people  of  Ala- 
bama, who  occupied  the  most  isolated,  and  defenseless  position 
on  the  entire  fronier. 

At  this  critical  juncture  after  the  heroic  settlers,  with 
improvised  means,  had  engaged  in  many  successful  battles, 
General  Claiborne  came  to  the  rescue,  with  a  command  of 
regulars  and  volunteers;  distributed  his  own  and  the  forces 
organized  in  the  various  settlements,  to  the  best  advantage,, 
and  chastised  these  bloody  savages  on  a  dozen  fields  of  battle. 

When  the  bloody  purpose  of  the  Creeks  and  their  allies, 
to  massacre  all  the  whites  in  this  section  of  country,  no  longer 
admitted  of  doubt,  it  became  a  national  question,  and  General 
Andrew  Jackson  raised  a  force  of  several  thousand  men,  hast- 
ened to  the  scene  of  hostilities,  engaged  these  savages  and 
blood-thirsty  warriors,  in  battle  at  Talladega,  and  many  other 
places  and  finally,  completely  broke  their  power,  and  thwarted 
their  sanguinary  plans,  by  defeating  them  at  the  battle  of 
Horse  Shoe,  March  27th,\814. 

Jonathan  Burleson  commanded  a  company  in  Jackson's 
army,  and  although  only  a  farmer  without  military  experi- 
ence or  training,  signalized  himself  in  many  engagements,  and 
was  one  of  Jackson's  most  valuable  and  trusted  lieutenants. 
It  was  during  this  war  as  a  boy  of  14  years  old  that  General 
Ed.  Burleson  who  commanded  the  "First  Regiment  of  Texas 
Volunteers  at  the  battle  of  San  Jacinto  and  distinguished  him- 
self on  a  score  of  battlefields  in  Texas,  during  the  struggles 
of  the  people  to  shake  off  the  shackles  of  Mexican  thraldom, 
displayed  his  first  military  prowess,  and  prevented  Captain 
Jonathan  Burleson  from  falling  a  victim  to  Indian  treachery. 


22  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

The  story  of  this  brave  boyish  exploit  as  related  by  Dr.  R.  0. 
Burleson  is  as  follows : 

The  Indians  in  the  beginning  of  the  Creek  war,  in  1812, 
had  murdered  three  or  four  families  on  the  north  side  of 
Tennessee  river,  near  Decatur,  Ala.  Captain  Jonathan  Bur- 
leson was  ordered  to  take  his  "minute  men"  to  pursue  and 
chastise  them,  and  secure  their  plunder.  The  wily  savages 
devised  a  scheme  to  entrap  and  murder  their  pursuers.  They 
concealed  their  guns,  bows  and  arrows  in  the  grass  behind  the 
logs  and  went  to  cooking,  playing  ball,  drinking,  with  all  the 
appearance  of  friendly  Indians.  The  "minute  men"  were  to 
be  received  Avith  great  show  of  friendship,  and  invited  to  get 
down  and  drink  with  the  promise  they  would  join  them  and 
punish  the  Indian  murderers.  Knowing  the  failing  of  the 
white  man  they  supposed  they  would  eagerly  dismount,  lay 
aside  their  guns  and  rush  around  the  whisky  bottles,  then  at 
a  given  signal  the  leader  with  a  butcher-knife  concealed  under 
his  buckskin  hunting  shirt  was  to  plunge  it  in  the  bosom  of 
Captain  Burleson,  as  a  signal  for  the  bloody  onslaught. 
When  the  "minute  men"  rode  up,  the  wily  chief  rushed  out 
vnth  a  bottle  of  whisky,  crying,  "BoUy  sheeley,  bolly  sheeley" 
— "good  friends,  good  friends" — and  invited  the  white  com- 
pany to  get  down  and  drink.  But  to  his  amazement,  the  cau- 
tious brave  captain  ordered  his  men  to  draw  up  in  line  and 
stand  in  order.  Little  Ed.  was  only  14  years  old,  and  too 
small  to  carry  a  gun  but  his  father  had  furnished  him  a  war 
pony  and  a  splendid  holster  of  pistols  to  carry  on  the  horn  of 
his  saddle. 

The  wily  trick  of  the  savage  completely  deceived  and  put 
all  "minute  men"  off  their  guard.  The  captain  had  dis- 
mounted to  accept  the  proft'ered  friendship.  But  just  as  the 
stalwart  Indian  reached  out  his  hand  he  dropped  the  bottle, 
jerked  out  his  butcher-knife,  and  with  the  ferocity  of  a  leop- 
ard leaped  forward  to  plunge  it  in  the  heart  of  the  captain. 
But  the  ever  vigilant  captain  sprang  to  one  side  and  the  Indian 
was  thrown  between  him  and  his  men.  The  Indian  turned  on 
him  so  suddenly  that  he  could  not  get  the  muzzle  of  his  gun 
against  the  Indian,  All  the  men  stood  dumb  with  fear  and 
amazement,  but  little  Ed.,  ever  viligant  and  brave,  instantly 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Bukleson. 


23 


spured  his  pony  and  rushed  up,  clapped  his  pistol  to  the  back 
of  the  Indian  and  shot  him  dead,  just  as  he  was  ready  to 
plunge  his  knife  into  the  bosom  of  his  Cousin  Jonathan.  The 
cry  was  given,  "charge  boys,  charge,"  and  in  ten  minutes  a 
score  of  Indians  lay  weltering  in  their  own  blood,  and  the 
booty  belonging  to  the  murdered  families  was  recovered. 

Captain  Burleson  lived  with  his  father,  Major  John  Bur- 
leson, near  Lexington,  Kentucky,  when  he  volunteered  to 
assist  in  rolling  back  this  wave  of  Creek  butchery  and  saw 
much  of  this  fine  country,  which  as  will  be  seen  in  the  follow- 
ing chapter,  he  turned  to  his  personal  good. 


24  The  Life  and  Writings  of 


CHAPTER  111. 


Flint  River,  [N^oeth  Alabama — Home  of  Jonathan  Burle- 
son— Settles  Here  in  1814 — Erects  a  Cabin — ^Opens 
A  Farm — Raises  a  Large  Family — Amasses  a  Fortune 
— RuFUS  C.  Burleson  Born  August  1,  1823 — In- 
structed BY  His  Mother — Learns  Rapidly — Inci- 
dents AND  Anecdotes  of  His  Boyhood — Discovers  a 
Cave — Plays  Detective. 


I  HE  east  fork  of  Flint  river  rises  in  the  southeastern 
part  of  Morgan  county,  North  Ahibama.  The  west 
fork  has  its  source  in  the  southeastern  portion  of 
Lawrence  county.  These  beautiful  and  rapid  flowing  streams 
form  a  confluence  a  few  miles  below  Decatur,  which  flows 
east,  deflects  to  the  northeast  and  pours  its  purling  waters  into 
the  Tennessee. 

From  its  source  to  its  mouth  it  forms  a  loop  or  stiiTU]> 
in  its  course,  and  is  celebrated  for  its  loveliness  and  beauty. 
On  the  east  side  of  this  river,  and  at  the  bottom  of  this  loop, 
so  to  speak,  a  most  beautiful  and  fertile  valley  spreads  along 
the  shore,  and  eastward  until  it  pushes  itself  against  a  hill 
with  perpendicular  bluffs,  several  hundred  feet  high,  a  spur 
of  the  Allegheny  mountains. 

This  valley  is  covered  wdth  stately  oaks,  rugged  hickories, 
and  chestnut  trees  on  whose  sides  vines  cling  and  climb,  un- 
folding their  bright  beautiful  blooms  high  in  the  air.  Phlox, 
columbine,  digitalis  and  marigold  cover  the  ground,  making 
the  landscape  radiant  with  beauty,  and  the  air  redolent  with 
delightful  fragrance. 


Pk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  25 

In  season,  walnuts,  hickory  nuts,  chestnuts  and  hazlenuts 
can  be  gathered  in  any  quantity;  and  grapes,  muscadines, 
dewberries,  whortleberries  and  blackberries  grow  in  great, 
perfection  and  abundance. 

The  yellow  jassamine  and  cral)  apple  are  faultless  in  their 
beauty,  and  were  great  favorites  mnong  these  border  settlers. 
Great  fern  cling  to  the  soil  in  the  rocky  clefts,  and  swing  with 
matchless  grace  from  hillside  and  river  bank.  The  great 
variety  of  wild  flowers  of  various  coloring  and  tints,  the  great 
variety  of  shrubs  and  forest  growth,  clothed  in  foliage  of 
various  verdant  shades,  springs  gushing  from  mountain  sides, 
with  the  waters  of  Flint  river  laughing  and  singing  as  they 
pass,  all  add  charm  and  attractiveness  to  this  place  of  unriv- 
aled beauty. 

On  the  l7th  of  September,  1813,  Jonathan  Burleson  and 
Elizabeth  Byrd,  the  latter  a  sister  of  Governor  William  Adair 
of  Kentucky,  and  grand  daughter  of  Sir  William  Byrd, 
founder  of  Richmond  and  Petersburg,  Virginia,  and  for  years 
president  of  the  royal  council,  were  happily  married  near 
Lexington,  Kentucky. 

After  the  close  of  the  Creek  war  in  1814,  together  they 
journeyed  on  horseback,  through  an  unbroken  wilderness  to 
this  favored  place,  and  commenced  the  Avork  of  building  a 
home.  A  rude  cabin  was  hastily  built  out  of  material  cut  on 
the  ground,  and  this  young  and  tenderly  raised  bride  had  her 
first  experience  in  housekeeping,  while  her  husband  engaged 
in  felling  the  forest  monarchs,  preparatory  to  opening  a  farm. 
All  the  household  effects  of  this  couple  were  brought  with 
them  on  horseback,  and  a  broken  oven  was  utilized  as  two 
cooking  utensils,  one  for  the  meat,  the  other  for  the  hoe-cake. 

They  planted  two  weeping  willows  in  the  back  yard,  and 
pledged  each  other  that  under  these  they  Avould  live  and  labor 
while  their  hearts  were  young,  and  in  their  shade  would  be 
buried  when  their  lives  on  earth  were  ended.  This  young 
and  devoted  couple'little  thought  they  were  making  history  in 
their  frontier  home,  the  facts  of  which  would  be  woven  into 
a  pleasant  story,  and  read  through  all  the  untold  ages  to  come. 

All  pioneers,  it  is  said  have  built  wiser  than  they  knew, 
this  was  never  truer  of  any  young  couple  than  of  Jonathan 
Burleson  and  his  blushing  Kentucky  bride,  Elizabeth  Byrd. 


26 


The  Life  and  Writings  of 


Here,  where  nature  had  been  so  lavish  in  the  bestowment 
of  its  wealth,  on  the  7th  day  of  August,  1823,  Kufus  C.  Burle- 
son, the  sixth  child,  and  subject  of  this  memoir  was  born. 
These  proud  young  parents  knew  that  by  the  genius  of  our 
civil  and  social  institutions  that  distinction  was  won,  and  not 
inherited,  and  that  there  was  nothing  in  the  circumstance  of 
birth  to  prevent  young  Rufus,  or  any  American  youth  from 
ascending  to  the  topmost  round  of  the  ladder  of  fame. 
Though  they  perhaps  little  dreamed  that  to  them  on  that 
August  day,  in  those  trackless  wilds,  a  son  had  been  born, 


JONATHAN  BURLESON. 

whose  fame  as  a  foundation  builder,  and  educator  would  some 
day  fill  the  world. 

The  Burlesons  at  this  time  were  busy  people;  Capt.  Bur- 
leson in  superintending,  enlarging  and  improving  his  planta- 
tion, and  Mrs.  Burleson  in  managing  her  enlarged  household 
and  domestic  affairs.  The  population  in  this  section  of 
country  after  the  settlement  of  the  Indian  troubles,  had  in- 
creased very  rapidly.  jSTeighbors  were  more  accessible,  social 
privileges  enjoyed,  schools  were  opened,  and  churches  organ- 
ized. To  all  these  interests  Captain  Burleson  and  his  wife 
devoted  much  time,  notwithstanding  which  fact,  they  found 
leisure  to  bestow  everv  necessary  attention  to  training  their 


Dr.  Eufus  C.  BuRLEsoiN'.  27 

large  family  of  six  children.  As  time  could  be  cnatclied  from 
their  active  duties  during  the  day,  and  often  at  night  by  a 
flickering  pine  knot  fire,  they  were  carefully  instructed  in 
the  rudiments,  and  a  most  substantial  foundation  thus  laid  for 
a  finished  education.  Which,  be  it  said  to  the  credit  of  these 
brave  Alabama  pioneers,  all  of  their  large  family  of  thirteen 
children  received  in  after  life. 

The  spirit  of  usefulness  seems  to  have  been  inherent  in 
young  Rufus,  a  characteristic  that  followed  him  through  life. 
^'Better  wear  out,  than  rust  out,"  being  one  of  his  mottoes. 
As  a  mere  toddler  he  assisted  his  mother  in  her  domestic 
affairs  in  every  way  possible,  and  when  older  and 
larger,  he  manifested  the  same  interest  in  his  father's  man- 
agement of  the  plantation.  He  made  it  a  point  to  see  that 
the  pigs  were  never  neglected,  that  the  calves  received  proper 
attention,  and  the  colts  were  carefully  handled.  He  gathered 
the  pears  and  other  fruit  for  his  mother,  carried  the  spun  yarn 
to  the  weaver,  and  "home  spun"  being  the  only  reliance  for 
clothing  on  this  frontier  in  these  early  times,  would  return 
Avith  cloth  in  a  jubilant  spirit,  knowing  it  would  be  cause  for 
joy  to  every  member  of  the  family. 

One  of  Dr.  Burleson's  most  marked  characteristics  as  a 
man,  was  his  continuity  of  purpose,  and  loyalty  to  a  plan. 
He  never  dismissed  a  subject  from  his  mind  until  his  object 
was  accomplished.  This  was  an  innate  element  of  character, 
as  a  little  story  of  his  child  life  forcibly  illustrates.  Just 
before  retiring  one  night,  when  he  was  only  six  years  old,  his 
mother  called  him  to  her  and  said,  "Rufus,  some  friends  are 
to  spend  the  day  with  us  to-morrow,  and  I  want  you  to  get  up 
«arly  and  clean  off  the  front  yard  nicely." 

Being  not  only  an  obedient  boy,  but  also  anxious  to  com- 
ply with  his  mother's  wishes,  he  promised  to  do  so  and  retired. 
He  w^as  soon  sleeping  sweetly,  and  during  the  night,  at  what 
hour  he  did  not  himself  know,  nor  did  any  member  of  the 
"family,  he  got  up,  swept  the  yard  and  returned  to  his  bed. 
His  mother  Avas  awakened  by  some  noise  made  when  he  came 
in,  and  called,  but  being  asleep  he  did  not  answer;  she  was 
much  surprised  next  morning  to  find  the  yaxd  in  "apple  pie 
order,"  and  knew  it  was  the  work  of  young  Rufus  done  during 


28  The  Life  axd  Writings  of 

the  night  while  sound  asleep.  jSTo  member  of  the  family  was. 
more  amazed  when  informed  of  his  noctnrnal  performance 
than  young  Rnfns,  and  only  remarked  that  he  retired  and  fell 
asleep  with  his  mother's  request,  to  put  the  yard  in  order,  on 
his  mind. 

Few  men  in  public  life  have  been  endowed  with  more 
marked  and  decided  characteristic  than  Dr.  Burleson.  Among- 
other  innate  traits,  it  may  be  stated,  that  he  was  a  born  detec- 
tive, which  quality  stood  him  in  splendid  stead  in  controlling- 
the  vast  educational  interests  committed  to  his  management 
in  after  life  in  Mississippi,  and  Texas.  One  incident  in  his 
childhood  furnishes  an  illustration  of  this  natural  talent. 

His  mother  for  some  time  had  suspected  the  old  colored 
cook  of  ''holding  out"  choice  morsels  of  dainty  dishes  for  her- 
self and  children,  and  mentioned  her  suspicions  in  little  Rufus^ 
presence.  He  felt  a  personal  interest  in  the  matter,  for  the 
reason  that  the  j^each  pie,  one  of  the  dishes  in  wdiich  the  "short- 
age" was  noticed,  was  his  favorite  dessert,  which  it  may  be 
parenthetically  mentioned,  continued  to  be  his  favorite  until 
the  day  of  his  death. 

Without  saying  anything  of  his  intention,  he  resolved 
to  discover  the  culprit  that  gave  his  mother  cause  for  com- 
plaint, and  devised  the  following  plan : 

Just  before  the  noon  hour,  when  he  knew  the  cook  would 
be  preparing  to  send  dinner  into  the  dining  hall,  Rufus  pro- 
vided himself  -with  an  auger,  and  with  the  assistance  of  a  lad- 
der, climbed  to  the  top  of  the  residence,  made  his  way  noise- 
lessly to  the  roof  of  the  L  just  over  the  kitchen,  bored  a  hole 
through  the  shingles,  and  with  one  eye  watched  the  cook  as 
she  manipulated  the  various  dishes. 

His  method  of  detection  was  a  splendid  success.  He 
soon  saw  the  old  servant  placing  a  good  portion  of  every  nice 
dish  she  had  prepared  for  the  meal  in  a  tin  bucket,  w^hich  when 
filled,  she  placed  in  an  obscure  corner. 

He  descended  quietly  from  the  house  top,  reported  the 
facts  to  his  mother,  who  complimented  her  6-year-old  son'» 
tact,  prevented  the  shortage  thereafter,  and  for  months  re- 
warded young  Rufus  with  a  double  portion  of  peach  pie  for  his 
discovery. 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson. 


20 


Euf us,  while  always  willing  to  perform  his  part  of  house- 
hold chores  and  assist  his  mother  in  every  possible  way,  was 
not  in  the  least  effeminate  in  disposition  or  character;  on  the 
contrary  he  was  a  very  manly  boy,  fond  of  the  forest  and  out- 
door life. 

Assisting  his  father  on  the  plantation  was  much  more 
in  harmony  with  his  taste,  than  rendering  household  service. 
All  through  life  he  insisted  that  no  man  ever  became  too  wise 
nor  filled  a  station  so  exalted  as  to  enjoy  immunity  from  honor- 
able work. 

With  him  ''know  something  of  everything,  and  every- 
thing of  something,"  was  a  favorite,  practical,  philosophical 
precept. 


THE  OLD  MOUNTAIN  HOME,  ALABAMA. 

His  fondness  for  outdoor  life  however,  did  not  incline 
him  to  hunt  and  fish,  as  is  the  case  with  a  majority  of  boys, 
especially  -on  the  border  where  fish  and  game  are  abundant. 
He  explored  the  woods,  not  only  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
his  father's  plantation,  but  for  miles  around  in  every  direc- 
ti-m. 

He  knew  where  the  best  nuts  and  berries  could  be  found 
in  largest  quantity,  the  precise  location  of  every  muscadine 
find  Ji'ra'ie  vine,  could  inform  the  family  wlierc  the  choicest 
wild  fruit  grew,  and  would  escort  his  sisters  where  wild  flowers 
bloomed  in  greatest  profusion  and  attained  greatest  perfection. 


30  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

His  mind  turned  soinewliat  toward  exploration,  and  mak- 
ing investigations  of  natural  objects  remarkably  accurate  for 
one  of  liJs  years.  He  knew  Flint  river  and  contiguous  territory 
on  both  sides  east  and  west  for  miles;  could  name  the  exact' 
spot  where  the  blue  water  was  deepest,  the  current  swiftest; 
where  the  stateliest  oaks  were  standing,  the  cliffs  and  jutting 
peaks  most  rugged,  and  the  scenery  most  sublime. 

Every  cavern  was  carefully  explored,  and  every  natural 
phenomenon  investigated.  All  these  things  he  reported  to  the 
family,  and  the  story  of  his  rambles  and  discoveries  among 
the  hills,  and  in  the  forest  during  the  day,  were  sources  of 
much  interest  and  entertainment  around  the  fireside,  when  the 
shades  of  night  came  on,  and  the  beauty  and  brightness  of 
the  world  were  for  a  time  shut  out. 

It  was  young  Rufus  who  discovered  near  his  father's 
homestead  one  of  the  most  remarkable  caves  in  ]^orth  Ala- 
bama, and  which,  but  for  the  fact  that  it  has  been  overlooked 
by  Geologists,  would  ]iave  become  one  of  the  most  famous  on 
the  continent. 

Captain  Burleson  continued  to  occupy  the  little  cabin 
in  the  valley  for  seven  or  eight  jeavs  after  settling  on  Flint 
river,  making  additions  and  enlargements  as  the  necessities  of 
his  increasing  family  required.  In  1827  he  erected  an  im- 
posing and  commodious  two-story  dwelling  on  the  bluff  east 
of  his  plantation,  which  commanded  an  unobstructed  view,  of 
an  unbroken  sweep  of  country  for  miles. 

On  one  of  his  daily  rambles  among  the  rugged  hills 
surrounding  the  home,  the  discovery  was  made,  the  cavern 
explored  and  partially  investigated.  It  was  on  the  side  of  a 
mountain,  not  very  extensive  in  dimensions,  but  on  a  more 
thorough  examination  w^as  found  to  possess  some  very  re- 
markable peculiarities. 

It  was  plainly  the  result  of  an  upheaval,  which  fractured 
and  dislocated  the  oolitic  strata,  the  walls  of  which  had  been 
dressed  perfectly  smooth  by  an  air  current,  which  came  in  a 
strong  cool  draft  from  unknown  subterranean  depths.  The 
most  remarkable  feature  of  little  Rufus'  discovery  was,  this 
air  current  was  so  cold,  that  a  uniform  temperature  of  30  de- 


De.  Rufus  C.  Burleson. 


31 


grees  was  maintained  during  the  entire  heated  period,  and  the 
properties  of  the  cave  conformed  in  all  respects,  to  a  modern 
refrigerator. 

Captain  Burleson  utilized  it,  as  a  cold  storage  room, 
where  meat,  fruits,  vegetables,  milk  and  butter  were  kept 
fresh  and  sweet  during  the  entire  summer. 

ISTotwithstanding  his  enthusiastic  love  for  laughing 
brooks,  radiant  flowers,  giant  oaks,  tangled  jungles,  spreading 
valleys,  rugged  hills,  towering  mountains,  and  all  animate  as 
well  as  inanimate  nature,  he  did  not  permit  his  rambles  and 
communion  with  these  objects  to  interfere  with  his  studies. 


COLD  CAVE. 


He  gladly  accepted  his  mother's  offers  of  instruction,  and 
applied  himself  with  diligence.  At  this  early  age  he  was  an 
apt  pupil  and  developed  many  of  the  qualities  of  a  student. 

He  made  most  marked  progress,  his  taste  leading  dis- 
tinctly in  the  direction  of  the  languages,  literature  and  phil- 
osophy. 

As  is  always  the  case  with  home  instruction,  young  Rufus 
had  ample  time  to  read  when  the  daily  work  with  his  text- 
books was  over,  and,  for  a  child,  he  may  be  said  to  have  been 
an  omniverous  reader.  He  commenced  by  reading  "Peter 
Parley"  and  other  standard  history  and  biography,  and  very 


32  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

soon  the  family  noticed  him  poring  over  some  of  the  classics 
with  intense  interest  and  absorbing  attention. 

'Not  only  was  his  literary  education  carefully  watched 
at  home,  but  his  "grand  father"  and  "angel  mother"  (terms 
Dr.  Burleson  always  used  when  referring  to  his  parents) 
impressed  on  his  mind  the  importance  of  habits  of  industry, 
as  applied  to  the  higher,  as  well  as  the  lower  spheres  of 
life.  They  ajso  used  every  occasion  and  current  event 
to  instill  lofty  moral  principles  into  his  young  heart,  and  were 
so  successful  in  this,  the  very  highest  source  of  all  instruc- 
tion, that  every  fiber  in  his  body  was  so  saturated  with  higli 
ideals  in  life  that  on  the  seventy-second  anniversary 
of  his  birth  he  could  say,  "I  praise  the  Father  of  all  Mercies 
for  a  wise,  loving  and  industrious  Mother  and  Father,  who  by 
precept  and  example  taught  me  the  precious  value  of  health 
and  time,  and  fired  my  young  heart  with  ardent  love  for 
truth,  love  for  God  and  devotion  to  my  native  land.  I 
praise  him  that  under  their  tender  and  wise  teaching  and  ex- 
ample I  shunned  the  destructive  vices  of  boyhood.  I  have 
never  taken  but  one  chew  of  tobacco;  I  never  swore  but  one 
oath;  I  never  took  a  drink  of  whiskey;  never  danced  a  step; 
never  played  a  game  of  cards;  never  was  on  a  race  track,  nor 
visited  a  theater,  and  in  purity  my  life  has  been  spotless." 

The  world's  annals  of  family  government  would  be 
vainly,  fruitlessly  searched  for  a  grander  encomium  upon  the 
results  of  parental  training  and  instruction. 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Bukleson.  33 


CHAPTER  IV. 


Early  Educational  Advantages  of  North  Alabama — 
RuFus  Enters  a  District  School — Rapid  Advance- 
ment— Attends  Summerville  Academy — School  at 
Danville — Death  of  His  Mother — Conversion  and 
Baptism — Ambition  to  be  a  Lawyer — Impressions  to 
Preach — Enters  J^ashville  University — Licensed  to 
Preach — Health  Fails — Returns  to  His  Father's 
Farm. 


/^  S  is  the  case  with  all  frontier  countries,  the  educational 
gg=s  affairs  in  ISTorth  Alabama  were  in  their  embryonic 
F^^J  condition  at  this  early  period  in  the  State's  history. 
District  schools  were  opened  at  various  times  in  the  Burleson 
neighborhood  on  Flint  River,  one  of  which  young  Rufus  en- 
tered at  the  age  of  seven  years.  He  continued  to  attend  these 
"old  field  schools"  at  intervals,  and  as  they  happened  to  be 
taught,  for  seven  years.  ^Notwithstanding  many  interrup- 
tions, he  applied  himself,  and  advanced  rapidly  in  these  primi- 
tive courses. 

Only  the  rudiments  were  taught  in  these  district  schools, 
not  because  these  bright  frontier  boys  and  girls  were  wanting 
in  either  application  or  the  capacity  to  learn,  but  for  the  reason 
that  it  was  all  these  adventurous  pedagogues  could  teach. 

In  1837  he  entered  Summerville  Academy,  a  school 
founded  som.e  years  before.  At  this  time  is  was  conducted  by 
Prof.  A.  B.  AVattson,  a  man  of  scholarly  attainments. 

The  great  majority  of  men  possess  sufficient  receptive 
talent  to  take  on  a  fair  education,  but  possess  no  power  of 


34  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

impartation.  Teachers,  like  poets,  are  born,  ruot  made.  Prof. 
Wattson  was  not  only  a  scholar,  but  possessed  also  the  other 
indispensable  requisite  of  the  successful  teacher — the  power  of 
imparting  instruction.  As  an  evidence  that  this  estimate  of 
Prof.  Wattson's  ability  as  a  teacher  is  not  overdrawn,  it  may 
be  stated  that  he  was  called  from  Summerville  Academy  to  a 
professorship  in  N'ashville  University,  a  school  of  such  high 
standing  and  so  favorably  known  throughout  the  country  that 
only  scholarship  and  general  fitness  were  considered  when  a 
chair  in  the  university  was  to  be  filled. 

Young  Burleson  was  now  fourteen  years  old;  he  was  fully 
conscious  of  the  importance  of  an  education,  and  had  long 
since  determined  to  make  any  reasonable  sacrifice  and  to  per- 
form any  service  in  his  power  to  obtain  it.  He  needed  no 
incentive  or  stimulus;  the  opportunity  was  all  he  craved  or 
desired.  In  Summerville  Academy,  under  Prof.  Wattson's 
instruction,  this  opportunity  was  enjoyed. 

The  curriculum  was  far  in  advance  of  anything  he  had 
undertaken  up  to  that  time,  but  he  stood  at  the  head  of  all  his 
classes,  and  advanced  rapidly.  For  his  aptitude  he  was  highly 
complimented,  and  for  his  industry  and  diligence  most  warmly 
commended. 

He  remained  in  Summerville  Academy  nearly  two  years, 
and  after  a  short  interval  of  rest,  spent  with  his  father,  in  1839, 
he  entered  a  select  school  near  Danville,  taught  by  Dr.  Sims. 
Owing  to  the  death  of  his  mother,  July  12th,  1839,  his  attend- 
ance at  this  school  was  brief.  Immediately  after  receiving 
this  sad  news,  he  returned  to  his  home,  a  weeping,  heart-broken 
boy.  Pie  employed  his  time  in  study  and  work  on  the  farm 
until  September,  when  he  entered  a  school  at  Decatur,  six 
miles  from  his  father's  plantation,  conducted  by  Prof.  J.  S. 
Perkins. 

His  studies  were  pursued  in  this  school  in  a  half-hearted, 
listless  way,  owing  to  his  severe  domestic  affliction,  and  he 
made  frequent  visits  from  Decatur  to  his  home,  that  he  might 
place  fresh  flowers  on  the  tomb  of  his  sainted  mother,  and 
review  the  scenes  where  so  many  happy  hours  had  been  spent 
in  her  delightful  companionship. 


Dk.  Kufus  C.  Burleson. 


35 


He  had  always  been  a  hoj  of  a  high  sense  of  moral  pro- 
priety, and  most  exemplary  life,  but  had  never  made  a  profes- 
sion of  religion.  It  was  during  one  of  these  visits  to  his  family 
that  he  attended  a  revival  meeting,  conducted  in  the  neighbor- 
hood by  Reverends  AV.  H.  Holcombe  and  Leonard  H.  Milli- 
ken,  that  he  became  deeply  impressed.  The  sermon  under 
which  he  received  the  impression  that  "led  him  from  nature's 
darkness  to  the  marvelous  light  and  liberty  of  the  gospel"  was 
preached  by  Rev.  Dr.  Porter,  a  minister  of  the  Cumberland 
Presbyterian  Church. 

He  was  converted  on  the  21st  of  April,  1839,  in  his  six- 
teenth year,  a  few  days  after  which  he  w^as  baptized  in  Flint 


FLINT  RIVER,  WHERE  DR.  BURLESON  WAS  BAPTIZED. 

River,  the  ordinance  being  administered  by  Rev.  W.  H.  Hol- 
combe. Dr.  Burleson  was  a  man  of  decided  convictions.  He 
often  expressed  an  off-hand  opinion,  and  in  heated  controver- 
sies used  unguarded  expressions,  of  which  he  repented.  But 
in  forming  his  plans  he  deliberated  carefully,  and  often  spent 
days  in  fasting  and  prayer  before  reaching  conclusions.  After 
his  plans  were  thus  formed,  no  man  ever  adhered  to  a  purpose 
with  more  dogged  determination.  Por  his  convictions  and 
principles  he  was  ready  to  fight,  and  upon  every  battlefield 
proved  to  be  a  f  oeman  worthy  of  his  steel. 


36  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

His  conversion  was  an  epoch  in  his  life,  a  turning  point 
upon  which  the  destiny  of  important  interests  hung.  It  was 
the  occasion  of  the  first  great  battle  he  ever  fought,  and  thai 
battle  was  between  himself  and  his  plans  in  life. 

Up  to  this  time  his  ambition  had  been  to  become  a  great 
lawyer  and  statesman,  and  all  his  training  at  home  and  in  tho 
school  room  had  been  -with  this  end  in  view.  He  had  read 
with  rapt  attention  of  the  overpowering  eloquence  of  Patrick 
Henry,  who,  gave  the  first  impulse  to  the  American  revolution 
of  1776,  and  how  this  great  orator  unhorsed  every  opponent 
in  his  celebrated  speech,  in  defense  of  some  Baptist  preachers, 
charged  in  the  courts  of  Virginia  with  the  offense  of  preach- 
ing the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  contrary  to  the  law.  He  had 
read  also  of  the  masterly  eloquence  of  John  C.  Calhoun  and 
Daniel  Webster  in  parliamentary  debate  and  forensic  efforts 
in  the  courts  of  the  country.  He  had  also  read  of  how  the 
peerless  Sergeant  S.  Prentiss  had  swayed  the  multitudes,  in 
the  political  arena,  until  every  fiber,  cartilage  and  filament  in 
his  young  body  burned  with  ambition  to  stand  in  the  front 
rank  of  American  lawyers,  statesmen  and  orators. 

But  with  his  conversion  come  also  the  impression  to 
preach.  The  struggle  between  this  impression  and  his  settled 
purpose  was  on  in  earnest.  The  conflict  was  short,  but  sharp ; 
he  yielded  to  the  call,  and  consecrated  his  talent  to  the  work 
of  redeeming  lost  souls.  His  ardor  and  burning  zeal  was 
undiminished,  but  his  whole  purpose  in  life  being  changed, 
all  his  plans  must  be  remodeled  and  his  course  of  instruction 
revised. 

In  1840  he  matriculated  in  ISTashville  University,  and 
began  to  prepare  himself  for  entrance  into  a  theological  semi- 
nary. While  in  ITashville,  on  the  12th  of  ISTovember,  1840, 
he  was  licensed  to  preach  the.  Gospel  by  the  Baptist  Church 
of  which  that  celebrated  theologian  and  scholar,  Dr.  R.  B.  C. 
Howell,  was  pastor,  who  at  the  time  predicted  a  career  of  use- 
fulness and  brilliant  future  for  the  young  licentiate. 

He  was  now  a  thoroughly  changed  young  man.  Life 
was  no  less  rosy,  but  presented  a  far  more  beautiful  hue.  The 
prospect  and  picture  that  now  filled  and  thrilled  the  innermost 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Bueleson.  37 

recesses  of  his  soul  was  not  tlie  sober  faces  of  Supreme  Court 
Judges,  as  he  discussed  some  profound  principle  of  law,  or  the 
excited  multitude  as  he  debated  some  irritating  political  ques- 
tion from  the  hustings;  but,  instead,  the  serious  face  of  hi& 
Redeemer,  as  He  swung  on  the  cross,  blood  percolating  from 
His  Divine  Body,  trickling  down  His  side,  and  an  unredeemed 
world  whirling  into  the  vortex  of  eternal  ruin  around  him. 

Instead  of  the  wild  cheering  of  the  tumultuous  rabble,, 
and  the  plaudits  of  men,  after  scoring  a  telling  political 
triumph,  he  heard  the  words  of  David,  ^'Tt  is  God  that  girdeth 
me  with  strength,  and  maketh  my  way  perfect." 

He  remained  in  Kashville  University  until  the  summer 
of  1841,  when  his  health  gave  way,  as  a  result  of  close  applica- 
tion and  confinement.  This  was  a  matter  of  sincere  regret  to 
the  faculty  of  the  university,  as  it  not  only  delayed,  but  inter- 
fered with  his  preparation  for  the  contemplated  theological 
course. 

Dr.  Burleson  was  not  of  robust  physical  development  aa 
a  man,  but  as  a  boy  he  was  fleshy  and  of  fine  physique.  As  a 
result  of  bad  health,  he  was  now  an  emaciated,  cadaverous, 
strippling  youth  of  seventeen.  Physicians  had  no  hope  of  his 
recovery,  but  advised  that  he  be  taken  out  of  IsTashville,  as  a 
means  of  prolonging  his  life.  This  was  a  great  trial  to  this 
young  and  ambitious  boy,  but  he  deferred  to  the  advice  of  his 
physicians,  went  to  his  father's  farm,  and  in  a  short  time,  con- 
trary to  all  expectations  and  predictions,  commenced  to 
improve. 

His  thirst  for  knowledge  never  abated  during  his  con- 
finement, although  denied  all  access  to  his  books.  During  the 
period  of  convalescence  he  ehiployed  his  time  in  studying 
Greek,  Hebrew,  and  Bible  history,  and  when  his  recovery  was 
thought  to  be  complete,  he  decided  to  re-enter  IsTashville  Uni- 
verstiy.  This  both  his  father  and  family  physician  opposed, 
as  they  felt  convinced  that  to  return  to  school  meant  certain 
death. 

His  father  reminded  him  of  the  resolution  he  made  when 
he  entered  ISTashville  University,  that  he  would  become  the 
first  scholar  in  it,  or  come  out  in  his  coffin,  and  his  narrow 


38  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

escape  from  death.  His  greai  ]ife  purpose  burned  like  fire  in 
his  bones,  and  he  resisted  every  argument  and  met  every  objec- 
tion. His  father  insisted  that  he  wat,  fairly  well  educated 
already,  and  if  he  would  abandon  all  thought  of  sacrificing 
his  life  by  returning  to  college,  he  would  deed  him  a  good 
farm,  give  him  hands  to  cultivate  it,  and  he  could  settle  down 
to  the  life  of  a  "farmer  preacher,"  protect  his  healthy  and  do 
much  good  at  the  same  time.  This  offer  was  also  promptly 
declined. 

On  one  occasion  Rufus  went  with  his  father  to  hear  a 
presiding  elder  preach  on  baptism,  in  reply  to  an  uneducated 
Baptist  preacher,  who  had  been  guilty  of  baptizing  some  liaK- 
dozen  of  his  most  prominent  members,  amid  the  usual  jeers, 
ridicule  and  sneers  heaped  upon  the  Baptists  of  that  day  for 
their  ignorance  and  bigotry.  The  impassioned  preacher  held 
up  a  Greek  Testament  and  said :  "Here  is  a  wonderful  book. 
It  is  wonderful  for  two  reasons.  First,  it  is  written  in  the 
Greek,  a  language  that  God  selected  from  among  the  babbling 
tongues  of  earth  in  which  to  give  to  man  his  last  will  and  tes- 
tament. But  more  wonderful,  in  the  second  place,  from  the 
fact  that  those  who  do  not  know  a  letter  in  it  can  understand 
it  far  better  than  those  who  have  spent  their  lives  in  studying 
it.  I  will  give  this  Greek  Testament  to  any  Baptist  preacher 
in  ]!^orth  Alabama,  or  the  Tennessee  Valley,  who  can  read  one 
line  in  it,  or  that  knows  the  Greek  letter  beta  from  a  partridge 
track,  and  yet  these  Baptist  Solomons  know  all  about  Baptizo, 
Eantizo,  Echeo,  and  I,  who  have  studied  it  so  long,  do  not 
know  one  thing."  Eufus  reminded  his  father  that  when  the 
congregation  laughed,  under  these  withering  criticisms  of  the 
denomination  to  which  he  belonged,  he  hung  his  head  in 
shame,  not  that  the  insinuations  were  either  true  or  just,  but 
that  there  was  even  an  excuse  for  making  them.  "My  soul," 
Rufus  said,  "burned  as  young  David's  did  when  Goliath 
derided  Israel,  and  Israel's'  God,  and  I  want  to  so  prepare 
myself  as  a  preacher  as  to  make  it  impossible  to  cast  such  reflec- 
tions on  God's  Church  and  Baptist  people." 

Capt.  Burleson  was  most  profoundly  impressed  with  his 
son's  argument,  pleased  with  his  laudable  purpose  and  lofty 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  BurlesojN-. 


39 


ambition,  but  was  not  convinced  that  he  could  stand  the 
close  application  and  confinement  of  college  life.  He  still 
withheld  his  consent  for  his  son  to  return  to  I^ashville. 

Rufus  remained  on  the  farm,  doing  some  work,  taking 
much  outdoor  exercise,  and  pursuing  his  studies,  until  1842, 
when  his  health  was  fully  restored,  and  his  strength  regained. 


.^J^^:^ 


40  The  Life  and  Writings  of 


CHAPTER  V. 


Young  Eufus  Anxious  to  Retuen  to  the  University  at 
ISTashville — His  Father  Objects,  Fearing  his  Health 
Would  Again  Fail — ^Compromise — Teaches  in  Mis- 
sissippi Five  Years — First  Contract — Called  to  the 
Pastorate — Ordination  by  the  Catalpa  Baptist 
Church,  June  8th,  1845 — Dr.  Wm.  Carey  Crane 
Clerk  of  the  Council. 

R.  BURLESON  was  as  eager  as  ever  to  return  to  col- 
lege, but,  fearing  his  health,  would  again  be  jeop- 
ardized by  the  sedentary  life  of  a  student,  his  father 
not  only  advised  against  such  a  course,  but  was  obdurate  in  his 
objection.  The  son's  zeal  for  a  finished  education  was  una^ 
bated,  but  he  knew  from  his  experience  in  college  training  that 
much  profit  was  derived  from  reviewing  courses  of  instruction. 
He  appealed  to  his  father  to  allow  him  to  teach  until,  in  his 
judgment,  it  would  be  safe  to  resume  his  studies  in  the  univer- 
sity. 

It  was  not  in  his  mind  to  dissemble,  nor  to  practice  any 
deception  on  his  father,  and  told  him  very  frankly  that  while 
engaged  in  teaching  he  would  carefully  observe  all  iniles  in 
any  way  conducive  to  his  health,  but  would  keep  up  his  studies 
while  teaching,  and  thus  accomplish  a  triple  purpose. 

First.  He  would  be  able  to  take  up  his  studies  in  the 
university  without  any  hiatus  in  the  course. 

Second.  Build  up  his  constitution,  so  that  he  would  be 
strong  enough  to  stand  the  confinement  of  college  life. 


De.  Rufus  C.  Bueleson.  41 

Third.  "Would  earn  money  enough  to  be  self-sustaining 
when  he  returned  to  the  university  in  Nashville. 

Capt.  Burleson  was  impressed  with  the  wisdom  of  his 
ambitious  son's  plan,  and  consented  for  him  to  teach. 

This,  however,  effected  only  a  partial  settlement  of  the 
trouble.  Young  Burleson  was  not  prepared  to  seek  or  accept 
a  professorship  in  any  of  the  higher  and  well  established 
schools  of  the  country;  besides,  a  position  in  the  faculty  of  any 
of  the  existing  institutions,  situated  as  they  were  in  the  cen- 
ters of  population,  would  be  subject,  to  some  extent,  to  the 
same  objection  that  had  been  urged  to  his  re-entering  college. 

The  population  of  ISTorth  Alabama  and  adjoining  States 
was  scattered,  so  that  however  anxious  the  people  might  be 
for  neighborhood  schools,  pupils  enough  could  not  be  found  in 
any  one  community  to  justify  a  teacher  in  giving  the  school 
any  considerable  portion  of  his  time. 

Young  Burleson  was  not  discouraged  by  these  conditions, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  rather  stimulated  to  pursue  and  press  his 
purpose. 

After  consulting  and  corresponding  with  friends  in  sev- 
eral States,  a  small  school  was  secured  in  Itawamba  County, 
Mississippi.  Although  only  nineteen  years  old,  without  expe- 
rience as  a  teacher,  and  much  embarrassed  by  being  thus 
thrown  among  strangers,  he  managed  the  school  like  a  veteran 
disciplinarian  and  pedagogue,  and  gave  entire  satisfaction  to 
the  patrons. 

Here  he  remained  only  one  year,  and  in  1842  removed 
to  Fulton,  the  county  seat,  where  he  opened  another  school. 

The  attendance  in  Fulton  was  much  larger  than  in  the 
country  where  he  had  taught  in  1841,  and  his  patrons  were 
among  the  most  prominent  families  in  the  place.  The  school 
flourished  far  beyond  Mr.  Burleson's  expectations,  or  that  of 
the  friends  and  patrons,  so  much  so  that  the  building  in  which 
it  was  opened  was  totally  inadequate  to  accommodate  the 
attendance.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  year  a  larger  and  more 
suitable  academy  building  was  erected. 

He  had  now  taught  two  years  in  this  section  of  the  State, 
one  year  in  the  Clifton  community  and  one  in  Fulton,     The 


42  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

schools  in  both  places  had  been  managed  with  such  marked 
ability,  and  with  so  much  satisfaction  to  patron  and  pupil, 
that  both  as  a  teacher  and  young  unordained  preacher  he  had 
made  quite  a  reputation. 

Unsolicited  offers  of  schools  came  streaming  on  him,  until 
it  became  a  question,  not  where  can  I  secure  a  place  to  teach, 
but  what  offer  shall  I  accept. 

Dr.  A.  B.  Russell,  of  Starkville,  a  Presbyterian  preacher, 
a  warm  personal  friend  of  Capt.  Jonathan  Burleson's  family, 
who  had  heard  of  his  friend's  success  as  a  teacher  in  the  piney 
woods  of  Itawamba  County,  and  more  lately  at  Fulton, 
insisted  on  him  coming  to  Starkville,  and  taking  the  school  in 
Mayhew  prairie,  some  miles  in  the  country. 

Acting  on  Dr.  Russell's  advice,  he  moved  to  that  place  in 
1843.  This  change  proved  to  be  in  many  respects,  in  fact, 
altogether,  most  fortunate.  The  Mayhew  prairie  community 
was  composed  of  wealthy  and  influential  citizens,  and  the 
school  which  Mr.  Burleson  contracted  to  teach  was  to  prepare 
the  sons  and  daughters  of  these  wealthy  people  for  entrance 
into  some  of  the  higher  institutions  of  learning  in  the  State. 
The  position  was  one  of  some  delicacy  and  much  responsibil- 
ity, which  the  following  contract  shows  he  assumed  with  much 
deliberation  and  business  care  : 

Articles  of  Agreement. 

I,  R.  C.  Burleson,  propose  to  teach  a  school  in  Mayhew 
Prairie,  Mississippi,  for  a  term  of  five  months,  commencing 
on  the  first  Monday  in  N'ovember,  to  be  taught  in  the  Baptist 
meeting  house,  near  B.  Moore's  residence,  and  to  teach  the  fol- 
lowing branches  at  the  following  prices  : 

Reading,  spelling  and  writing,  $1.00  per  scholar,  per 
month.  Arithmetic,  English  Grammar  and  Geography, 
$1.25  per  scholar,  per  month.  Botany,  moral,  mental  and 
natural  philosophy,  $2.00  per  scholar,  per  month.  Latin, 
beginners  in  Greek  and  political  economy,  $3.00  per  scholar, 
per  month.  All  of  which,  I  bind  myself  to  teach  to  the  best 
of  my  ability,  to  suppress  vice  and  encourage  virtue,  and  to 
preserve  good  order  in  school. 


De.  Eufus  C;  Bueleson,  43 

Vie,  the  undersigned  subscribers,  on  our  part  agree  to 
employ  said  Burleson  to  teach  said  school  for  us,  on  the  above 
specified  terms  and  conditions.  "We  also  agree,  that  said  Bur- 
leson shall  be  allowed  to  make  up  all  lost  time,  or  to  deduct 
the  same  from  his  wages.  We  also  agree  to  furnish  a  com- 
fortable house  with  seats,  and  that  every  scholar  in  school 
shall  be  under  the  rules  of  said  Burleson.  "We  also  agree  to 
pay  said  Burleson  the  aiuounts  which  we  have  subscribed,  on, 
or  before  the  first  day  of  April  next.     October  5th,  1842. 

John  Clifton,  "Wm.  Medles,  B.  G.  Moore,  Thos.  Middle- 
ton,  James  Gressom,  John  Carnes,  Henry  Clifton,  Allen  Bide, 
Edward  Maxey,  J.  IST.  Edwards,  James  McMece,  James 
Bromby. 

The  school  opened  at  the  time  stated  in  the  contract,  with 
twenty-five  pupils;  and  while  Mr.  Burleson  had  just  attained 
Ms  majority,  and  owing  to  the  high  standing  of  the  patrons, 
consented  to  teach  it  with  much  trepidation,  he  met  every  re- 
quirement, and  easily  exceeded  the  expectations  of  the  people. 

Many  of  the  pupils  who  entered  this  school  were  well 
advanced  in  all  branches,  but  more  especially  the  languages, 
and  Mr.  Burleson,  to  keep  in  advance  of  the  classes,  was  forced 
to  apply  himself  closely,  but  he  referred  to  the  school  in  enthu- 
siastic terms  of  praise  in  after  years,  and  his  arduous  labors  as 
"'delightful  toil." 

It  was  while  filling  this  position  that  new  and  weighty 
responsibilities  were  thrust  upon  him.  He  had  been  licensed 
to  preach,  as  stated,  by  the  Church  in  JSTashville,  December 
12th,  1840,  but  had  never  submitted  to  ordination.  He  had 
supplied  pastorless  churches  in  that  vicinity,  with  much  accept- 
ance, and  had  conducted  several  successful  revivals  in  addi- 
tion to  his  work  in  the  school  room.  One  of  the  churches 
Avhich  he  supplied,  situated  in  Mayhew  prairie,  only  a  few 
miles  from  where  he  was  teaching,  increased  in  two  years, 
under  his  ministry,  from  seven  members  to  eighty-four,  and 
was  said  to  be  one  of  the  best  country  churches  in  Mississippi. 
ISTotwithstanding  his  extensive  and  successful  work  as  a  young 
minister,  he  had  never  been  installed  as  the  pastor  of  any 
church,  nor  administered  the  ordinances. 


44:  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

Rev.  M.  Bennett,  pastor  of  Pilgrim  Rest  and  Mount 
Lebanon  Clinrches,  one  situated  twelve  and  tlie  other  fourteen 
miles  from  Majhew,  had  tendered  his  resignation. 

Without  any  solicitation  on  his  part,  or  his  friends,  so- 
far  as  is  known,  Mr.  Burleson  was  unanimously  called  to  both 
these  pastorates.  So  anxious  were  they  for  him  to  accept  th& 
call,  large  committees,  composed  of  the  most  prominent,  pious,, 
and  influential  members,  were  appointed  to  visit  him  at  May- 
hew,  formally  notify  him  of  the  action  of  these  churches,  and 
urge  his  acceptance. 

Hon.  Tsham  Harrison  was  chairman  of  the  two  commit- 
tees, and  these  committees  visited  Mayhew,  and,  upon  the- 
invitation  of  Mr.  Burleson,  repaired  with  him  to  the  residence 
of  Dr.  Wells  A.  Thompson,  where,  after  a  season  of  prayer,, 
they  discussed  the  matter  most  solemnly  until  12  o'clock. 

Mr,  Burleson  informed  them  that  he  had  consecrated  his 
life  to  one  grand  mission,  and  wanted  to  return  to  college  just 
as  soon  as  circumstances  would  permit,  to  lay  a  broad  and  deep 
foundation  for  that  life  work.  He  told  the  committee  that  he 
would  gladly  supply  their  pulpits,  as  he  had  others,  until  such 
time  as  they  might  choose  a  pastor. 

The  committee  insisted  that  he  should  accept  the  call, 
submit  to  ordination,  and  enter  at  once  upon  the  ofiicial  dis- 
charge of  his  duties  as  pastor;  that  God  was  plainly  directing 
and  leading  in  the  matter,  and  as  a  minister  of  the  gospel  he 
could  not  refuse. 

Moved  by  the  tears  and  entreaties  of  this  earnest  band  of 
pious  brethren,  and  the  arguments  presented  which  he  could 
not  answer,  he  told  them  he  would  keep  the  matter  under 
advisement  a  few  days,  and  give  them  a  final  answer  at  the 
next  conference  meeting  of  their  churches. 

While  having  the  call  under  consideration.  Rev.  W.  H. 
Holcombe,  who  had  baptized  Mr.  Burleson  in  1837,  and  who> 
was  now  pastor  of  the  church  at  Aberdeen,  Mississippi,  came  to 
Mayhew  prairie,  and  spent  the  night  mth  him  at  his  boarding 
house.  This  trusted  friend  and  valuable  counselor  on  many 
former  occasions,  ad-vdsed  him  to  accept  this  w^ork,  which,  in 
addition  to  the  good  he  might  accomplish,  would  enable  him 
to  accumulate  experience  that  would  be  valuable  in  after  life- 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  45 

To  all  these  importunities  he  finally  yielded,  accepted 
the  calls  to  Mount  Lebanon,  Pilgrim  Rest  and  Mayhew 
Prairie,  which  last-named  Church  had  also  called  him. 

His  acceptance  was  based  on  the  condition  that  he  was  to 
be  released  as  soon  as  he  was  ready  to  re-enter  the  university 
at  jSTashville. 

A  council  for  his  ordination  was  called,  and  after  the 
usual  sermon,  examination,  etc.,  the  following  certificate  was 
issued,  which  is  here  reproduced  verbatim,  for  the  reason  the 
facts  cannot  be  more  succinctly  stated  : 

To  all  whom  it  may  concern: 

This  is  to  certify  that  the  subscribers,  being  a  council, 
■convened  by  request  of  the  Catalpa  Baptist  Church,  in  the 
County  of  Octibbeha,  and  State  of  Mississippi,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  setting  apart  the  bearer  hereof,  Rufus  C.  Burleson,  to 
the  sacred  office  of  the  gospel  ministry,  and  being  satisfied  with 
his  piety,  views  of  religious  truth,  and  call  to  the  work,  did  on 
the  8th  day  of  June,  1845,  in  the  presence  of  the  Baptist 
Church  and  congregation  in  the  town  of  Starkville,  in  the 
aforesaid  State,  solemnly  ordain  to  the  full  work  of  the  minis- 
try, by  imposition  of  hands,  prayer  and  other  suitable  exercise, 
our  brother,  Rufus  C.  Burleson,  and  as  such  recommend  him 
to  favor  and  acceptance  with  the  household  of  faith  every- 
'^vhere. 

SAMUEL  McGOWEI^,  Moderator. 

WM.  CAREY  CRANE,  Clerk. 

J.  C.  Kmi^EY, 

W.  H.  HOLCOMBE. 

It  is  a  most  singular  coincidence  that  Dr.  Burleson  and 
Dr.  "Wm.  Carey  Crane,  the  clerk  of  the  council,  should  have 
-drifted  West  in  the  course  of  years,  and  become  Presidents  of 
xival  universities  in  the  same  State. 


4G  The  Life  and  Writings  of 


CHAPTER  VI. 


Mr,  Burleson  Teaches  in  Mississippi  from  1841  to  1845 — 
Pursues  His  Studies — Called  to  the  Pastorate — Dr. 
Alexander  Campbell — Wave  of  Religious  Disaffec- 
tion— Mr.  Burleson  Enters  the  Field  of  Polemics — 
Doctrinal  Sermons — Articles  in  the  Tennessee  Bap- 
tist— Meets  W.  IT,  Muse,  a  Classmate — A  Warm 
Discussion — Formula  for  Killing  Baptists — Resigns 
as  Teacher  and  Pastor — Parting  Between  Preacher^ 
Parishioner,  Parent  and  Pupil. 


^I  *  HE  four  years  spent  by  Mr.  Burleson  in  Mississippi 
5?^^  from  1841  to  1845  were  cvrowded  with  business  and 
r^*^^»  were  exceedingly  rich  in  experience.  In  addition  to 
his  duties  as  teacher,  preacher,  pastor  and  student,  giving  all 
necessary  attention  to  the  social  demands  made  on  his  time, 
he  kept  up  and  completed  an  extensive  course  of  systematic 
reading;  thus  storing  away  a  vast  fund  of  information  which 
served  him  admirably  through  life. 

It  was  while  in  Mayhew  amidst  other  multitudinous 
duties  he  entered  the  field  of  polemics,  and  signalized  himself 
as  a  debater.  He  was  not  naturally  of  a  disputatious  disposi- 
tion, and  avoided  all  controversies  as  far  as  possible,  until  his 
principles  were  assailed.  Even  then,  he  was  not  ^dolent,  in- 
temperate or  extreme  in  his  methods  of  discussion,  but  his 
style  persuasive,  Avithout  passion,  yet  firm. 

Dr.  Alexander  Campbell,  a  dissenter  from  all  forms  of 
established  religion  in  England,  emigrated  to  America  in 
1812.     He  renounced  his  Presbyterian  affiliations,  connected 


De.  Rufus  C.  Bukleson.  47 

himself  with  the  Baptist  with  whom  he  worked  in  harmony 
for  several' years. 

Some  differences  and  disagreements  arose  between  him- 
self and  this  denomination  which  could  not  be  reconciled  and 
Dr.  Campbell  withdrew  from  the  Baptists  and  was,  for  a  time 
an  independent  preacher.  His  labors  as  an  independent  min- 
ister were  confined  to  western  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  and  Vir- 
ginia, making  frequent  preaching  tours  through  the  southern 
states. 

By  his  power  on  the  platform,  and  serial  publications 
"The  Christian  Baptist"  and  "Millennial  Harbinger"  he 
attracted  public  attention,  and  finally  controlled  a  powerful 
constituency.  In  1827,  his  converts  and  adherents  com- 
menced to  secede,  or  withdraw  from  the  denominations  with 
which  they  had  been  co-operating  and  form  separate  churches, 
which  were  christened  "Disciples  of  Christ." 

Dr.  Campbell  was  a  great  power  as  an  orator  and  debater 
continued  to  preach,  was  very  aggressive,  and  the  wave  of 
religious  disaffection  which  he  originated  increased  until  it 
swept  over  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Alabama,  Mississippi  and 
some  other  southern  states  with  a  force  that  portended,  for  a 
time,  the  disruption  of  many  existing  religious  institutions. 

He  seemed  to  be  more  hostile  toward  the  Baptist  than 
any  other  denomination,  and  Baptist  churches  suffered  more 
from  his  preaching  and  the  proselyting  influence  of  his  fol- 
lowers than  any  other  christian  organization. 

In  some  communities  whole  congregations  renounced 
their  organic  connection  with  other  bodies,  dissolved,  reor- 
ganized, and  went  over  to  the  new  sect  carrying  houses  of  wor- 
ship and  other  property  mth  them. 

The  alarming  situation  was  pressed  upon  Mr.  Burleson's 
attention  by  observing  a  little  Baptist  church  near  Starkville, 
composed  of  forty-two  members  reduced  to  six,  under  the  in- 
fluence of  this  new  gospel.  Dr.  R.  B.  C.  Howell,  a  great  light 
in  his  day  among  Baptists,  and  a  tower  of  strength  with  pen 
and  tongue  was  standing  gallantly  to  his  guns  in  the  columns 
of  The  Tennessee  Baptist,  and  with  other  loyal  preachers,  was 
exerting  himself  with  some  success  to  stay  this  tide  which 
Baptists  were  then  stemming.  But  he  needed  help,  and  all 
the  help  he  could  get. 


48  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

Mr.  Burleson  saw  the  peril  of  the  situation,  the  break  in 
Baptist  ranks,  that  the  issues  were  vital,  and  that  every  man 
must  stay  with  his  colors,  and  speak,  giving  forth  no  uncertain 
sound  as  to  what  Baptists  might  expect  unless  the  influence  of 
this  powerful  propagandist  was  neutralized. 

He  entered  the  arena,  sought  controversy,  preached 
many  sermons  in  defense  of  his  own  creed,  (the  Bible)  show- 
ing the  weak  places  in  the  code  of  the  new  sect,  and  exhorting 
his  own  people  in  burning  eloquence  to  stand  firm. 

He  had  the  hearty  co-operation  of  many  noble  men  in 
the  campaign,  and  the  supreme  satisfaction  of  seeing  many 
churches  reinstated,  and  the  disintegration  of  others  prevented. 
He  was  not  content,  however,  with  the  service  thus  rendered; 
he  wanted  a  broader  field,  and  larger  hearing.  He  therefore 
prepared  a  series  of  articles  for  "The  Tennessee  Baptist," 
which  attracted  much  attention,  excited  much  favorable  com- 
ment, and  proved  to  be  a  potent  factor  in  quieting  this  relig- 
ious disturbance. 

In  these  articles  he  maintained  that  we  can  not  exercise 
saving  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  at  the  same  time  believe  in 
the  possibility  of  baptismal  regeneration. 

Baptism  was  instituted  by  Jesus  Christ  Himself,  as  an 
ordinance,  was  frequently  referred  to  by  the  Savior  and  New 
Testament  writers  as  such,  but  never  mentioned  by  either,  aa 
a  saving  ordinance.  It  was  the  Christian's  first  act  of  obe- 
dience, and  typical  of  the  Savior's  death,  burial  and  resurrec- 
tion. 

He  maintained  that  regeneration,  and  the  exercise  of  a 
saving  faith,  were  indispensible  pre-requisites  to  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  ordinance. 

No  amount  of  purely  intellectual  reformation  satisfied  the 
demands  of  Divine  Justice,  though  oceans  were  exhausted  in 
ablutions  to  wipe  away,  and  cleanse  the  soul  from  the  stain 
of  sin. 

These  articles  were  published  weekly  in  the  "Tennessee 
Baptist,"  and  continued  for  months.  They  stamped  the 
young  author  as  a  man  of  a  high  order  of  dialectical  power. 

These  contributions  to  the  press,  his  sermons  and  personal 
work,  in  this  great  wave  of  religious  excitement  that  was 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  49 

sweeping  over  the  country,  had  some  effect  in  rendering  the 
Baptists  steady  and  loyal  to  the  Church  of  their  fathers. 

The  reformers  felt  the  influence  of  his  resistance  to  the 
inroads  made  on  Baptist  ranks,  and  the  urgent  necessity  of 
quieting  him  in  some  way.  They  knew  a  resort  to  argument 
would  be  fruitless,  because  that  had  been  unsuccessfully  tried. 
So  they  decided  to  resort  to  diplomacy. 

Eev.  W.  H.  Muse,  a  roommate  of  Mr.  Burleson  in  Nash- 
ville University,  and  a  very  warm  personal  friend,  had  heard 
Dr.  Campbell,  was  swept  off  his  feet,  renounced  his  allegiance 
to  the  Baptists,  and  surrendered  his  credentials  as  a  Baptist 
minister,  and  espoused  the  cause  of  the  new  sect.  Mr,  Muse 
made  the  application  for  Mr.  Burleson's  license  to  preach, 
to  the  Baptist  Church  in  ISTashville,  accompanying  the  appli- 
cation with  some  tender  remarks,  which  were  never  forgotten. 
For  this,  as  well  as  other  reasons,  the  attachment  between  these 
young  ministers  was  very  strong. 

The  Disciples,  therefore,  determined  the  wisest  course  to 
pursue  would  be  to  have  Mr.  Muse  have  a  personal  interview 
with  Mr.  Burleson,  and  supplemeiit  his  strong  arguments  in 
behalf  of  the  reformers  with  his  personal  influence. 

The  meeting  was  held  in  Huntsville,  Alabama,  where 
Mr.  Muse  was  preaching  his  new  doctrine  to  crowded  houses. 
He  implored  his  young  friend  to  get  out  of  the  ruts,  abandon 
his  antiquated  church.  ''This  new  doctrine,"  he  said,  "is 
being  accepted  by  the  multitude,  is  rolling  from  State  to 
State,  and  will  ultimately  become  the  dominant  controlling 
code  in  the  new  world.  If  you  will  give  it  your  support  now, 
when  it  becomes  an  established  system,  your  talents  and  edu- 
cation will  naturally  command  any  position  or  pastorate 
suited  to  your  taste,  or  in  harmony  with  your  inclination." 

Mr.  Burleson  accorded  his  talented  schoolmate  a  respect- 
ful hearing,  and  then  fixing  his  piercing  eyes  on  Mr.  Muse's 
face,  he  answered :  "Some  of  the  tenderest  memories  of  my 
life  date  from  the  12th  day  of  December,  1840,  when,  in 
earnest,  loving  words,  you  recited  the  story  of  my  conversion 
and  call  to  the  ministry  when  the  Church  in  ITashville  licensed 
me. to  preach  the  everlasting  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.     Your 


50  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

words  I  will  never,  never  forget,  and  they  form  a  bond  of  love 
and  friendship  between  us  that  religious  differences  will  never 
sever.  On  that  day  I  consecrated  my  energies  and  power  to 
the  good  old  fashion  religion  of  the  Bible  and  my  Baptist 
ancestors,  which  no  amount  of  enthusiasm  for  new-formed 
religious  systems  and  codes  would  ever  shake.  Besides  this, 
my  brother,  you  have  lost  your  spiritual  bearings  under  the 
magnetic  power  and  splendid  ability  of  Dr.  Campbell,  and  the 
time  will  come  in  your  life  when  you  will  deplore  the  course 
you  have  taken,  and  regret  the  earnest  appeal  you  have  made 
to-day  for  me  to  follow  you  after  strange  gods.  'No,  sir,  I 
shall  stay  with  my  people,  and  continue  as  heretofore  to  defend 
in  my  feeble  way  'the  faith  once  delivered  unto  the  saints.'  " 

With  this  these  schoolmates  parted,  Mr.  Burleson  pur- 
suing the  even  tenor  of  his  way,  and  Mr.  Muse  blazing  like  an 
erratic  comet. 

Later  Mr.  Muse  moved  to  Columbus,  Mississippi,  estab- 
lished a  military  school,  and  used  all  his  brilliant  powers  of 
mind  and  influence  to  disrupt  the  flourishing  Baptist  Church, 
of  which  that  great  scholar  and  preacher.  Rev,  Wm.  Carey 
Crane  was  pastor.  He  soon  became  involved  in  a  most  violent 
contention  with  the  students  in  his  school,  which  resulted  in 
its  destruction.  He  renounced  his  recently  formed  religious 
views,  was  appointed  Secretary  of  State,  applied  for  reinstate- 
ment in  a  Baptist  Church,  and  died  breathing  a  prayer  for  his 
old  pastor.  Dr.  R.  B.  C.  Howell,  and  his  fi'iend  and  brother, 
R.  C.  Burleson. 

During  this  animated  discussion,  which  was  much 
warmer  between  the  Baptists  and  Disciples  than  any  other 
denominations,  some  of  the  more  intemperate  reformers  had 
publicly  declared  that  the  Baptists  were  being  rendered  hors 
de  combat  by  the  thousands,  and  that  when  the  crusade  was 
over  they  would  be  dead  as  a  denomination.  This  gloomy 
prognostication  of  the  impending  doom  which  awaited  Mr. 
Burleson,  and  all  others  who  believed  as  he  did,  was  perhaps 
seriously  made,  but  failed  to  make  a  serious  impression  on  the 
Baptists  of  the  South. 

Mr.  Burleson  became  facetious  when  the  threat,  or  proph- 
ecy, reached  his  ear,  and  wrote  a  serio-comic  article,  in  which 


De.  Rufus  C.  Buklv.sox.  51 

lie  gave  the  substance  of  a  lecture  delivered  by  a  theological 
professor  to  his  class  as  containing  the  only  formula  then 
known  for  killing  Baptists,  which  is  here  given. 

A  Way  to  Ivill  the  Baptists. 

Amid  all  the  inventions  of  this  age  of  inventions,  I  learn 
a  method  has  been  invented  to  kill  Baptists.  This  has  been 
a  desideratum  for  years,  but  a  want  more  keenly  felt  recently 
than  ever. 

I  learn  the  experiment  is  being  tried  by  many  of  our 
Pedo  Baptist  friends.  The  invention  was  first  made  public? 
under  the  following  circumstances : 

The  learned  and  venerable  Dr.  A.,  in  an  address  to  his 
class  in  a  certain  theological  seminary,  said :  Young  brethren, 
one  question  Avhich  you  will  have  to  meet  is  the  controversy 
on  baptism.  The  Baptists  are  very  numerous  all  over  the 
world.  They  are  establishing  schools  and  colleges  everywhere, 
and  you  will  have  to  meet  them  in  argument  at  every  point. 

I  forewarn  you  they  can  never  be  killed  by  persecution; 
this  was  fully  tried  all  over  Europe  for  1,800  years,  and  also 
in  the  'New  England  States.  The  fires  of  Smithfield  and  else- 
where were  kindled  in  vain.  The  exile  of  Roger  Williams 
and  the  whipping  of  Holmes  were  bright  eras  in  Baptist 
history. 

Their  church  has  always  risen  from  the  ashes  of  persecu- 
tion like  a  Phenix,  more  beautiful  and  powerful. 

It  will  be  equally  useless  to  meet  them  in  public  debate, 
for  controversy  is  the  element  in  which  they  flourish.  Their 
pastors,  with  nothing  but  old  Bunyan's  Jerusalem  blade,  are 
more  than  a  match  for  our  Doctors  of  Divinity. 

On  matters  of  doctrine  they  think  they  have  the  authority 
of  God's  word,  and  you  had  just  as  well  try  to  chunk  Pike's 
Peak  to  pieces  with  pebbles  as  to  convince  thcni  to  the  con- 
trary. 

The  truth  is,  there  is  but  one  way  to  kill  the  Baptists,  and 
that  way  is  to  Inig  tliem  to  death.  I  mean  kill  them  with  kind- 
ness, call  them  dear  brethren,  invite  them  to  your  commimion 
table,  urge  them  to  come  imitc  with  you  as  brethren,  and  leave 


52  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

off  the  discussion  of  doctrinal  questions.  This  is  the  most 
effective,  indeed,  the  only  way,  to  kill  the  Baptists. 

The  old  Doctor  was  right,  and  many  weak-kneed  Baptists 
are  suffering  themselves  to  be  hugged  to  death  every  day, 
while  those  who  are  loyal  to  their  convictions  are  increasing 
very  rapidly." 

Mr,  Burleson  continued  his  school  in  Mayhew  prairie, 
and  also  to  serve  these  three  churches  with  most  signal  ability. 
The  membership  in  each  of  them  increased,  contributions  to 
missions  and  other  denominational  enterprises  were  large,  and 
the  relations  between  pastor  and  people  of  the  most  affection- 
ate and  harmonious  nature. 

The  time,  however,  had  come  when  these  tender  ties  must 
be  severed.  He  apprised  the  patrons  of  the  school  and 
members  of  these  churches  of  his  intention  to  resign;  they 
were  grieved  beyond  expression;  proposed  to  increase  his  sal- 
ary and  insisted  upon  his  remaining.  But  he  was  now  twenty- 
one,  and  had  ample  means  to  defray  his  expenses  in  college 
until  the  course  was  finished.  He,  therefore,  sent  in  his  resig- 
nation to  school  and  churches,  which  were  reluctantly 
accepted.  A  parting  reception  was  tendered  this  popular 
young  preacher  and  teacher,  and  with  streaming  eyes  parish- 
ioner, parent  and  pupil  bid  him  an  affectionate  farewell. 

Dr.  Burleson's  experience  in  the  school  room,  pulpit  and 
social  circle  in  Mayhew  prairie  was  always  acounted  by  him 
in  after  life  to  be  among  the  richest  and  sweetest  in  social 
enjoyment  in  all  the  sixty  years  he  spent  in  public  life. 
Attachments  were  formed  during  this  time  that  sixty 
years  of  separation  did  not  alienate,  but  filled  a  large  place  in 
his  heart's  affection  until  his  last  hour  on  earth. 

That  these  tender  ties  and  mellow  memories  were  mutual 
is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  in  1900,  when  the  Baptists  of 
Starkville  had  completed  a  new  and  beautiful  church  edifice, 
he  was  preferred  a:bove  any  other  man  on  earth  to  come  and 
dedicate  it  to  the  worship  of  the  living  God.  He  went,  and 
while  preaching  the  dedicatory  sermon  stood  on  the  same  spot 
where  he  sat  when  ordained  to  the  full  work  of  the  gospel 
ministry,  fifty-five  years  before. 


Dk.  Eufus  C  Burlesox.  5S 


CHAPTER  VII. 


From  Mayhew  Prairie  Mr.  Burleson  Keturns  to  His 
Father's  Farm — Reviews  the  Scenes  of  His  Bothooi> 
— pjiEACHEs  TO  His  Old  Church — Bids  Farewell  to 
Family  and  Friends,  Hides  Away  to  Covington  and 
Enters  the  Western  Baptist  Theological  Seminary 
— Graduates  June  8th,  1847 — Consecrates  His  Life 
to  Texas — Incidents  While  at  the  Seminary — Beau- 
tiful Story  of  Dr.  William  A.  Ashmore,  That  Had 
Its  Culmination  in  Texas — Southern  People  Slan- 
dered— Theological  Student  Resents  it — Challenge 
Passed — A  Duel  Arranged — Young  Burleson  Pre- 
vents IT. 

B.  BURLESOX  had  spent  five  years  in  teacliing  and 
preaching  in  Mississippi,  during  which  time  he  kept 
up  a  course  of  study.  His  intention  had  been  to 
return  to  ISTashville  University.  He  had,  however,  completed 
the  course  prescribed  in  this  institution;  granduation  was 
hence  only  a  matter  of  form,  conferring  no  substantial  bene- 
fits.    He,  therefore,  decided  to  change  his  plans. 

Returning  from  Mayhew  prairie,  he  spent  a  few  months 
in  recreation  and  rest  at  his  father's  mansion  on  Flint  River^ 
Alabama,  greeting  old  friends,  who  gave  him  the  glad  hand, 
and  congratulated  him  most  warmly  upon  his  first  experience 
in  the  struggle  of  life,  and  the  brilliant  success  achieved.  He 
reviewed  the  scenes  of  his  happy  childhood,  visited  the  old 
forest  through  which  he  had  wandered  when  a  boy;  sat  upon 


54 


The  Life  A^'D  AVritixgs  of 


the  river  bank  and  feasted  his  soul  upon  the  familiar  scenes, 
while  the  blue  waters  sang  a  rippling  sonnet  as  they  passed, 
and  went  laughing  and  dancing  onward  to  the  sea. 

He  ascended  the  rugged  hills,  scaled  the  mountain'*s 
height,  and  looked  out  upon  the  same  sublime  prospect  that 
had  thrilled  his  boyish  mind  in  former  years. 

He  gathered  chestnuts  from  the  same  old  tree,  plucked 
wild  flowers  from  the  same  lovely  glen,  and  slaked  his  thirst 
from  the  same  old  spring  where  he  liad  drank  in  the  rosy  morn 
of  early  youth. 

He  visited  the  grave  of  his  angel  mother,  and  upon  this 
little  mound  of  earth,  in  the  quiet  twilight,  with  a  tiny  star 


MT.  PISGAH  CHURCH:    FIRST  CHURCH  DR.  BURLESON   WAS 
A  MEMBER  OF. 

occasionally  peeping  through  the  cerulean  curtains  overhead, 
got  on  his  knees,  and  in  broken  accents,  between  sobs,  thanked 
his  Father  in  heaven  for  her  pure  life,  her  unstained  character, 
noble  example,  and  her  tender,  loving  care  and  instruction,  to 
which  he  attributed  everything  that  he  was,  or  could  hope  to 
be  in  life. 

When  he  left  Flint  River  five  years  before,  he  was  only 
a  licentiate,  but  now  he  was  a  full-fledged  minister,  so  his  old 
friends  asked  him  to  preach,  and  made  an  appointment  at 
^']Mt.  Pisgah,"  the  church  into  whose  fellowship  he  had  been 


Dk.  Kufus  C.  Burleso:^.  55 

baptized.  Pie  accepted  the  invitation  with  sensations  of  joy, 
because  it  was  near  this  place  he  preached  his  first  sermon  in 
1840,  when  a  seventeen-year-old  boy,  from  the  text,  "Behold 
the  Lamb  of  God,  that  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world." 

At  the  appointed  time  the  house  was  packed  with  people, 
from  pulpit  to  door,  some  of  whom  had  traveled  ten  miles  to 
hear  him. 

Mr.  Burleson  continued  to  occupy  the  pulpit  of  this  his 
mother  church  during  the  remainder  of  the  autumn,  with 
pleasure  to  himself  and  his  old  neighbors  and  boyhood  friends. 

In  January,  1846,  he  bid  farewell  to  the  friends  and 
scenes  of  his  infancy  on  Flint  River,  and  instead  of  returning 
to  the  university  at  IS^ash^^lle,  as  he  intended,  he  rode  away  to 
Covington,  Kentucky,  and  matriculated  in  the  Western  Bap- 
tist Theological  Seminary. 

His  soul  was  all  aflame  with  a  desire  to  get  to  work,  but 
felt  his  equipment  was  incomplete  without  a  theological 
course  so  when  he  entered  he  resolved  to  utilize  every  moment 
in  hard  study,  and  complete  the  course  in  one  year. 

Scores  of  brilliant  young  men  had  tried  to  accomplish 
this  herculean  task  in  former  years,  but  failed;  this,  however, 
did  not  discourage  Mr.  Burleson  from  making  the  attempt. 

This  ill-fated  school  at  that  time  was  one  of  the  most  cele- 
brated institutions  for  ministerial  training  in  the  South.  A 
diploma  signified  that  the  bearer  had  mastered  a  thorough 
course  of  theological  instruction. 

The  faculty  was  composed  of  illustrious  scholars  and 
divines.  Chairs  were  filled  by  Dr.  R.  Pattison,  Dr.  Asa 
Drury,  Dr.  E.  G.  Robinson,  and  Dr.  E.  Dodge.  Dr.  Pattison, 
the  President  of  the  Seminary,  was  a  graduate  of  Amherst 
College,  and  after  graduation  became  a  tutor  in  Columbian 
University,  then  Professor  of  Mathematics  in  Waterville  Col- 
lege, and  in  1836  was  elected  to  the  presidency.  He  filled  a 
chair  in  Xewton  Theological  Seminary  for  six  years,  and  was 
also  a  member  of  the  faculty  of  Sl;urtleff  College,  Union 
Baptist  Theological  Seminary,'  and  Oread  Institute. 

Dr.  Robinson,  when  he  left  the  seminary  at  Covington, 
became  President  of  Bro^^^l  University,  founded  in  1764,  the 
oldest  Baptist  and  among  the  foremost  institutions  of  learning 


56  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

on  the  continent.  Dr.  Burleson  also  filled  at  one  time  the 
chair  of  theology  in  Rochester  Theological  Seminary.  He 
filled  several  fine  pastorates,  and  resigned  at  Cambridge,  Mass., 
to  accept  the  professorship  of  Biblical  interpretation  in  the 
Western  Baptist  Theological  Institute  at  Covington.  As  a 
scholar,  theologian  preacher  or  teacher,  he  was  regarded  as 
one  of  the  profoundest  men  in  his  day. 

Dr.  Dodge  was  a  full  graduate  of  Bro\vn  University,  and 
took  a  course  at  l^ewton  Theological  Seminary.  He  was 
called  to  the  presidency  of  Madison  University  in  1868,  and 
served  until  1871,  when  he  was  elected  President  of  Hamilton 
Theological  Seminary.  In  both  these  positions  he  won  fresh 
laurels  for  accomplished  scholarship  and  profound  learning. 

Doctor  Drury  was  a  man  of  much  learning,  and  a  worthy 
co-laborer  of  Drs.  Pattison,  Robinson  and  Dodge.  There 
were  literary  and  theological  institutions  in  the  country  more 
liberally  endowed,  and  more  famous  perhaps,  but  very  few 
with  a  faculty  of  a  higher  order  of  ability  and  scholastic  learn- 
ing, or  with  a  higher  curriculum. 

Mr.  Burleson  was  regarded  as  a  precocious  boy,  but  this 
precocity  did  not  fade  with  his  youth,  as  is  often  the  case,  but 
grew  with  his  manhood,  and  developed  with  his  growth. 
When  a  mere  youth  he  had  acquired  studious  habits,  whch  five 
years'  experience  as  a  teacher  had  developed  into  an  insatiate 
passion. 

He  was  already  an  accomplished  Latin  scholar,  and  had 
also  a  good  knowledge  of  Greek  and  Hebrew,  and  for  this 
reason  was  not  only  prepared  for  hard  work,  but,  being  thus 
well  grounded,  had  a  clear  conception  of  the  task  he  had 
resolved  to  master  during  the  session. 

His  eagerness  to  finish  the  course  did  not  in  any  way 
unsettle  his  determination  to  be  thorough.  In  this  connection 
it  may  be  remarked  that  in  everything,  the  most  insignificant 
detail,  as  well  as  the  weightiest  and  most  momentous  affairs  of 
life,  he  was  thorough.  The  importance  of  this,  he  was  fond 
of  emphasizing.  He  was  also  self-reliant,  and  made  it  a  rule 
in  life  never  to  call  on  others  for  anything  he  could  do  himself. 
Hundreds  of  times  has  this  author  heard  him  say  in  his  chapel 
talks,  when  advising  young  men,  whose  training  had  been  com- 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  57 

mitted  to  him,  ''Write  your  own  orations,  solve  your  own 
problems,  read  your  own  Latin." 

In  taking  up  the  course  in  the  seminary  he  brought  all 
these  qualities  into  requisition.  He  determined  to  be  thor- 
ough, self-dependent,  so  as  to  be  able  to  say  at  the  close  of  the 
session,  "I  have  mastered  the  situation." 

With  untiring  energy  and  ceaseless  application  he  fin- 
ished the  course  June  the  8th,  1847,  with  distinction. 

On  this  day,  and  at  this  place,  a  solemn  resolution  was 
made  of  tremendous  moment  and  far-reaching  importance  to 
Texas. 

After  receiving  his  diploma,  Mr.  Burleson  stepped  from 
the  building,  and  standing  in  the  shadow  of  the  walls  of  his 
Alma  Mater,  surrounded  by  preceptors  and  pupils,  he  straight- 
ened his  tall  form  to  its  full  stature,  with  closed  eyes,  as  if  to 
shut  out  the  world,  while  a  solemn  resolution  was  being 
formed,  he  raised  his  boyish  face  toward  heaven,  stretched 
both  his  arms  toward  the  West,  and  in  a  clear  voice  and  elo- 
quent tones  he  exclaimed: 

"This  Day  I  Consecrate  My  Life  to  Texas." 

This  resolution  was  fraught  with  as  much  consequence  to 
the  religious,  and  educational,  affairs  of  the  State  as  the  shout, 
"Remember  the  Alamo,"  on  the  battlefield  of  San  Jacinto. 
The  latter  gave  to  Texas  her  civil,  religious  and  political  free- 
dom; the  former,  her  splendid  universities  and  other  institu- 
tions of  learning. 

There  are  some  incidents  connected  with  Mr.  Burleson's 
life,  while  in  the  seminary,  aside  from  his  studies,  worth 
reciting.  Many  of  the  theological  students  had  been  criti- 
cised, it  seems,  for  depending  upon  public  contributions  for 
their  expenses.  Dr.  William  A.  Ashmore,  a  classmate  of  Mr. 
Burleson  and  a  consecrated  missionary  to  China,  among  the 
number.  One  of  these  critics  was  so  rude  as  to  say  to  young 
Ashmore  that  he  had  better  return  to  his  home  and  go  to 
work  for  a  living. 

This  pierced  the  heart  of  this  noble  young  man,  and  pro- 
duced feelings  of  great  discouragement  and  despondency.  He 
took  it  as  a  rebuke  from  God,  for  presuming  to  enter  upon  the 


58  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

holy  work  of  the  ministry.  He  went  to  the  college  hall,  and 
spent  the  entire  night  in  sadness,  and  concluded  next  morning 
to  give  up  all  hope  of  becoming  a  minister  and  missionary, 
and  leave  Covington  for  his  home. 

Mr.  Burleson  noticed  that  his  usually  bright  and  happy 
face  was  sad  as  he  came  into  the  dining  hall  for  breakfast,  and 
asked  him  the  cause  of  his  troul^le.  Mr.  Ashmore  referred  to 
the  criticism  of  the  ministerial  students,  and  stated  he  was 
without  money  to  pay  his  expenses,  and  felt  if  God  had  called 
him  to  preach.  He  would  provide  a  way  for  him  to  prepare 
himself,  and  that  he  was  going  home  with  the  sorrowful  con- 
viction that  he  had  never  been  called  to  the  work  of  the 
ministry. 

These  young  friends  walked  together,  from  the  breakfast 
table  to  Mr.  Ashmore's  room.  Mr.  Burleson  took  him  by  the 
hand,  and  said:  "My  brother,  God  is  only  testing  your 
patience  and  faith,  as  he  did  Abraham's.  I  am  able  to  help 
you.  Dorsey  A.  Outlaw,  a  friend  of  mine  in  Starkville,  Mis- 
sissippi, told  me  when  I  left  that  place,  nearly  two  years  ago, 
if  I  ever  found  a  worthy  young  preacher  in  need,  to  let  him 
know,  and  assistance  should  be  forthcomins;.  Thirtv-five  dol- 
lars  will  defray  your  expenses  until  the  close  of  the  term;  here 
is  $10.00,  and  I  will  write  Bro.  Outlaw  immediately  for  the 
balance."  The  letter  was  written,  the  money  came,  and  thus 
was  this  great  missionary  to  the  Empire  of  China  enabled  to 
finish  his  preparation  to  proclaim  the  unsearchable  riches  of 
the  gospel  to  these  heathen  people  for  nearly  fifty  years. 

It  is  a  little  out  of  order,  but  this  interesting  story  has 
a  beautiful  sequel,  which  we  will  here  relate.  Years  after- 
w^ard  Mr.  Ashmore  refunded  this  money,  and  Mr.  Burleson, 
wliile  pastor  in  Houston,  chanced  to  meet  Rev.  D.  B.  Morrill, 
who  was  attending  school  at  Independence,  and,  on  account  of 
financial  depression  and  embarrassment,  was  discouraged, 
despairing  and  doubtful,  just  as  Mr.  Ashmore  had  been.  He 
related  his  distress  to  Mr.  Burleson,  who  answered  him,  say- 
ing: "The  Lord  has  placed  $35.00  in  my  possession,  to  be 
applied  to  just  such  cases.  Here  it  is,  return  and  finish  your 
course."  The  money  was  accepted  with  praises,  Mr.  Morrill 
returned  to  Independence,  completed  his  studies,  and  lived  to 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  59 

preach  the  gospel  in  every  portion  of  Texas,  from  Red  River 
to  the  Rio  Grande,  and  thus  did  Dorsey  A.  Outlaw's  contribu- 
tion of  $35.00  in  Starkville,  Mississippi,  enable  two  zealous 
missionaries  to  tell  the  story  of  everlasting  life  on  both  sides 
of  the  world. 

x\nother  incident  of  Mr.  Burleson's  last  year  at  the  semi- 
nary is  worthy  of  being  preserved.  He  came  of  fighting 
stock,  and  cowards  were  unknown  in  the  whole  line  of 
Burleson  descent.  Rufus  C.  Burleson  himself  was  a  stranger 
to  the  sensation  of  fear,  but  was,  at  the  same  time,  opposed  to 
personal  encounters,  and  during  the  long  years  that  he  had 
-control  of  young  men  prevented  numbers  of  conflicts. 

On  one  occasion,  in  a  hotel  in  Covington,  Mr.  A.  B. 
Rrown,  a  student  in  the  seminary,  was  seated  at  the  table  in 
the  dining  room  with  a  number  of  guests.  The  conversation 
at  first  was  general  and  pleasant.  At  length,  however,  a 
drummer  present  commenced  a  violent  tirade  against  the 
Southern  people.  For  a  time  no  attention  was  paid  to  his 
violent  denunciations.  This  rather  emboldened  him,  and  his 
references  to  the  people  of  the  South  grew  worse.  Mr.  Brown 
Temonstrated  ^vith  him,  saying  his  remarks  about  Southern 
people  were  unpleasant;  and,  more,  that  he  had  evidently 
arrived  at  his  conclusions  from  ex-parte  testimony,  and  his 
charges  and  statements  were  wholly  untrue.  This  only 
increased  the  drummer's  ire  and  enmity,  and  he  offered  Mr. 
!Brown  a  gross  insult.  The  latter  seized  a  pitcher  of  water, 
and  was  in  the  act  of  resenting  it,  but  was  prevented. 

This  so  aroused  the  drummer's  indignation  that  he  sprang 
to  his  feet,  and  shouted  in  a  voice  full  of  anger : 

"You  have  publicly  insulted  me,  and  I  demand  satisfac- 
tion. Choose  your  weapons,  and  we  will  settle  our 
differences." 

The  young  preacher  bowed  his  acceptance,  and  retired  to 
his  room.  Pistols  were  selected  as  the  weapons  to  be  used, 
and  the  time  fixed  for  that  evening.,  in  a  secluded  spot  near 
town. 

The  news  spread  over  Covington  like  a  flash  that  a  young 
theological  student  and  a  stranger  were  to  fight  a  duel  that 
.evening.     Mr.   Burleson  heard  of  it,  and  went  at  once  to 


60  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

learn  the  student's  name.  When  told  it  was  his  friend  Brown^ 
he  repaired  to  his  room.  He  found  him  in  deep  meditation^ 
walking  the  floor  with  folded  arms. 

"Why,  Brother  Brown,  are  you  going  to  fight  a  duel  ?" 

"Yes.  I  have  been  publicly  insulted  and  challenged^ 
and  my  enemy's  blood  must  be  the  penalty." 

"I  am  shocked.  You  must  bear  in  mind  that  you  are  a 
minister,  and  cannot  use  carnal  weapons,"  responded  Dr. 
Burleson. 

"Yes,  I  know  this,  and  deplore  the  necessity,  but  I  would 
rather  die  than  show  the  white  feather." 

"Trust  to  me,  and  perhaps  I  can  effect  a  settlement  of  the- 
unfortunate  affair,  without  doing  either." 

Mr.  Brown  said:  "I  appreciate  your  offer,  and  thank 
you  for  your  friendship,  but  I  shall  be  on  the  ground,  with  this 
pistol  in  hand,  at  the  appointed  time  to  the  minute." 

Mr.  Burleson  continued  to  reason  and  plead  with  his 
friend  to  abandon  all  thought  of  thus  dishonoring  his  holy 
calling,  until  he  said : 

"I  will  not  act  the  coward,  but  I  tell  you  what  I  will 
promise  you.  I  will  meet  the  fellow  on  time,  take  my  posi- 
tion on  the  field,  and  when  the  command  is  given  to  fire,  I  will 
not  attempt  to  shoot  my  antagonist,  but  discharge  my  pistol 
in  the  air." 

This  point  gained,  he  left  the  room,  and  sought  the  drum- 
mer in  the  hotel. 

He  introduced  himself,  and  before  he  could  make  known 
his  purpose,  the  drummer  said : 

"Well,  I  suppose  you  are  Mr.  Brown's  second  in  the 
affair  this  evening,  and  have  called  to  consult  with  me  in  refer- 
ence to  the  detail." 

"!N"o,  I  am  a  friend  of  the  unfortunate  man,  and  a  fellow- 
minister  in  the  seminary,  and  have  called  on  a  mission  of 
peace.  I  have  just  left  his  room,  where  I  have  been  pleading 
with  him  not  to  dishonor  his  life  calling  by  resorting  to  arms 
to  settle  a  difficulty.  I  succeeded  so  far  as  to  get  him  to 
promise  that  when  the  word  fire  was  given  this  evening,  h& 
would  not  aim  at  you,  but  discharge  his  pistol  in  the  air." 

"My  Lord,  is  that  young  fellow  a  preacher?  Why,  my 
mother  is  a  shouting  Methodist,  and  if  I  were  to  shoot  a 


De,  Rufus  C.  Burleson. 


61 


preacher  she  would  never  tolerate  me  in  her  presence  again 
while  the  world  stands." 

"Yes,  he  is  a  preacher  and  Christian,  but  in  this  instanco 
lie  lost  his  temper,  which  he  very  much  regrets." 

"Go  and  tell  him,  so  far  as  I  am  concerned,  he  may  con- 
sider the  affair  settled,  and  settled  forever." 

Mr.  Burleson  returned  to  his  friend's  room,  reported  the 
conversation  he  had  with  the  drummer,  and  had  the  supreme 
satisfaction  of  seeing  them  meet  and  shake  hands,  in  token  of 
:their  complete  reconciliation. 


C2  The  Life  axd   Wkitixgs  of 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


Me.  Burleson  Applies  foe  Appointment  as  IIissionary  to 
Texas  to  the  Missionaey  Board  of  the  Southeen  Bap- 
tist Convention  —  Early  Texas  Missions  —  Mrs. 
Cole's  Statement — Baptist  Peeachers  in  Texas  as 
Early  as  1812 — Ja]\ies  K.  Jenkins,  A.  Buffington,  H. 
R.  Caetmell — Birth  of  Organized  Missions — Mr, 
Burleson's  Services  Accepted — Assigned  to  Duty  at 
Gonzales — Studies  Texas  Histoey — Ciiaeactee  of 
the  Early  Missionaries. 


I^  E.  BURLESOI^  applied  immediately  to  the  Mission 
Board  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention  for  an 
appointment  as  missionary  to  Texas.  The  board  had 
the  wisdom  to  see  the  immense  possibilities  of  this  new  and 
rapidly  growing  country,  its  destitution,  and  importance  as 
missionary  territory.  They  had  already  sent  some  missiona- 
ries to  the  country,  and  the  policy  of  the  board  was  ta  re-en- 
force these  as  rapidly  as  the  means  could  be  commanded  to 
insure  their  maintenance. 

There  is  no  chapter  in  Texas  history  fraught  with  more 
importance,  and  possessing  more  absorbing  interest,  than  the 
history  of  Baptist  missions.  Here,  as  in  India  and  many  other 
countries,  they  were  among  the  first  on  the  ground,  proclaim- 
ing the  unsearchable  riches  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
pressing  it  as  containing  the  rudiments  and  elementary  princi- 
ples of  not  only  religious,  but  civil  and  political  liberty  as 
well. 


Dk.  Kufus  C.  Burleson.  63 

As  earl  J  as  1812  Baptist  preachers  visited  Texas, 
preached,  conducted  prayer  meetings  and  other  religious  serv- 
ices in  the  country.  Of  these,  the  earliest  pathfinders,  it  is 
to  be  deplored  that  the  record  is  obscure  and  so  vague  that  this 
statement  is  in  its  widest  sense  a  deduction.  It  is  also  deeply 
regretted,  for  the  credit  of  Baptists  and  the  truth  of  history, 
that  names,  exact  dates,  and  precise  localities  cannot  be  given. 

Mrs.  John  P.  Cole,  who  was  a  Baptist,  and  one  of  Aus- 
tin's original  300  colonists,  and  third  person  to  cross  to  the 
west  side  of  the  Brazos  in  1822,  says  she  attended  some  kind 
of  a  religious  service  in  that  year,  conducted  by  a  Baptist 
minister.  This  minister,  whose  name,  unfortunately,  she  did 
not  remember,  informed  her  that  he  had  been  in  East  Texas 
for  some  time.  The  term  "some  time,"  we  admit,  is  indefin- 
ite, but  it  is  conservative  to  say  the  first  religious  service  held 
by  a  Baptist  preacher  was,  as  is  stated,  in  1812,  for  the  reason 
that  all  historians  agree  that  many  emigrants  came  to  Texas 
in  that  year.  Mrs.  Cole's  statement  is  worthy  of  credence, 
first,  because  she  was  an  intellectual  woman;  second,  being  the 
wife  of  Judge  John  P.  Cole,  the  first  Alcalde  of  the  munici- 
pality of  Washington,  the  first  Rigadore  of  the  district,  and 
the  first  Chief  Justice  of  Washington  County,  she  had  excep- 
tionally good  opportunities  for  acquiring  information  as  to 
current  events  in  those  early  days. 

Rev.  Freeman  Smalley  came  to  the  State  in  1824,  and 
preached  at  Pecan  Point,  on  Red  River. 

Rev.  Joseph  Bays  came  in  1825,  and  preached  in  the 
house  of  Moses  Shipman,  near  San  Felipe.  Mr.  Shipman 
was  a  cousin  of  Rev.  Rufus  C.  Burleson,  which  fact  may  be 
significant,  as  later  statements  in  this  volume  w^ill  show. 

Rev.  Thomas  Houks  came  to  Texas  from  Tennessee  in 
1829,  and  conducted  a  religious  meeting,  also  in  Mr.  Ship- 
man's  house. 

Rev.  Isaac  Reed  settled  near  l^acogdoches  in  1834,  and 
preached  from  house  to  house,  as  permission  was  granted  for 
him  to  do  so. 

Rev.  R.  Marsh,  though  advanced  in  life,  settled  on  the 
San  Jacinto  River  in  1835,  and  did  some  missionary  work. 

Rev.  Isaac  Crouch,  with  many  families,  settled  on  the 


64  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

Colorado  Kiver,  near  Bastrop,  in  1834,  did  some  work,  moved 
in  1836  to  the  Little  Brazos  Eiver,  in  Milan  County,  where 
he  was  killed  by  the  murderous  Indians. 

Rev.  Z.  ]Sr.  Morrell,  the  most  zealous  and  active  mission- 
ary who,  at  that  time  had  labored  in  the  State,  came  to  Texas 
in  1835.  He  was  a  man  of  a  high  order  of  native  ability,  bold 
in  proclaiming  the  truth,  aggressive  in  his  operations,  and 
became  a  noted  character  in  religious,  as  well  as  the  affairs  of 
State. 

Judge  R.  E.  B.  Baylor  came  to  the  State  in  1838  from 
Alabama.  He  had  served  two  terms  in  Congress  previous  to 
coming  to  Texas.  He  was  an  eminent  lawyer,  and  was  called 
to  public  life  soon  after  his  arrival,  and  filled  the  office  of 
District  Judge  for  seventeen  consecutive  years.  He  presided 
over  the  court  during  the  week,  preached  Saturday  nights  and 
Sunday,  and  exercised  unbounded  influence  over  the  religious 
sentiment  of  the  people. 

Rev.  T.  W.  Cox  settled  in  Washington  in  1838,  assisted 
in  the  organization  of  several  churches,  and  rendered  other 
service  of  importance  and  value. 

Rev.  Asa  Wright  joined  Rev.  Z.  IT.  Morrell  in  1839,  and 
with  this  veteran  gospel  minister  preached  on  the  Colorado 
and  Brazos  Rivers. 

In  September,  1837,  Rev.  Richard  Ellis  located  in  old 
Washington,  and  for  many  years  supplied  the  destitution  east 
and  west  of  the  Brazos,  in  that  vicinity. 

Rev.  ]Sr.  T.  Byars  settled  in  Washington  and  opened  a 
blacksmith  shop  in  1835.  In  this  shop,  there  is  evidence  to 
believe,  the  declaration  of  Texas'  Independence  was  written 
and  signed,  March  2d,  1836.  His  service  was  long  and  valu- 
able in  the  cause  of  education  and  religion  in  the  early  days. 

All  these  preachers,  of  whom  the  above  is  only  intended 
as  the  merest  notice,  and  many  other  noble  spirits  not  men- 
tioned, were  powerful  factors  in  laying  the  foundation  upon 
which  the  mighty  structure  of  Baptist  affairs  now  rests  in 
Texas;  they  were,  however,  independent  missionaries,  operat- 
ing upon  their  own  responsibility,  and  depending  on  their  own 
resources. 

At  this  time  no  organized  mission  movement  had  been 


De.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  G5 

directed  toward  the  State  by  any  of  the  powerful  societies  east 
of  the  Mississippi  River  or  in  the  Northern  States.  The  popu- 
lation of  Texas  was  increasing  so  rapidly,  the  demand  for 
preachers  becoming  so  urgent,  that  wise  members  of  the  scat- 
tered, struggling  churches  saw  the  necessity  of  proceeding 
upon  systematic  plans  in  the  work  of  evangelizing  the  country, 
and  planting  the  Baptist  standard  so  firmly  that  it  would  stand 
through  all  the  uncoimted  ages. 

Hon.  James  R.  Jenkins,  Rev.  A.  Buffington,  and  Deacon 
TL  R.  Cartmell  constituted  the  wise  trio  to  inaugurate  this 
movement.  Judge  Jenkins  was  a  member  of  the  Congress 
of  the  Republic,  a  distinguished  lawyer  and  a  famous  and 
popular  statesman  and  politician.  Judge  Warwick  IT, 
Jenkins,  of  McLellan  County,  a  finer  spirit  than  whom  does 
not  live  in  Texas  or  elsewhere,  is  the  only  surviving  son,  and 
the  worthy  antitype  of  this  famous  and  useful  character  in 
early  Texas  history. 

Rev.  Buffington  and  Deacon  Cartmell  were  distinguished 
among  their  fellows  for  good  sense  and  fine  judgment.  These 
three  gentlemen  not  only  enjoyed  the  confidence  and  esteem 
of  the  people  among  whom  they  then  lived,  but  occupied  posi- 
tions of  prominence  in  the  States  from  which  they  hailed. 

Ii  was  most  fortunate,  therefore,  that  they  took  the 
initiative  in  the  matter  of  inducing  missionary  socities  to  do 
something  for  Texas,  as  it  gave  the  movement  prestige  at 
home  and  abroad. 

After  stating  their  plans  to  the  Baptist  Church  at  Wash- 
ington, of  which  they  were  members,  that  organization,  con- 
fiding in  their  wisdom  and  integrity  of  purpose,  appointed 
them  on  a  committee  with  authority  to  act  in  the  premises, 
in  obedience  to  the  dictates  of  their  best  judgment.  T]ie 
committee  held  frequent  meetings,  discussed  the  situation  in 
all  its  aspects  and  bearings,  with  a  view  of  formulating  a  plan 
upon  wliich  to  proceed. 

It  was  finally  determined,  as  a  preliminary  measure,  to 
issue  a  stirring  appeal  to  the  Home  Mission  Board,  setting 
forth  the  destitution  in  Texas,  and  the  present  as  well  as  com- 
ing importance  of  the  country. 

Judge  Jenkins  was  an  alumnus  of  Mercer  University,  in 


QQ  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

Georgia,  personally  acquainted,  and  a  warm  friend  of  Dr. 
Jesse  JMercer,  its  patron  and  benefactor,  and  sent  him  a  copy 
of  the  address  issued  Ijy  the  committee. 

Dr.  Mercer  was  so  touched  by  the  statements  made  and 
so  impressed  with  the  importance  of  Texas  as  a  mission  field 
that  he  sent  the  Home  Mission  Board  a  draft  for  $2,500.  In 
his  letter  enclosing  the  draft,  Dr.  Mercer  took  occasion  to  say : 

"The  splendid  climate  and  rich  soil  of  Texas  are  destined 
to  attract  a  vast  population  wliich  must  be  evangelized,  for 
which  purpose  I  send  you  $2,500,  and  will  double  it  when 
necessary." 

The  board  acted  at  once  on  Dr.  Mercer's  suggestion, 
and  sent  Kev.  James  Huckins  to  the  State,  and  a  little  later 
on  Rev.  William  M.  Try  on.  This  was  the  origin  and  begin- 
ning of  organized  missions  in  Texas,  and  while  the  great  and 
good  Dr.  Mercer  furnished  money  for  the  support  of  the  first 
missionaries.  Judge  James  R.  Jenkins,  a  layman,  may  be 
very  justly  styled  the  father  of  Baptist  missions  in  the  State, 
since  it  was  directly  through  his  intervention  that  another  was 
moved  to  furnish  the  necessary  means  to  insure  the  success  of 
the  movement. 

In  1846  Rev.  P.  B.  Chandler  came  to  the  State  as  an 
appointee  of  the  Mission  Board,  and  Rev.  J.  W.  D.  Creath, 
under  an  appointment  from  the  Board  of  Domestic  Missions 
of  the  Southern  Baptist   Convention. 

The  convention  was  now  thoroughly  aroused  on  the 
subject  of  occupying  Texas,  the  organization  of  churches,  and 
establishing  all  denominational  enterprises,  and  at  every  ses- 
sion of  the  convention  proper,  or  meeting  of  the  Mission 
Board  during  the  interim  of  sessions,  volunteers  were  called 
for,  and  inducements  offered  for  men  to  go  as  missionaries  to 
this  young  and  promising  country. 

Mr.  Burleson's  services  were,  therefore,  readily  accepted, 
and  he  was  assigned  to  the  little  frontier  church  at  Gonzales. 
He  was  notified  ofiicially  of  his  appointment,  and  the  place 
where  he  had  been  assigned  to  duty.  He  went  to  his  father's 
house  for  the  purpose  of  spending  a  few  months  in  studying 
Texas  history,  and  acquainting  himself,  as  far  as  possible, 
with  the  character,  habits  and  customs  of  the  people.     It  was 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Bfrlesox.  67 

his  purpose,  also,  to  review  the  lives  of  the  world's  most  emi- 
nent and  successful  pioneers  and  foundation  builders,  so  that 
mistakes  might  be  minimized  in  his  field  operations. 

It  is  questionable  whether  there  was  ever  in  any  new 
country  a  more  brilliant  galaxy  of  preachers  than  were  now 
on  duty  in  Texas,  as  regular  appointees  of  some  missionary 
society,  or  operating  independently.  Wm.  M.  Tryon,  James 
Huckins,  Henry  L.  Graves,  R.  E.  B.  Baylor,  Kufus  C. 
Burleson,  J.  W.  D.  Creath,  Noah  Hill  and  scores  of  others, 
who  could  have  filled  acceptably  any  pulpit  on  the  continent, 


L. 

ns  rou.  not. 

i 

iliu*  UHi*>  wn" 
.man  \<mg,n. 

"■"■„'-         '" 

A  PAGE  FROM  DR.  BURLESON'S  BIBLE. 

or  graced  any  social  assembly  in  America,  were  either  here,  or 
en  route,  to  devote  their  splendid  abilities  to  the  cause  of  re- 
ligious truth,  and  convert  the  trackless  wilderness  into  a 
radiant  park  of  blooming  beauty. 

It  can  be  also  said,  with  the  utmost  regard  for  truth,  and 
is  here,  we  trust,  placed  on  a  deathless  record  to  their  everlast- 
ing credit,  that  they  did  not  decide  to  consecrate  their  lives  to 
this  new  country,  and  suffer  innumerable  privations  of  every 
kind,  because  there  were  not  other  fields  open  to  them,  but 
they  came  as  a  matter  of  choice;    because  they  loved  Texas 


68  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

with,  a  supreme  devotion,  and  their  souls  burned  with 
unquenchable  fire  to  serve  their  Master  in  this  particular 
place. 

Once  here,  there  was  never  a  time  when  they  all,  witkout 
exception,  could  not  have  returned,  without  dishonor  to  them- 
selves, to  the  most  popular  pastorates  in  the  States  from  which 
they  came ;  but  they  elected  to  live,  and  labor,  and  die  in  Texas 
that  she  might  become  transcendently  great,  througb  their 
heroic  immolation  and  struggles. 

While  Mr.  Burleson  was  at  his  father's,  preparing,  as 
stated,  to  come  to  Texas,  events  were  transpiring  of  a  far- 
reaching  character,  which  caused  the  board  to  reconsider  its 
determination  of  sending  him  to  Gonzales.  Unaware  of  the 
action  of  the  board,  the  Colorado  River  Association  had  sup- 
plied that  vacant  pastorate.  But  this  was  not  the  most 
important  event  necessitating  a  change  in  their  plans. 

Rev.  William  M.  Tryon,  one  of  the  first  missionaries  sent 
to  Texas,  one  of  the  most  eminent  men,  the  foremost  preacher 
in  the  State,  pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Houston,  had 
fallen  a  victim  of  yellow  fever. 

Owing  to  the  prominence  of  this  man,  the  prominence  of 
this  pastorate,  and  the  fact  that  it  was  one  of  the  important 
events  in  Mr.  Burleson's  life,  we  deem  it  worthy  of  more  than 
a  passing  notice,  and  will  refer  to  it  more  fully  in  the  following 
chapter. 


De.  Rufus  C.  Bukleson.  69 


CHAPTER  IX. 


Rev,  Wm.  M.  Tryon  Called  to  the  Houston  Pastorate 
Dec.  1st,  1845 — Dies  at  Sundown  'Nov.  16th,  1847 — 
Resolutions  of  the  Houston  Church — Mr.  Burleson 
Appointed  to  Succeed  Him — Starts  for  Texas — 
Reflections  en  Route — Reaches  New  Orleans — 
Takes  a  Steamer  and  Arrives  in  Galveston  Jan.  5th, 
1848 — Meets  Dr.  J.  F.  Hillyer — Preaches  His  First 
Sermon  in  Texas  From  the  Text,  "For  I  Determined 
ISToT  TO  Know  Anything  Among  You  Save  Jesus  Christ 
AND  Him  Crucified." 


T  a  business  meeting  of  the  members  of  the  Baptist 
Church  in  Houston,  held  at  the  residence  of  Colonel 
T.  B.  J.  Hadley,  on  the  1st  day  of  December,  1845, 
Rev,  William  M.  Tryon  was  called  to  the  pastorate.  He  had 
accepted  an  appointment  as  missionary  to  Texas  from  the 
American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society  in  January,  1841, 
moved  to  the  State,  and  located  at  Washington.  The  follow- 
ing year  he  erected  a  commodious  residence  on  Hidalgo  Bluff, 
four  miles  west  of  that  town,  which  is  still  standing. 

In  addition  to  his  most  successful  work  as  missionary, 
he  filled  some  of  the  most  important  pastorates  in  the  State, 
among  which  may  be  mentioned  Washington,  Independence 
and  Providence  Church,  near  Chappell  Hill,  He  was  con- 
ceded to  be  a  profound  scholar,  a  man  of  great  ability,  and  the 
most  distinguished  preacher  at  that  time  in  the  Republic. 


70  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

After  conferring  with  the  Home  Mission  Society,  with 
reference  to  his  call  to  Houston,  he  decided  to  accept  it,  and 
accordingly  moved  to  that  city,  and  presided  over  the  first 
church  conference  held  under  his  pastoral  care  July  21st, 
1846. 

His  fame  had  preceded  him  to  Houston,  and  members  of 
this  congregation  were  full  of  hope  that  victory  would  quickly 
follow  victory  under  his  wise  leadership.  In  this,  however, 
they  were  doomed  to  sore  disappointment,  for  at  sundown, 
ISToveniber  16th,  1847,  as  before  stated,  he  fell  at  his  post  a 
victim  of  yellow  fever,  just  eighteen  months  after  being 
installed  as  pastor. 

Mr.  Tryon  was  unsurpassed  in  the  city  as  a  pulpit  orator. 
His  sermons  were  incisive,  and  at  the  same  time  profound  in 
character.  He  possessed  much  personal  magnetism,  and  it  is 
a  question  Avhether  any  pastor  ever,  in  so  short  a  time, 
enthroned  himself  more  securely  in  the  hearts  of  the  people. 

November  I7th  a  church  conference  was  held  at  the  resi- 
dence of  Mr.  Cavanough,  at  which  the  death  of  Pastor  Tryon 
was  formally  announced,  and  the  Church  spread  on  the  record 
the  following  eloquent  tribute  to  his  memory : 

"Whereas,  About  sundown  on  Tuesday  evening,  ISTovem- 
ber  16th,  1847,  it  pleased  Almighty  God  to  take  to  Himself 
our  beloved  pastor,  William  M.  Tryon ;  therefore,  be  it 

"Resolved,  That  we,  the  members  of  the  Church  placed 
immediately  under  his  guardianship  and  pastoral  care,  do  bear 
willing  testimony  to  the  efficiency  and  faithfuiness  of  his 
labors  as  pastor  and  preacher  of  the  everlasting  gospel,  the 
uprightness  and  purity  of  his  character  as  a  Christian,  and  his 
humility  and  devotedness  to  the  cause  of  Christ. 

Resolved,  Individually  and  collectively,  we  feel  deeply 
the  loss  we  have  sustained,  and  whilst  we  would  kiss  the  rod 
that  chastises,  and  receive  the  chastisement  as  coming  from 
the  hand  of  the  kindest  parent,  we  cannot  but  deeply  deplore 
the  bereavement  that  has  caused  a  vacuum  in  our  hearts  and 
in  our  midst  we  know  not  how  to  fill." 

Not  only  the  members  of  this  congregation,  but  the  entire 
city  of  Houston  sorrowed  over  the  death  of  this  great  and  good 
man. 


De.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  71 

The  congregation  and  friends  felt  the  importance  of  fill- 
ing the  pastorate  of  the  church  in  this  growing  city,  and  knew, 
at  the  same  time,  the  high  esteem  in  which  the  deceased  pas- 
tor was  held  by  all  classes  of  people  would  render  the  selection 
of  his  successor  a  most  delicate  and  difficult  undertaking. 

They  resolved  to  keep  up  all  the  services  of  the  church, 
and  at  the  same  conference  that  passed  the  resolutions  deplor- 
ing Dr.  Tryon's  death,  appointed  a  committee  to  take  imme- 
diate steps  to  secure  his  successor. 

This  committee  appealed  to  the  Board  of  Southwestern 
Missions  for  suggestions  as  to  a  suitable  minister  for  the 
pastorate. 

The  board  answered  the  committee  that  the  wishes  of 
the  church  had  been  anticipated,  and  Kev,  Rufus  C.  Burleson 
had  been  approved  for  the  position. 

The  action  of  the  board  was  communicated  to  the  church 
at  a  regular  conference,  called  to  hear  the  report  of  the  com- 
mittee, and  resolutions  passed  that  T.  B.  J.  Hadley  be 
instructed  to  notify  both  the  board  and  Mr.  Burleson  that  its 
action  was  approved  and  its  choice  accepted. 

Col.  Hadley  notified  Mr.  Burleson,  who  was  at  that  time 
on  his  father's  plantation  near  Decatur,  Alabama,  and,  while 
his  resolution  to  consecrate  his  life  to  Texas  had  never  wavered 
for  one  moment,  he  was  overwhelmed  with  the  thought  of 
attempting  even  to  fill  the  place  of  so  great  a  man  as  he  knew 
Dr.  Tryon  to  be. 

While  these  grave  doubts  and  misgivings  as  to  his  ability 
to  fill  the  Houston  pastorate,  with  acceptance  to  the  people, 
and  any  degree  of  satisfaction  to  himself,  he  has  often  been 
heard  to  say  in  later  years :  "A  small  voice  whispered  in  my 
ear,  'My  grace  is  sufficient.'  " 

His  preparation  for  the  long  journey  was  hastily  com- 
pleted, and  this  young  Alabamian,  at  the  age  of  twenty-four, 
started  for  the  wilderness  of  Texas,  which  he  had  selected  as 
a  field  of  operations.  While  en  route  to  ISTew  Orleans,  his 
great  purpose  in  life  was  constantly  on  his  mind.  He 
reviewed  the  hardships  and  struggles  of  the  colonists  from 
1822  to  1836.  Vivid  pictures  of  the  glorious  achievements 
of  Sam  Houston  and  his  noble  band  of  patriots  at  San  Jacinto 
floated  before  his  vision  as  westward  he  directed  his  footsteps. 


72  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

"With  truly  prophetic  eye,  he  saw  the  desolate  waste 
occupied  by  a  thrifty,  teeming  population,  opulent  cities 
springing  up  in  every  part  of  the  territory,  with  bustling 
streets,  humming  factories,  and  church  spires  pointing  toward 
the  heaven  above.  Vast  fields  of  waving  grain  were  spread 
out  in  his  busy  mind,  and  lowing  herds  were  peacefully  graz- 
ing on  the  expansive  prairies. 

This  magnificent  panorama  of  the  growth  and  develop- 
ment of  Texas  passed  through  his  mind  with  a  distinctness 
that  was  positively  startling. 

He  arrived  in  ISTew  Orleans  about  the  2nd  of  January, 
expecting  to  be  detained  some  time,  owing  to  the  meager  and 
uncertain  transportation  facilities  between  that  city  and  Texas 
at  that  time.  But,  fortunately,  a  steamer  was  just  ready  to 
leave.  He  secured  his  passage  and  went  aboard,  and  was  soon 
moving  down  the  Mississippi  to  its  mouth. 

When  his  vessel  emerged  from  the  river,  crossed  the  bay 
and  entered  the  Gulf,  he  spent  much  time  on  the  deck  watch- 
ing the  rolling,  restless  waters.  Every  billow  was  distinct 
and  all  formed  the  mighty  sea.  The  Latin  proverb,  "Quam 
fluctus  diversi,  quam  marie  conjuncti,"  as  distinct  as  the  bil- 
lows, as  one  as  the  sea,  came  to  his  mind,  and  he  exclaimed. 
What  an  appropriate  and  magnificent  motto  that  would  be  for 
the  Baptists  of  the  world.  Each  church,  sovereign  in  itself, 
and  all  the  churches  in  harmonious  co-operation,  constituting 
a  mighty  spiritual  force  and  power  in  the  world. 

The  voyage  across  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  was  made  without 
accident  or  adventure,  and  Mr.  Burleson  landed  in  Galveston 
January  the  5th,  1848,  about  ten  days  after  leaving  his 
father's  home  on  Flint  River. 

He  felt  a  sense  of  loneliness  as  he  pressed  beneath  his  feet 
the  soil  of  the  State  that  was  to  be  his  new  home,  and  was 
more  profoundly  im.pressed  with  the  scope  and  tremendous 
importance  of  his  mission  than  ever  before..  Lie  was  bound 
by  a  solemn  resolution,  deliberately  made,  to  consecrate  his 
life  to  Texas,  and  with  him  a  resolution  was  much  more  than 
a  string  of  idle  words.  It  contained  a  principle  and  a  pur- 
pose, as  well  as  a  sentiment. 

His  resolution  to  live,  and  labor,  and  die  in  Texas,  how- 


Dk.  Eufus  C.  Burleson.  Y3 

ever,  was  now  a  more  palpable  reality  than  it  was  in  Coving- 
ton, or  had  ever  been. 

He  had  no  regrets  for  having  made  it,  had  burned  the 
bridges  behind  him,  and  was  as  steady  as  Gibraltar  in  his 
determination. 

As  he  walked  alone  on  the  beantif  ul  beach  of  the  Island 
City,  the  morning  after  his  arrival,  his  soul  swelled  with  the 
same  spirit  that  filled  the  heart  of  John  Knox  when  he  cried, 
"Oh !  God,  give  me  Scotland  for  Jesus  or  I  die."  So  this 
young  stripling  preacher  fell  upon  his  knees  in  the  sand,  and 
cried,  "Oh !  God,  give  me  Texas  for  Jesus,  or  I  die."  The 
foaming  breakers  almost  hushed  as  a  mark  of  respect  to  the 
burning  earnestness  of  this  talented  young  man,  his  fidelity  to 
his  convictions,  sublime  devotion  to  duty,  and  his  unconquered 
and  unconquerable  love  for  Texas. 

The  boat  on  which  Mr.  Burleson  expected  to  take  pas- 
sage for  Houston  was  not  scheduled  to  leave  the  wharf  until 
4  o'clock,  so  he  spent  the  time  in  calling  on  Alabama  and 
Mississippi  friends  who  had  preceded  him  to  the  State.  Among 
the  numl)er  was  Dr.  J.  F.  Hillyer,  pastor  of  the  Baptist 
Church,  formerly  professor  of  natural  science  in  Mercer  Uni- 
versity, Georgia.  Very  soon  after  Mr.  Burleson's  presence 
in  Galveston  was  known,  he  was  requested  by  the  pastor  and 
many  citizens  to  remain  and  preach  that  night.  Many  of  the 
old  soldiers  who  had  fought  for  Texas'  freedom,  under  Gen. 
Ed.  Burleson,  in  the  revolution  of  1836,  lived  in  the  city  at 
that  time,  and  they  were  especially  anxious  to  hear  his  young 
cousin  preach. 

Mr.  Burleson  consented,  and  a  large  congregation  gi-eeted 
him.  He  selected  for  the  text  of  the  first  sermon  he  ever 
delivered  in  Texas,  "For  I  determined  not  to  know  anything 
among  you,  save  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified." 

The  greater  part  of  the  next  day  was  spent  in  visiting 
and  driving  over  the  city,  his  impressions  of  which  may  be 
seen  from  language  used  by  him  afterward,  "A  more  beauti- 
ful city  I  never  saw.  The  whole  island  was  covered  with 
oleanders,  the  residences  decorated  with  roses  and  lilies  bloom- 
ing beautifuly  in  mid-winter,  and  I  felt  in  my  soul,  'Paradise,' 
the  old  Aztec  name  of  Texas,  was  most  befitting  and 
appropriate." 


7:4 


The  Life  and  Writings  of 


Mr.  Burleson,  with  so  many  acquaintances  in  Galveston, 
and  the  reception  accorded  him  was  so  cordial,  whole-souled 
and  unstinted,  the  feeling  of  loneliness  disappeared,  and  he 
felt  himself  to  be  in  the  house  of  his  friends.  He  was 
impressed  with  the  beauty  of  Texas,  so  far  as  he  had  been 
able  to  observe  it.  Impressed  also  with  its  immense  possibili- 
ties, and  the  boundless  and  limitless  opportunities  for  work. 
These  impressions  were  so  strong  that  his  enthusiasm  was 
rekindled,  and  the  resolution  made  in  Covington,  to  consecrate 
his  life  in  promoting  its  growth,  was,  if  possible,  a  more  settled 
purpose. 


De.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  Y5 


CHAPTER  X. 


Mk.  Bueleson's  Arrival  in  Houston — Meets  a  Cordial 
Reception — Confronted  with  Difficulties — Members 
Discouraged  —  Disbanded  Soldiers  from  Mexico  — 
Gold  Discovered  in  California  —  Excitement  in 
Texas — People  Restless — Revival  in  Galveston — • 
Results — Rev,  ISToah  Hill. 


^^  R.  BURLESON"  arrived  in  Houston  from  Galveston 
January  7tli,  1848,  and  reported  to  the  Deacons  of 
the  Baptist  church  for  duty,  immediately.  His 
welcome  was  such  that  only  honest,  earnest,  christian  souls 
can  feel  when  their  hopes  have  been  shattered,  and  their  forces 
despairing  and  disorganized. 

After  counseling  with  those  familiar  with  the  condition 
of  affairs,  he  commenced  the  work  of  reorganizing,  mth  the 
hearty  co-operation  of  every  member  of  the  church. 

On  account  of  the  culmination  and  settlement  of  the 
civil  and  military  events  between  the  United  States  and 
Mexico,  the  restless  condition  of  the  people,  owing  to  the 
discovery  of  gold  on  the  Pacific  coast,  the  time  of  Mr.  Burle- 
son's arrival  in  Texas  was  a  little  unfortunate,  and  the  situa- 
tion more  difficult  to  handle  than  would  have  been  the  case 
under  different  circumstances.  This  will  be  easily  under- 
stood, and  readily  appreciated  by  reading  the  following  extract 
from  Emerson's  History  of  the  J^ineteenth  century: 

"The  President  of  the  Mexican  Congress  assumed  provis- 
ional authority,  and  on  February  2nd,  1848,  that  body  at 
Guadaloupe  Hidalgo  concluded  peace  with  the  United  States. 
With  slight  amendments  the  treaty  was  ratified  by  the  United 


76  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

States  senate,  Marcli  the  10th,  and  by  the  Mexican  Congress 
at  Queratero  May  the  10th.  President  Polk  on  July  4th 
following,  finally  proclaimed  peace.  The  Americans  under 
the  terms  of  the  treaty  evacuated  Mexico  within  three  months. 
While  these  negotiations  were  under  way,  Colonel  Sutter  had 
begun  the  erection  of  a  mill  at  Colonna  on  the  American 
branch  of  the  Sacramento  river.  In  January  one  Marshall 
who  was  engaged  in  digging  a  race  for  the  mill  found  a  metal 
which  he  had  not  seen  before  and  on  testing  it  in  the  fire  found 
it  was  gold.  The  "finds"  were  sent  to  Sacramento  and  tested 
with  the  result  that  they  were  declared  to  be  pure  gold.  The 
mint  of  Philadelphia  also  declared  the  metal  to  be  gold,  and 
the  President  called  attention  to  the  fact  in  his  annual  message 
to  Congress.  The  gold  seekers  poured  into  California.  They 
arrived  in  multitudes  from  all  parts  of  America  and  other 
countries — thousands  tracking  across  the  plains  and  mountains 
with  ox  teams  and  on  foot,  and  other  thousands  crossing  the 
Isthmus  with  scarcely  less  difficulty,  while  around  the  Horn  a 
steady  procession  of  ships  passed  up  the  coast  of  South 
America  and  Mexico  to  the  new  Eldorado.  In  two  years  the 
population  of  California  increased  100,000,  and  still  the  hordes 
of  gold  seekers  came." 

With  Texas  swarming  with  disbanded  soldiers  fresh  from 
fields  of  victory,  who  are  always  more  or  less  abandoned,  and 
the  population  of  the  state  wdth  its  mind  turned  toward  the 
gold  fields,  and  many  leaving  from  under  the  very  shadow  of 
Baylor  University  and  the  church  in  Houston,  and  with  the 
feverish  conditions  everwhere  prevailing,  we  repeat,  compli- 
cated Dr.  Burleson's  situation,  but  did  not  swerve  him  one 
iota  from  his  purpose. 

On  the  4th  day  of  March,  1848,  a  conference  of  the 
church  was  held.  The  clerk.  Colonel  T.  B.  J.  Hadley,  presented 
Mr.  Burleson's  letter  from  the  Baptist  church  at  jSTewport, 
Kentucky,  and  on  motion  he  was  received  into  full  fellowship 
and  according  to  a  resolution  previously  passed,  invited  to  take 
his  place  as  pastor  of  the  church  and  moderator  of  the  Con- 
ference. 

The  new  pastor  gave  an  outline  of  his  plan  of  work  and 
invited  the  earnest  aid  and  support  of  every  member  as  an 
essential  to  success.     He  stated  that  manv  churches  had  been 


De.  Ktjfus  C.  Burleson.  77 

seriously  crippled  in  their  work,  and  others  disrupted  by 
incumbrances  of  debt,  and  asked  that  a  special  committee  be 
appointed  to  investigate  the  financial  condition  of  the  church 
and  report  at  the  next  conference.  The  committee  was 
appointed,  and  reported  on  the  6th  of  May  that  the  total  in- 
debtedness was  $950.00.  Plans  were  at  once  formulated  for 
its  liquidation.  The  members  of  the  church  rallied  manfully 
around  their  new  pastor,  the  congregations  increased  from  the 
first  sermon,  until  the  seating  accommodation  of  the  house 
was  taxed  to  its  utmost  capacity.  New  members  were 
received  at  almost  every  service.  Pastor  Burleson  had  been 
in  the  State  only  from  January  to  May,  but  in  these  five 
months  had  made  a  reputation  which  was  by  no  means  con- 
fined to  the  city  of  his  residence.  He  received  many  invitations 
to  conduct  protracted  meetings  and  to  preach  on  special  occa- 
sions. He  was  too  much  absorbed  in  his  pastoral  work  to 
accept  these  invitations. 

Dr.  Hillyer  came  up  from  Galveston,  and  stated  to  the 
Houston  pastor  that  he  was  making  very  little  progress  in  his 
church  work,  and  that  he  must  go  down  and  hold  a  meeting. 
Mr.  Burleson  said  to  him  that  he  was  entirely  too  busy  to 
leave  his  work  for  even  a  day,  and,  besides,  had  no  experience 
as  a  revivalist. 

Dr.  Hillyer  was  very  importunate,  would  take  no  refusal, 
and  Mr.  Burleson  finally  referred  him  to  his  deacons. 

The  deacons  expressed  a  willingness  to  excuse  their  pas- 
tor for  a  few  days,  and  Mr.  Burleson  consented.  The  inter- 
esting story  of  this,  his  first  revival  in  Texas,  we  give  in  his 
own  language : 

"The  third  Sunday  in  June,  1848,  I  went  to  Galveston 
to  commence  a  protracted  meeting  with  the  Baptist  Church 
of  which  Dr.  Hillyer  was  pastor,  and  rejoiced  to  find  our  noble 
Bro.  Noah  Hill,  of  Matagorda,  already  there  to  assist  me.  No 
interest  whatever  had  been  worked  up  by  the  members,  and 
the  congregations  were  fearfully  reduced.  Bro.  Hillyer  had 
given  up  all  thought  of  having  a  revival  held;  said  the  bottom 
had  dropped  out  of  his  church,  and  he  had  determined  to 
return  to  Mississippi  and  accept  a  professorship  in  the  State 
"University,  and  as  the  trustees  met  in  Jackson  the  following 


^8  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

Tuesday,  he  had  to  leave  Saturday  morning.  But,  he  said,  I 
have  prepared  a  room  for  yourself  and  Bro.  Hill,  and  you  can 
preach  Saturday  night  and  Sunday,  and  as  much  longer  as 
you  choose. 

"I  determined  to  return  to  Houston,  deeming  it  folly  to 
try  to  hold  a  meeting  in  a  church,  where  not  only  the  bottom 
had  fallen  out,  but  the  head  dropped  off  also.  Bro.  Hill,  see- 
ing my  intention,  said :  'Before  you  go  back  to  Houston  I 
want  you  to  go  by  an  humble  cottage  where  there  are  two 
devout,  but  poor  women,  who  have  been  holding  a  daily 
prayer  meeting  every  evening  since  the  protracted  meeting 
was  announced.  One  of  them  has  a  drunken  husband;  the 
other  a  promising  son,  who  is  becoming  a  drunkard,  and  their 
only  hope  is  that  they  may  be  converted  during  the  meeting.' 

"When  we  reached  the  humble  cottage  the  door  was 
partly  open,  and  these  children  of  God  were  praying.  We 
bowed  our  heads,  and  silently  joined  in  their  prayer.  Oh ! 
such  an  agonizing  prayer  I  had  never  before  heard !  At  the 
close  of  the  prayer,  Bro.  Hill  rapped,  and  both  women  came 
to  the  door,  with  eyes  full  of  tears.  He  said :  'Sisters,  I  have 
brought  Bro.  Burleson  to  see  you,  but  your  pastor  has  given 
him  such  a  mournful  account  of  Galveston  Church,  he  is  going 
home  without  making  an  effort  to  hold  a  revival.' 

"They  imriiediately  seized  my  hand  and  said : 

'"Oh!  brother,  do  not  leave  us;  oh!  my  husband;  oh! 
my  son  will  fill  a  drunkard's  grave  and  a  drunkard's  hell, 
unless  converted  during  this  meeting,  and  we  have  been  pray- 
ing for  you  every  day  for  a  month,  and  God  will  hear  our 
prayers  and  bless  us  with  a  glorious  revival.     Oh  !  do  stay  1' 

"While  they  held  my  hands,  tears  streaming  from  their 
eyes,  we  knelt  in  prayer  for  divine  direction;  the  glorious 
promise  came  rushing  into  my  soul,  'Where  two  or  three  are 
gathered  together  in  my  name,  there  am  I  in  their  midst.'  I 
then  said,  Sisters,  I  will  stay,  and  I  feel  that  God  will  bless 
our  meeting.  We  at  once  announced  a  prayer  service  for  that 
night,  and  preaching  for  Saturday  night  and  Sunday. 

"Saturday  night  we  had  a  fair  audience,  and  Sunday 
morning  and  evening  the  building  was  crowded  with  people, 
remarkable  for  intelligence  and  refinement.  Among  them 
ex-Governor  H.  G.  Bunnels  of  Mississippi,  his  wife  and  two 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  79 

nieces;  Mayor  J.  S.  Sydnor,  wife,  and  two  lovely  daughters; 
also  his  father-in-law,  Mr.  White,  and  family;  Col.  Grail 
Borden,  wife,  son  and  daughter;  Mrs.  Howard  and  daughter, 
and  many  others. 

''We  called  a  special  meeting  Monday  for  all  who  earn- 
estly desired  to  become  Christians.  The  meeting  was  well 
attended,  and  some  of  the  most  influential  citizens,  and  several 
young  ladies  celebrated  for  beauty,  leaders  of  fashion  and  ball 
rooms,  were  present,  and  came  forward  for  prayer. 

"The  revival  soon  became  the  leading  topic  of  discussion 
in  the  newspapers  and  social  circle.  The  power  of  God  in  the 
meeting  may  be  seen  from  this  very  remarkable  case : 

"A  committee  of  elegant  young  men,  one  of  them  the 
County  Judge,  called  to  see  me,  and  said  very  courteously: 
'We  come  to  make  a  very  remarkable  request,  and  we  hope 
you  will  not  refuse.  Galveston  has  been  making  great  prepa- 
rations for  her  annual  Fourth  of  July  ball,  next  week.  We 
have  already  spent  over  $1,000,00  in  making  preparation  for 
it,  and  have  sent  out  tickets  to  Houston,  Richmond,  Mata- 
gorda and  all  the  towns  adjacent,  and  were  expecting  a  grand 
time,  but  the  wonderful  meeting  in  the  Baptist  Church  is 
interfering  greatly  with  our  plans.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact, 
that  twelve  or  fifteen  beautiful  young  ladies,  who  are  known 
as  our  ball  room  belles,  are  going  up  for  prayer  every  night, 
and  have  written  notes  to  their  escorts  asking  them  to  be 
released  from  their  promises  to  accompany  them  to  the  ball. 
We  come,  therefore,  to  ask  you  to  suspend  your  meeting  until 
after  the  ball,  and  then  we  promise  you  to  do  all  we  can  to 
assist  you.' 

"  'Gentlemen,'  I  said,  'I  cannot  grant  your  request.  The 
devil  has  had  full  sway  in  Galveston  a  long  time,  and  now  the 
church  has  got  the  start,  and  we  cannot  suspend.' 

"In  their  disappointment  they  said  courteously,  but  with 
self-confidence,  'If  you  do  not,  we  will  break  up  your  meet- 
ing.' I  assured  them,  kindly,  that  the  meeting  was  from  the 
Power  of  God,  and  that  neither  man  nor  devil  could  break 
it  up. 

"But  that  night,  when  the  congregation  had  assembled, 
and  I  was  about  readv  to  commence  preaching,  our  young 


so         _  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

ladies  were  conspicuously  absent,  but  very  soon  they  came 
walking  up  the  aisle,  each  with  her  ball  room  escort,  and  took 
their  seats  side  by  side.  Their  trick  was  for  each  young  man 
to  go  with  his  girl  to  church,  whoop  up  the  glories  of  the 
dance,  take  his  seat  by  her,  as  they  thought  the  girls  would 
not  have  the  moral  courage  to  leave  them  and  go  up  for 
prayer. 

"I  said  to  Bro.  Hill,  that  trick  of  the  devil  so  confuses 
me  that  I  cannot  preach  to-night.  He  said  no,  everybody 
came  to  hear  you,  and  I  cannot  preach.  I  said.  Well,  if  I 
,  preach,  I  will  close  the  pulpit  door,  and  you  kneel  down  and 
•pray  all  the  time  I  am  preaching.  I  closed  the  door,  he 
kneeled,  and  remained  on  his  knees  in  earnest  prayer  through- 
out the  entire  time.  As  I  heard  his  earnest  breathings,  I  felt 
a  new  inspiration,  and  preached  with  melting  power. 

"At  the  close  of  the  sermon,  I  called  upon  all  who  wished 
to  escape  a  burning  hell  and  be  saved  in  heaven,  to  come 
forward    and  kneel  at  the  altar. 

"Miss  Columbia  Sydnor,  a  native  of  Virginia,  but  then 
a  belle  of  Galveston,  first  rose,  and  with  queenly  dignity,  and 
leaving  the  County  Judge,  came  and  knelt  for  prayer.  Imme- 
diately all  the  young  ladies  followed  her  example,  leaving 
their  ball  room  escorts  looking  blank  and  bewildered. 

"There  were  several  conversions  that  night,  the  meeting 
went  on  gloriously,  and  the  Fourth  of  July  ball  was  a  failure. 

"The  next  painful  hitch  was  about  my  talk  on  baptism. 
On  the  following  Sunday,  at  4  o'clock  p.  m.,  twelve  young 
converts  were  to  be  baptized  in  a  beautiful  little  lake,  sur- 
rounded by  blooming  oleanders,  pink  and  white.  It  is  said 
that  two  thousand  people  were  present  to  witness  the 
ceremony. 

"As  is  always  my  custom,  I  explained  briefly  and  lov- 
ingly that  the  beautiful  ordinance  of  baptism  is  to  remind  us 
Tividly  of  our  Savior's  baptism  in  the  River  Jordan,  and  also 
•of  His  burial  and  glorious  resurrection,  and  that  it  was  also 
designed  to  illustrate  our  future  burial  and  resurrection,  and 
to  proclaim  to  the  world  that  we  had  died  to  sin,  were  now 
^buried  in  holy  baptism,  and  raised  up  to  walk  in  newness  of 
life.' 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  81 

"This  brief  explanation  astonished  manj  of  that  assem- 
blage, who  saw  a  beauty  and  solemnity  in  baptism  never 
dreamed  of  before.  Indeed,  it  shook  the  faith  of  many  who 
believed  in  other  modes,  who  had  been  attending  the  meeting. 

"Some  of  these  said :  "If  Bro.  Burleson  is  going  to  turn 
this  great  revival  into  a  mean  proselyting  affair,  we  will  have 
nothing  more  to  do  with  it.' 

"Colonel  Gail  Borden,  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church, 
editor  of  the  first  newspaper  published  in  the  Republic,  and 
whose  soul  was  so  full  of  the  milk  of  human  kindness  that 
three  years  afterward  he  invented  condensed  milk,  from  which 
he  amassed  an  immense  fortune,  could  not  bear  the  thought  of 
offending  any  one,  even  by  proclaiming  God's  truth. 

"He  begged  me  to  say  nothing  more  whatever  about  bap- 
tism, I  told  him  God  said,  'Ye  are  my  witnesses,'  and  the 
faithful  witness  must  tell  the  truth,  the  whole  truth  and  noth- 
ing but  the  truth,  regardless  of  whom  it  offended.  As  a  wit- 
ness of  God,  therefore,  I  was  bound  to  preach  the  truth  on 
baptism,  communion,  and  every  truth  in  the  Bible,  even  if  it 
should  carry  me,  like  grand  old  John  Bunyan,  to  jail,  or 
Obadiah  Holmes,  to  the  whipping  post. 

"The  following  Sunday  evening  I  baptized  seventeen 
others,  and  before  that  large  audience  I  repeated  my  explana- 
tion of  the  Scriptural  meaning  and  Heavenly  import  of  bap- 
tism. Colonel  Borden  was  still  more  wrought  up,  and  threat- 
ened to  call  a  meeting  of  the  Deacons,  and  request  me  to  say 
nothing  more  about  baptism. 

''I  told  him  all  the  Deacons  on  earth  could  not  prevent 
me,  as  God's  witness,  from  telling  the  whole  truth.  But  his 
lovely  daughters  and  noble  son  were  joyfully  converted  and 
baptized,  which  gave  him  too  much  happiness  to  remain  in  a 
bad  m.ood,  and  he  gave  me  his  hand  and  a  carte  blanche  to 
preach  just  as  I  pleased, 

"The  meeting  continued  four  weeks,  during  which  time 
there  were  fifty  conversions  and  twenty-seven  baptisms. 
Among  this  number  were  found  the  very  flower  of  the  young 
people  of  Galveston,  with  some  elderly  people  of  great 
influence. 

"D.  B,  Morrill,  who,  like  Jonah,  had  left  Vermont  and 
.  6 


82  The  Life  axd   Wkitixgs  of 

come  to  Texas  to  avoid  preaching-,  was  so  powerfully  awakened 
that  he  decided  to  give  up  a  lucrative  business,  and  consecrate 
his  life  to  the  gospel  ministry.  The  two  humble  sisters  whose 
prayers  brought  down  from  Heaven  this  great  outpouring  of 
the  Spirit  of  God,  were  made  unspeakably  happy  by  seeing, 
one  a  husband,  the  other  a  son,  soundly  converted." 

The  experience  in  this  meeting,  and  the  acquaintances 
formed  during  its  progress,  gave  Mr.  Burleson  clearer  concep- 
tions, of  the  kind  of  work  most  needed,  the  magnitude  of  the 
State,  and  some  of  the  difficulties  that  must  be  met  and  mas- 
tered. 

Eev.  ]*^oah  Hill,  who  assisted  him,  was  then  pastor  of 
the  Baptist  Church  in  the  flourishing  town  of  Matagorda.  He 
had  been  in  the  State  two  years,  had  traveled  over  the  counties 
of  Wharton,  Matagorda,  Jackson,  Calhoun,  Victoria,  and 
other  portions  of  the  State,  was  well  informed  as  to  the  condi- 
tions existing,  and  was,  therefore,  in  position  to  give  Mr.  Bur- 
leson much  accurate  and  exact  information,  from  personal 
knowledge,  as  to  the  troubles  that  would  be  encountered. 

After  the  evening  service  these  two  preachers  would 
often  spend  the  greater  portion  of  the  night  in  discussing 
Texas,  the  future,  as  well  as  the  present. 

Mr.  Burleson,  being  twelve  years  younger  than  his 
co-laborer,  was  much  impressed  with  his  splendid  natural 
ability;  "his  commanding  appearance;  his  clear,  deep-toned 
voice;  his  expressive  eye  and  beaming  countenance;  his  forci- 
ble arguments  and  clear  reasoning;  his  melting  and  overpow- 
ering pathos  as  he  preached  Jesus  to  a  dying  world,  often 
comforted  the  troubled  heart,  pointed  the  inquirer  to  the 
cross,  and  sounded  the  note  of  alanu  in  the  ear  of  the  trans- 
gressor." 

So  strong  were  these  impressions  of  Mr.  Hill's  match- 
less pulpit  ability,  that  two  years  afterward,  in  1850,  when 
the  Church  in  Houston  decided  to  have  a  protracted  meeting, 
the  young  pastor  preferred  him,  above  any  other  preacher  in 
the  State,  to  conduct  it. 

His  judgment  was  not  at  fault ;  the  meeting  was  held  and 
proved  to  be  a  splendid  success. 


De.  Rufus  C.  Burleson. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


Returns  to  Houston  From  Galveston  Meeting— Prose- 
cutes Church  Work — Accessions — -Fame  as  an  Evan- 
gelist— Receives  Many  Invitations  to  Hold  Meetings 
— Revival  in  Breniiam — Congregation  of  One  Man 
— Boys  Try  to  Smoke  Him  Out — Devil  With  Hot 
Chain — Judge  Baylob^s  Exhortation — Xew  Years 
Creek  Church — ^Forms  an  Arm  at  Brenha:\i — Mr. 
Burleson  Presides  Over  the  Conference,  and  is 
Elected  First  Pastor. 


^[  R.  BURLESON  returned  to  Houston  from  the  great 
Galveston  meeting  with  fresh  inspiration  and  enthu- 
siasm, and  prosecuted  church  work  along  all  lines. 
Accessions  to  the  church  were  received  at  almost  every  serv- 
ice. The  members,  as  well  as  the  entire  congregation,  mani- 
fested much  interest  in  all  denominational  enterprises,  both  in 
the  State  and  in  the  country  at  large,  and  contributed  liberal!}' 
toward  their  maintenance. 

The  people  of  Texas  were  e\'ident]_v  impressed  that  he 
was  gifted  as  an  evangelist,  for,  on  his  return  to  his  charge  in 
Houston,  he  received  many  pressing  iuA^itations  from  churches 
in  different  portions  of  the  State  to  visit  them  and  conduct 
revival  meetings.  He  was  naturally  fond  of  this  kind  of 
religious  activity,  but  his  pastoral  engagements  were  of  an 
exacting  nature,  and  he  was  forced  to  decline  most  of  these 
invitations  on  this  account. 

One  of  these  calls  came  from  Brcnham,  a  small  village, 


S4:  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

seventy-two  miles  west  from  Houston,   and  was  signed  bj 
seventy-three  persons,  regardless  of  church  connections. 

Mr.  Burleson's  plan  when  he  settled  in  Houston  was  to 
devote  every  spare  day  and  leisure  hour  to  missionary  labor. 
He  was  so  much  impressed  with  the  cordial  character  of  the 
invitation  from  Brenham  that,  after  receiving  permission  from 
his  Church  to  do  so,  he  accepted  it,  and  fixed  the  date  for 
ISTovember  1st.  An  account  of  this  great  revival  we  shall 
allow  the  preacher  to  relate : 

1st.     Because  it  is  an  interesting  story; 

2nd.  It  illustrates  the  social  and  religious  conditions 
existing  in  Texas  at  that  time. 

3rd.  It  reveals  a  phase  of  Mr.  Burleson's  character,  not 
generally  known  or  understood. 

4th.     It  contains  interesting  scraps  of  Texas  history. 

"I  went  to  Brenham  from  Houston,  jSTov.  1st,  1848,  at 
the  earnest  request  of  many  brethren  to  hold  a  meeting.  The 
county  site  had  been  moved  fxpra  old  Mount  Vernon  to  Bren- 
ham in  1844.  There  were  no  streets  or  public  buildings,  and 
the  residences  were  all  small,  and  many  of  them  built  of  logs, 
or  rough  lumber. 

But  as  the  county  seat  of  one  of  the  oldest  and  welthiest 
counties  in  the  state,  it  had  every  prospect  of  becoming  a  cen- 
ter of  great  influence. 

The  Episcopalians  with  their  usual  worldly  wisdom,  saw 
the  future  prospect  of  Brenham,  and  sent  one  of  their  greatest 
missionaries.  Rev.  Mr,  Pearse,  who  was  afterward  made  a 
Bishop,  to  plant  their  standard  in  that  place. 

Mr.  Pearse  was  once  a  Baptist,  a  graduate  of  Brown  Uni- 
versity, and  bore  the  stamp  of  Dr.  Wayland's  great  logical 
mind.  He  was  a  fine  organizer,  and  his  social  character  most 
■excellent.  He  had  received  a  pledge  from  Trinity  church, 
ISTew  York,  of  two  thousand  dollars,  for  an  Episcopal  church 
l3uilding  in  Brenham,  conditioned  on  the  fact  that  the  citizens 
would  subscribe  two  thousand  more. 

The  public  spirited  citizens  of  Brenham  were  anxious  to 
have  a  fine  church  building  in  the  town,  subscribed  the  two 
thousand  dollars,  and  when  I  reached  Brenham  the  foundation 
■of  the  edifice  w^as  already  laid  in  stone. 


Dk.  Eufus  C.  Bueleson.  85 

Rev.  Pearse,  the  far  seeing  Rector  had.  already  organized 
the  whole  town  into  a  Parish  and  Vestrymen  and.  Wardens 
had  been  chosen. 

Eev.  A.  A.  Rueher,  a  preacher  of  the  Disciples,  a  man  of 
fine  family  and  fine  education,  had  already  joined  the  Episco- 
pal church,  and  it  seemed  very  evident,  that  the  county  seat 
of  the  fine  old  County  of  Washington  was  to  become  the 
stronghold  of  Episcopacy,  though  more  than  one-half  the 
people  were  descendants  of  good  Baptist  stock. 

The  Baptists  of  the  county  were  very  sad,  but  saw  no 
remedy.  Before  going  to  Brenham  I  made  appointments 
to  preach  at  three  country  churches  nearest  the  town;  all 
these  I  filled,  and  secured  their  solemn  promise  to  pray  for  me 
daily,  in  my  great  struggle.  Very  few  Baptist  sermons  had 
been  preached  in  the  town  up  to  this  time,  and  I  learned 
several  who  had  joined  the  Episcopal  church  were  not  satis- 
fied with  the  step  they  had  taken,  and  especially  the  wife  of  a 
leading  merchant  who  was  also  a  church  warden.  She  was 
greatly  troubled  on  the  subject  of  baptism,  and  was  anxious 
to  talk  ^\dth  some  Baptist  minister,  before  being  confirmed  in 
the  Episcopal  church. 

I  prayed  earnestly  to  God  to  open  the  way  for  me  to  meet 
this  lady. 

My  first  appointment  was  for  3  :30  Sunday  evening  in  a 
small  school  house.  After  preaching  at  Mount  Gilead  eight 
miles  west  of  Brenham,  I  hurried  on  to  my  appointment. 
My  heart  was  sorely  grieved  on  reaching  the  place,  to  find  a 
great  crowd  gathered  on  the  prairie  near  by,  to  run  Sunday 
evening  pony  races.  I  asked  of  the  first  man  I  met,  if  there 
was  not  an  appointment  for  preaching  in  town  at  that  hour. 
He  answered,  "Oh,  no,  we  do  not  have  preaching  except  Parish 
preaching  at  1 1  o'clock,  the  balance  of  our  Sundays  we  devote 
to  fun  and  frolic."  But,  he  continued,  the  preaching  place 
is  at  Giddings  School  house  in  the  northern  part  of  town  on 
Independence  road." 

I  was  still  more  grieved  and  disappointed  on  reaching  the 
school  house,  to  find  only  one  man  present,  owing  to  some 
misunderstanding  as  to  the  time.  He  looked  at  me,  I  looked 
at  him,  and  we  looked  at  each  other.     I  felt  ashamed,  for  a 


86  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

big  Houston  preach ei-  to  come  all  the  way  to  the  county  seat 
of  the  great  County  of  Washington,  and  have  a  congregation 
of  only  one  hearer,  but  remembering  that  our  Saviour  began  a 
glorious  work  by  preaching  to  one  woman  at  the  well,  I  drew 
near  to  my  congregation  and  pleasantly  said :  "My  friend 
you  may  not  be  aware  of  the  fact  that  I  am  the  preacher,  but 
I  am  well  aware  of  the  fact  that  you  are  the  congregation. 
As  there  should  always  be  a  good  understanding  between  the 
preacher  and  the  congregation,  I  will  inform  you  that  I  am 
the  preacher,  and  if  the  congregation  wishes  to  hear  preaching, 
I  am  ready  to  begin.  The  only  thing  necessary  to  do,  is  to 
change  my  text  a  little  and  preach  from  this,  "Thou  art  the 
man." 

The  congregation  first  smiled,  then  turned  red,  then  pale, 
and  said,  'Parson,  I  never  did  have  a  whole  sermon  preached 
at  me,  and  know  that  it  meant  me  and  no  one  else,  and  if 
you  had  just  as  soon,  I  would  like  to  put  it  off  until  night,  and 
I  will  get  some  of  the  boys  to  come  in  and  divide  the  responsi- 
bility with  me.'  I  said,  my  friend,  a  bird  in  the  hand  is  worth 
two  in  the  bush,  and  one  hearer  in  the  church  is  worth  forty 
charging  around  on  the  prairie,  running  pony  races  on  Sun- 
day.' But  he  replied,  'if  you  will  put  it  off  until  night,  and 
preach  in  the  board  shanty,  I  will  make  them  all  come  in,' 

I  said  all  right,  and  with  this  understanding,  we  ad- 
journed without  a  fonnal  benediction.  I  went  to  the  Mcln- 
tyre  hotel,  and  my  congregation  went  out  to  stir  up  the  boys, 
telling  everybody  there  would  be  preaching  by  a  big  Houston 
preacher,  in  the  house  where  Judge  Baylor  held  court.  He 
went  especially  to  the  saloons,  where  the  crowd  had  congre- 
gated after  the  pony  races  were  over,  and  said,  'Boys,  boys, 
old  Ed.  Burleson,  the  great  Indian  and  Mexican  fighter  has  a 
cousin  here,  a  Baptist  preacher.  He  looks  like  he  might  fight 
the  devil  just  like  old  Ed.  fought  Indians  and  Mexicans.  He 
is  six  feet  two  inches  tall,  hair  as  black  as  a  raven  and  has 
eyes  like  an  eagle.  He  had  an  appointment  at  the  school 
house  at  3  :30  this  evening,  you  fellows  all  went  to  the  races 
but  myself,  and  I  was  the  only  person  present,  and  he  wanted 
to  preach  to  me  from  the  text,  'Thou  art  the  man.'  Wby, 
it  would  have  frightened  me  to  death,  to  sit  there  all  alone. 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  87 

so  I  got  him  to  put  it  off  until  tonight.  ]S[ow  I  will  be  very 
much  obliged,  if  you  all  will  go  out  to  hear  him,  for  I  prom- 
ised the  preacher  you  w^ould  come,  or  else  I  would  have  got 
the  whole  sermon  this  evening,' 

"^Oh,  yes,  of  course,  we  will  all  go  out,  just  for  your  sake, 
and  because  he  is  kin  to  old  Ed.  Burleson.'  They  did  come  in 
great  numbers,  the  house  was  crowded,  and  I  have  never 
preached  to  a  more  attentive  audience  before  or  since.  In 
the  depths  of  my  soul  I  felt  that  God  was  with  me,  and  that 
glory  would  follow.  After  the  service  was  over,  the  congre- 
gation slowly  and  silently  retired.     Large  numbers  of  them 

assembled  at  Mr.  P saloon,  their  social  headquarters, 

and  discussed  the  situation.  They  said  it  was  mighty  good 
preaching,  drank  to  my  health.  General  Ed.  Burleson's  health, 
and  then  to  their  own  health;  and  I  was  told,  that  many 
of  them  not  only  got  healthy,  but  wealthy  and  happy  also. 
They  said  I  should  never  come  to  J^renham  again  and  start  a 
meeting  with  a  congregation  of  one,  that  they  would  all  tuni 
out,  to  hear  me  every  time  I  preached. 

I  spent  Monday,  Tuesday  and  Wednesday  in  prayer, 
study,  and  visiting  such  families  and  persons  as  I  hoped  would 
be  benefited,  and  in  preaching  to  vast  crowds  at  night,  for  the 
whole  town  and  surrounding  country  was  thoroughly  aroused. 
On  Wednesday  night  the  service  was  unusually  good,  and  the 
entire  congregation  was  moved.  Afterwards  as  usual,  the 
boys  assembled  at  Mr.  P.'s  saloon,  and  talked  over  the  incidents 
of  the  night.  One  of  them  said :  'See  here,  boys,  how  long 
is  this  thing  going  to  last?  I  can  not  stand  it  much  longer. 
Last  night  I  dreamed  the  old  devil  came  after  me  with  a  red 
hot  chain  and  a  pair  of  tongs,  and  was  about  to  drag  me  right 
down  to  hell.' 

Another  remarked:  T  am  getting  awful  tired,  for  I 
do  believe  some  of  you  fellows  have  told  him  all  about  my 
meanness,  for  in  every  sermon  he  says  something  that  fits  my 
case  precisely.' 

Another  remarked:  'I  am  getting  enough  myseK,  for 
I  can  not  sleep  at  night,  he  makes  me  think  so  much  of  my 
mother  and  her  prayers,  and  the  promises  I  made  her  when  I 
came  to  Texas,  and  how  shamefully  I  have  broken  those  vows.' 


88  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

Another  said :  ^I'm  getting  enough  of  this  meeting  my- 
self, and  wish  he  would  quit,  and  but  for  the  looks  of  the 
thing,  I  would  propose  to  run  him  off.' 

^That  would  never  do,'  one  said,  'it  would  give  us  and  the 
town  a  bad  name,  but  I  tell  you  what  we  can  do.  You  heard 
him  say  he  never  swore  nor  smoked,  and  did  things  like  that, 
we  can  smoke  him  out  of  the  church,  and  he  will  be  sure  to 
leave  town.' 

They  had  all  smoked  rabbits  out  of  hollow  trees,  when 
they  were  boys,  and  agreed  that  they  could  smoke  a  Baptist 
preacher  out  of  his  pulpit  just  as  successfully.  I  never  could 
tolerate  the  fumes  of  tobacco,  and  was  about  the  easiest  victim 
of  an  assault  of  this  kind,  they  could  have  selected. 

Well,  they  decided  to  try  it,  all  filled  their  pockets  full 
of  cigars,  fired  up  and  came  to  church.  Some  of  them  came 
in,  and  sat  with  the  congregation.  Others  stood  in  the  doors 
and  filled  the  windows,  but  all  smoking  like  a  tar  kiln.  It 
was  no  unusual  thing  to  see  men  smoking  at  public  gatherings, 
in  those  early  days  in  Texas. 

Soon  the  house  was  full  of  smoke,  and  I  began  to  grow 
a  little  faint,  but  I  understood  what  they  were  up  to,  and 
determined  to  speak  on  if  it  killed  me.  I  never  saw  so  many 
people  smoking  at  once.  It  looked  to  me,  as  if  every  man  in 
the  house,  had  two  cigars  in  his  mouth  instead  of  one.  I  made 
it  a  point  in  my  sermon  to  talk  a  good  deal  about  sulphur, 
fire  and  brimstone,  and  drew  an  awful  picture  of  the  doom 
that  awaited  the  wicked  in  a  gulf  of  fire  and  smoke,  where 
Dives  was  then  calling  for  one  drop  of  water,  to  cool  his 
parched  tongue.  They  smoked  me,  and  I  smoked  therd.  My 
fire  and  brimstone  was  eternal  and  outlasted  theirs.  Very 
soon  their  cigars  went  out,  the  house  became  clear  of  smoke, 
I  recovered  from  my  spell  of  faintness  and  preached  on. 

After  the  benediction,  they  assembled  at  the  saloon,  and 
one  of  them  said :  'Boys,  he  has  beat  us  at  our  own  game, 
we  can  smoke  rabbits  out  of  hollows,  but  we  can  not  smoke 
Baptist  preachers  out  of  their  pulpits.  We  have  all  acted 
shamefully  tonight,  and  now  let  us  do  as  we  promised,  go  to 
hear  Parson  Burleson  every  time  he  preaches,  and  behave 
ourselves  like  gentlemen.' 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  89 

Many  in  this  crowd  whom  I  outsmoked,  were  converted 
during  the  meeting,  joined  the  church,  and  spent  lives  of 
Christian  usefulness. 

The  meeting  continued  with  increasing  interest  until  Sun- 
day night,  when  that  grand  lawyer  and  Baptist  preacher, 
Judge  R.  E.  B.  Baylor  came  to  open  district  court  the  next 
morning.  After  my  sermon  he  arose  and  made  a  powerful 
and  touching  appeal,  that  moved  the  vast  congregation  to 
tears. 

^Our  young  brother,'  he  said,  'who  has  been  preaching  to 
you  so  earnestly,  privately  and  publicly,  for  two  weeks  will 
leave  in  the  morning  for  his  home  in  Houston.  The  yellow 
fever  is  raging  in  that  city,  and  this  may  be  our  young  broth- 
er's last  sermon  to  you.  He  has  seemed  to  preach  to  you 
tonight  as  a  dying  man,  to  dying  men.  He  has  proclaimed 
the  truth,  not  perhaps  as  you  would  like  to  hear  it,  but  as  he 
is  commanded  by  the  book  of  eternal  truth.  These  truths  you 
must  accept,  if  you  ever  secure  the  favor  of  your  Heavenly 
Father,  regardless  of  any  preconceived  opinions  you  may  en- 
tertain on  the  plan  of  salvation.  God  saves  people  in  the 
wilds  of  Texas,  just  as  He  saves  them  everywhere,  and  only 
as  He  saves  them  everywhere,  by  grace,  through  faith  in 
Christ.     May  his  burning  words  sink  deep  into  your  hearts.' 

On  the  20th  day  of  December,  1846,  two  years  before,  a 
church  had  been  organized  by  Judge  Baylor,  four  miles  north 
of  Brenham,  and  christened  "New  Years  Creek  Baptist  Church. 
A  few  of  the  members  lived  at  Brenham,  but  no  organization 
had  been  effected. 

As  a  result  of  this  meeting,  the  Baptists  became  quite 
strong  around  Brenham,  and  on  the  25th  of  ISTovember,  1851, 
the  ISTew  Years  Creek  Church  passed  the  following  resolution : 

"Whereas,  In  the  gracious  providence  of  God,  it  has 
become  necessary  to  afford  church  privileges  to'  the  citizens  of 
Brenham,  and  its  vicinity,  and  as  it  is  deemed  inexpedient  at 
present  to  organize  a  regular  church  there; 

Resolved,  That  Brethren  Elliott  Allcorn,  J.  C.  Mundine, 
G.  W.  Buchanan,  and  James  Stockton,  together  with  any 
other  members  of  this  church,  that  may  attend  the  meetings 
in  that  place,  be,  and  they  are  hereby  authorized,  to  sit  in 


90  The  Life  and  "Writings  of 

conference  and  receive  members  into  full  fellowship  of  this 
church,  and  report  said  members  to  our  conference  meetings, 
from  time  to  time  immediately  after  their  reception.  This 
the  parent  church  designated  as  "an  arm." 

One  week  afterward,  on  the  1st  of  December,  1851,  the 
arm  at  Brenham  held  its  first  conference  meeting.  R.  C.  Bur- 
leson was  present,  and  presided,  preached  the  first  sermon  to 
the  "arm,"  placed  the  resolution  passed  by  ISTew  Years  Creek 
Church,  into  enforcement,  saw  the  fruits  of  the  meeting  held 
in  1848,  three  years  before,  gathered  into  an  organization  the 
nucleus  formed,  and  the  foundation  laid  for  the  first  Baptist 
church  of  Brenham,  which  became  one  of  the  leading  churches 
in  the  state. 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  91 


CHAPTER  XII. 


Mr.  Burleson's  Estimate  of  the  Pastorate — Authority 
OF  the  Church — All  Legislation,  Canon,  Creed  or 
Decree  not  Authorized  by  the  Word  of  God  Rejected 
— Opposition  to  a  Union  of  Church  "^ and  State — 
Indeffinitely  Called  to  Houston  Pastorate — Dr.  A. 
J.  Gordon — Diversity  of  Ministerial  Gifts — Mr.  Bur- 
leson Stricken  with  Yellow  Fever,  Cholera — 
Called  to  Pastorate  at  Huntsville,  Ala. — Declines 
— Visits  Independence — Dr.  H.  L.  Graves  Resigns 
Presidency  of  Baylor  University — Mr.  Burleson 
Elected  to  Succeed  Him — Sees  Larger  Opportunities 
FOR  Usefulness  and  Accepts — Resign  at  Houston — 
Resolutions  of  the  Church. 

I  Ji  EW  ministers  ever  lived  who  entertained  a  more 
j  ^^g  exalted  opinion  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
'  ■  ^"  *  had  a  clearer  conception  of  the  authority  and  calling 
of  the  pastor  than  R.  C.  Burleson.  He  imbibed  much  of  the 
sentiment,  and  held  to  many  of  the  opinions  on  this  subject, 
■of  Dr.  E.  G.  Robinson,  his  renowned  preceptor.  Professor  of 
Biblical  Interpretation  in  the  AVestern  Baptist  Theological 
Seminary  at  Covington. 

He  believed  "the  inspired  Scriptures  contained  the 
•supreme  authority  of  Jesus  Christ  in  all  that  relates  to  Chris- 
tian faith  and  practice,  whether  in  ordinance,  doctrine,  a  holy 
life,  or  the  administration  of  church  government.     "These 


02  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

alone  must  be  followed.  All  legislation,  canon,  creed  or  decree, 
springing  from  tradition,  ecclesiastical  authority,  or  usage  of 
antiquity,  not  enjoined  in  the  Scriptures,  is  to  be  resisted  and 
rejected,  from  whatever  source  it  may  come,  either  inside  the 
local  church,  or  outside,  as  intolerable  in  the  faith  and  prac- 
tice of  the  churches. 

That  a  Christian  church  must  be  made  up  of  persons  Avho> 
are  morally  regenerated ;  and  that  it  is  not  a  simple  voluntary 
association,  but  a  body  of  people  called  out  of  the  world  around 
them,  by  Christ's  special  authority,  to  be  a  people  peculiar  to 
himself.  That  the  regeneration  of  each  person  in  the  church,, 
must  be  wrought  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  he  must  be  baptized  on  his 
own  choice  and  covenant  to  maintain  the  gospel  in  its  purity. 

That  the  object  of  a  Gospel  church  is  to  promote  mutual 
growth  in  Truth,  Purity  and  Love,  the  advancement  o£ 
Christ's  cause  on  earth,  the  salvation  of  the  Christless. 

That  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  after  the  apostolic 
appointment,  both  as  it  regards  their  relation  to  themselves 
as  ordinances,  and  to  other  great  Gospel  teachings,  should  be 
practiced  solely  as  God's  Truth  enjoijis.  Water  can  never 
wash  away  the  stain  of  sin,  and  the  Supper  should  only  be 
celebrated  when  the  local  church  is  met  in  one  place  as  a 
body." 

He  earnestly  opposed  all  connection  of  a  Baptist  Church 
with  the  government,  and  resisted  all  discriminations  and  dis- 
tinctions made  by  the  State  to  the  citizens  on  religious  grounds. 
Baptists  protest  that  civil  governments  have  nothing  what- 
ever to  do  with  the  control  of  religious  organizations,  but  tO" 
give  unrestricted  liberty  to  the  citizens  to  "worship  God 
according  to  the  dictates  of  their  conscience,  under  their  own 
vine  and  fig  tree,  where  none  dare  molest  or  make  them  afraid.'' 
That  God  never  designed  that  his  creatures  should  worship 
Him  by  law,  or  according  to  law,  but  to  "render  unto  Ctesar 
the  things  that  were  Caesar's,  and  unto  God  the  things  that 
were  God's."  Mr.  Burleson  insisted  that  this  had  been  the 
contention  of  Baptists  from  the  birth  of  Christ,  along  all  suc- 
ceeding ages  and  times,  and  any  other  position  held  by  a  Bap- 
tist was  nothing  more  and  nothing  less  than  heresy  pure, 
simple  and  unmixed.     For  the  doctrines  of  soul  Liberty,  civil 


Dr.  Eufus  C.  Burleson.  93 

and  religious  freedom,  they  have  suffered  pain  and  penalty 
in  every  form,  even  to  martyrdom,  in  a  thousand  horrible 
■ways. 

He  believed,  also,  that  not  only  individual  Christians 
■should  witness  for  Christ,  but  that  church  members,  in  this 
organic  capacity,  should  dwell,  and  live  in  such  beautiful 
•Christian  harmony  and  fellowship  that  it  would  be  the  most 
•effective  of  all  witnessing,  a  light  set  upon  a  hill. 

Mr.  Burleson  believed,  with  that  prince  of  modern  pul- 
pits. Dr.  A.  J.  Gordon,  of  Boston,  that  "there  is  one  calling 
which  deserves  the  name  of  the  "High  calling  in  Christ  Jesus,'' 
namely,  the  preacher  of  the  Gospel. 

First,  because  it  is  a  ministry  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  of  whom 
Tie  is  a  disciple  and  embassador. 

Second,  it  is  a  ministry  of  the  Gospel  of  the  Grace  of 
God,  of  which  he  is  the  Herald  and  witness. 

Third,  it  is  a  ministry  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  in  which 
Tie  is  a  subject  and  representative. 

Fourth,  it  is  a  ministry  of  the  Church  of  God,  in  which 
Tie  is  the  servant  and  shepherd. 

Fifth,  it  is  a  ministry  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  of  whom  he  is 
an  example,  and  overseer  or  bishop." 

He  also  believed  with  that  great  Southern  preacher  and 
rscholar.  Dr.  R.  B.  C.  Howell,  his  pastor  while  in  iSTashville 
University,  in  the  authority  and  office  of  Deacon. 

"They  are  the  depositories  of  all  the  common  property 
and  funds  of  the  church;  to  supply  the  necessities  of  the  desti- 
tute and  suffering. 

"They  frequently  receive  contributions,  and  disburse 
the  same  at  discretion.  The  whole  church  and  congregation 
must,  therefore,  have,  in  their  incorruptible  integrity,  the 
most  abiding  confidence.     They  must  be  of  honest  report." 

"They  may  be  strict  in  their  morals,  spiritual  in  feeling, 
"kind,  courteous  and  sincere  in  Christian  intercourse,  regular 
and  punctual  in  the  performance  of  all  duties,  and  their 
liearts  deeply  imbued  with  a  love  of  Christ.  But  even  all  this 
is  not  enough  if  not  accompanied  by  orthodoxy  in  their  Chris- 
tian doctrine;  they  must  hold  to  the  mystery  of  faith." 


94  The  Life  axd  Writings  of 

"Deacons  will  be  called  on  to  instruct  the  erring  and 
weak,  to  confirm  the  strong  and  establish  the  wavering.  Thej 
mnst,  therefore,  not  be  unsteady  or  wavering  in  their  tenets, 
disposed  for  any  reason  to  compromise  truth,  nor,  on  the 
other  hand,  dogmatical  and  overbearing  in  its  defense,  but 
gentle,  firm  and  decided." 

Mr.  Burleson  believed  also  and  taught  the  democracy  of 
the  congregation.  When  they  come  together  and  reached 
conclusions,  after  a  prayerful  deliberation,  that  the  voice  of 
the  church  was  supreme,  when  not  contravened  by  the  word 
of  God. 

He  thought,  furthermore,  that  where  there  was  earnest^ 
prayerful  co-operation  by  the  pastor,  deacons  and  congrega- 
tion, that  a  mighty  spiritual  force  was  there  formed,  which 
would  impress  the  most  callous  community  for  good,  and  press 
on  "with  resistless  might,  though  all  the  powers  of  darkness 
should  oppose. 

"Divine  Truth,  in  fact,  all  truth,"  he  said,  "might  be 
temporarily    overshadowed,  and    seemingly    crushed,  but  it 
would  rise  from  the  ashes  of  the  most  despairing  situation^ 
just  as  John  Bunyan  emerged  from  Bedford  jail,  to  illuminate 
the  darkest  recesses  of  earth." 

'Not  only  did  Mr.  Burleson  entertain  this  view  as  to  the 
Divine  authority  of  the  church,  the  high  calling  of  the  min- 
ister and  the  office  of  Deacon,  but  preaching  with  him  was  a 
passion,  from  the  time  he  felt  called  to  proclaim  the  truth, 
until  he  was  settled  in  the  Houston  pastorate. 

While  a  student  in  iN'ashville  Universtiy,  he  filled  regu- 
lar appointments  in  the  suburbs  of  the  city  of  IS^ashville  and 
surrounding  country. 

At  Covington,  while  attending  the  Theological  Seminary,, 
he  had  regular  preaching  stations,  and  notwithstanding  his 
arduous  school  duties,  he  never  failed  to  fill  his  appointments 
Saturday  and  Sunday.  ISTewport  was  one  of  the  stations  sup- 
plied, to  which  he  transferred  his  membership  in  1847.  He 
continued  this  kind  of  missionary  work  after  coming  to  Texas, 
and  preached  in  private  houses  and  communities,  as  the  leisure 
could  be  found,  within  a  radius  of  sixty  miles  around  hi«; 
place  of  residence. 


De.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  95 

In  Houston  he  found  the  church  composed  of  very 
strong,  but  incongruous  elements.  These  were,  however, 
brought  into  beautiful  liarmony,  and  his  work  was  pleasant 
to  himself,  and  acceptable  without  exception,  to  the  members 
of  the  church  and  congregation.  AVhich  is  shown  by  the  fol'- 
lowing  facts  taken  from  the  old  record : 

On  January  3d,  1849,  four  days  before  the  close  of  the 
first  year's  work,  he  was  unanimously  recalled  to  the  pasto- 
rate, for  as  long  as  it  was  agreeable  to  him  to  serve  the  church 
in  that  capacity.  At  the  same  conference  a  resolution  was 
passed  expressing  thanks  to  the  Board  of  Missions  of  the 
Southern  Baptist  Convention,  for  sending  him  to  Houston; 
and  a  committee,  composed  of  Nelson  Cavanaugh  and  R.  S. 
Blount,  appointed  to  transmit  this  resolution  to  the  Board  at 
Marion,  Alabama;  and  with  instructions  to  accompany  the  let- 
ter with  a  check  for  $25.00,  as  a  contribution  from  the  church 
to  its  missionary  enterprises. 

April  2.5th,  1850,  a  resolution  was  passed  reciting  per- 
fect and  entire  satisfaction  with  his  work,  and  expressing  the 
hope  that  he  would  continue  in  the  pastorate.  His  salary  was 
increased,  and  always  promptly  paid  on  the  first  of  every 
quarter. 

He  had  loving  access  to  the  home  of  eveiy  member  of  the 
church  and  congregation,  and  to  the  homes  and  hearts  also  of 
hundreds  of  families  not  Baptists. 

Almost  every  day  he  received  testimonals,  sometimes 
verbal,  and  sometimes  in  the  form  of  affectionate  letters, 
expressing  high  appreciation  of  himself  as  a  man  and  minister, 
and  containing  assurances  of  warmest  personal  regard. 

ISTotwithstanding  his  belief  in  the  divine  institution  of 
the  church,  authority  of  the  pastor,  the  office  of  deacon,  his 
love  for  proclaiming  The  Truth,  his  pleasant  environments 
and  congenial  situation,  Mr.  Burleson  Avas  not  satisfied;  he 
longed  for  a  broader,  wider  field  of  operations,  and  larger 
opportunites  of  Christian  work  and  usefulness. 

He  had  conducted  two  successful  revivals  during  his 
nine  months'  residence  in  Texas,  one  in  Galveston,  and  one  in 
Brenham,  both  begun  and  continued  under  the  most  untoward 
circumstances,  which  impressed  him  that  he  possessed  some 
fitness  for  this  kind  of  religious  work. 


96  The  Life  and  Weitings  of 

On  the  31st  of  August,  1850,  he  handed  in  his  resigna- 
tion as  pastor  of  the  Houston  Church.  Its  consideration  was 
fixed  for  September  2d,  at  wliich  time  the  church  refused  to 
accept  it,  and  begged  him  to  withdraw  it,  if  a  sense  of  duty 
would  allow  him  to  do  so.  He  explained  that  the  course  he, 
had  pursued  was  from  a  sense  of  duty,  as  he  felt  he  could  do 
more  good  as  an  evangelist. 

The  old  record,  which  has  been  closely  examined,  does 
not  mention  that  the  resignation  was  withdrawn,  but  it  is  pre- 
sumed it  was,  for  the  reason  that  he  continued  to  serve  the 
church. 

As  stated,  he  tendered  his  resignation  not  because  he 
was  tired  of  the  ])astorate,  or  this  particular  pastorate,  nor 
because  his  love  for  preaching  was  diminished,  but  to  enter 
the  field  of  evangelism. 

He  believed,  with  that  immortal  Georgia  preacher.  Dr. 
Jesse  Mercer,  that  among  the  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ  there  is 
a  diversity  of  gifts.  Some  are  sent,  like  Paul,  for  the  defense 
of  the  Gospel,  and  the  establishment  of  the  saints  in  the  faith; 
others,  like  J  ames,  to  excite  professors  to  every  good  word  and 
work;  others,  like  Peter,  to  awaken  sinners  to  the  fearful 
consequences  of  "neglecting  so  great  a  salvation."  He  also 
believed,  that  thorough  self-knowledge  was  essential  to  the 
success  of  every  minister;  that  he  must  know  his  peculiar  capa- 
bilities and  gifts,  and  then  study,  not  only  how  to  apply  them, 
but  the  situation  and  field  in  which  they  can  be  most  success- 
fully employed. 

While  serving  as  pastor  of  the  church  in  Houston,  the 
resolution  formed  on  the  day  of  his  graduation,  to  consecrate 
his  life  to  Texas,  was  subjected  to  a  severe  test,  and  in  a  great 
variety  of  ways.  In  the  summer  of  1848  he  was  prostrated 
v«dth  yellow  fever,  during  the  dreadful  epidemic  that  prevailed 
in  that  year,  and  little  hope  was  entertained  of  his  recovery. 

In  1849,  he  fell  helpless  and  insensible  on  the  street,  a 
victim  of  cholera. 

Was  offered  the  pastorate  of  a  wealthy  church  in  Hunts- 
ville,  Alabama,  and  was  asked  if  he  would  entertain  the  offer 
of  Secretary  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Publication  Society,  a 
position  to  which  he  was  subsequently  elected. 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  97 

All  these  scourges,  misfortunes  and  tempting  honors 
would  have  been  enough,  it  seems  to  cause  an  ordinary  man 
to  forget  his  vow,  and  turn  his  back  on  a  people  with  whom 
he  had  resolved  to  rise  or  fall.  ISTot  so  with  Mr.  Burleson. 
When  death  stood  grimly  grinning  over  his  prostrate,  helpless 
form,  when  unsolicited  honors  were  his  to  command,  he 
repeated  his  resolution  to  consecrate  his  life  to  Texas,  and 
added,  in  the  language  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  "ISJ'one  of  these 
things  move  me." 

Since  his  advent  into  the  State,  Mr.  Burleson  had  made 
it  a  point  to  attend  the  annual  commencement  exercises  of 
Baylor  University,  at  Independence,  in  which  he  had  always 
felt  a  deep  interest.     , 

In  June,  1851,  he  was  present,  as  usual,  encouraging  the 
professors  and  stimulating  the  pupils.  Dr.  Henry  L.  Graves, 
who  had  been  president  of  the  institution  since  1845,  tendered 
his  resignation  at  the  close  of  the  exercises  of  the  week.  The 
Trustees  were  called  together  at  once,  and  elected  Mr.  Bur- 
leson to  succeed  him.  He  had  in  no  way  sought  this  distin- 
guished honor,  but  saw  in  it  the  larger  opportunities  for  which 
he  had  longed.  The  Trustees  appointed  a  committee  to 
officially  inform  the  members  of  the  Houston  Church,  and 
lequest  that  their  pastor  be  released  from  any  contract  or 
obligation  under  which  he  might  be  resting. 

The  church  was  called  together  in  special  conference 
July  5th,  1851,  and  the  communication  from  the  Board  of 
Trustees  presented  and  read.  Mr.  Burleson  tendered  his 
resignation,  which  was  accepted,  whereupon  W.  W.  McMahan 
offered  the  following  preamble  and  resolutions : 

Whereas,  The  Rev.  R.  C.  Burleson,  pastor  of  this 
church,  has  been  called  to  the  high  and  responsible  position 
of  the  presidency  of  Baylor  University,  situated  at  Indepen- 
dence, Texas,  and  having  tendered  his  resignation  as  pastor, 
and  intimated  to  us  that  he  would  accept  the  call;  therefore, 
be  it 

Resolved,  That  we  feel  it  to  be  our  duty  to  acquiesce  in 
the  choice  our  pastor  has  made.  Though  the  sacrifice  on  our 
part  be  irreparable,  yet  it  is  our  duty  to  yield  without  a  mur- 


98  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

mur,  to  the  loss,  for  tlie  greater  good  which  may  flow  to  our 
beloved  denommation. 

Resolved,  Second,  That  we  earnestly  hope  that  he  may 
prove  himself  to  be  a  blessing  to  Baylor  University,  over 
which  he  is  called  to  preside,  and  in  the  hands  of  Almighty 
God  a  blessing  to  the  rising  generation,  is  the  prayer  of  this 
church. 

Resolved,  Third,  That  our  retiring  pastor,  R.  C.  Burleson, 
be  invited  to  remain  with  us,  preach  and  preside  OA^er  our  con- 
ference and  business  meetings,  as  moderator,  until  his  duties 
shall  call  him  to  Independence."  * 

Mr.  Burleson  was  much  attached  to  this  church  and 
these  people.  He  preached  as  many  sermons  during  his  long 
ministry  as  perhaps  the  average  preacher,  but  this  may  be  said 
to  be  his  first  and  last  pastorate. 

True,  he  served  some  churches  in  Mayhew  Prairie,  Mis- 
sissippi, in  1844-5,  in  an  official  capacity,  but  here  his  time 
was  devoted  to  teaching,  and  preaching  was  the  only  capacity 
in  which  he  served  them. 

He  was  loth  to  leave  this  his  first  love,  and  only  a  sense  of 
duty,  impelled  by  a  desire  to  do  more  for  the  people  of  the 
State  he  loved,  than  was  offered  in  that  position,  led  him  to  do 
so. 

Even  then  he  was  moved  by  the  same  holy  emotion  of  the 
Savior,  when  taking  leave  of  the  apostles,  "I  will  not  leave 
you  comfortless,"  "I  will  pray  the  Father  and  He  shall  give 
you  another  comforter."  He  recommended  as  a  suitable  man 
for  that  pulpit.  Rev.  Thomas  J.  Chilton,  of  Kentucky,  an  ex- 
member  of  congress,  and  a  distinguished  preacher. 

The  church  acted  on  Mr.  Burleson's  suggestion,  and 
called  Mr.  Chilton  to  the  pastorate.  He  accepted,  and  was 
formally  installed  as  such  December  6th,  1851. 

And  thus  ended  the  loving,  tender  relations  between  this 
popular  preacher  and  pastor  and  these  people,  after  covering 
three  and  one-half  years,  which  was  unruffled  by  a  single 
inharmonious  or  discordant  incident. 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Buklesox.  99 


CHAPTER  Xlll. 


Wisdom  of  Texas  Pioneer  Baptists  in  Bounding  Educa- 
tional Institutions — Union  Association  Organized — 
Texas  Baptist  Education  Society  Formed — Objects 
Delayed  by  the  Mexican  Invasion — Baptist  Univer- 
sity Projected — Charter  Issued  bv  the  Republic  or 
Texas— Its  ^N'ame — Beautiful  Story  of  Rev.  "Wm.  M. 
Tryon  and  Judge  R.  E.  B.  Baylor — Towns  Competing 
FOR  Location — School  Located  at  Independence — 
Subscription  List — Dr.  Henry  L.  Graves  First  Presi- 
dent. 


^^  HATEVER  may  be  said  in  derogation  of  the  foresight 
'^^rsQ  and  good  sense  of  Texas  pioneer  Baptists,  inattention 
P*^^^^J  to  the  importance  of  educational  matters  cannot  be 
charged  against  them. 

Since  the  patriots  had  made  pro^dsions  most  magnificent 
in  proportions,  in  the  Constitution  of  1836,  for  a  system  of 
public  education,  which  will  be  more  fully  noticed  in  a  suc- 
ceeding chapter,  they  realized  that  steps  must  be  taken  with 
the  view  of  founding  a  great  Baptist  university,  where  the 
morals  of  their  children  would  be  cultivated  as  well  as  the 
minds,  and  their  education  not  entirely  committed  to  the 
State.  The  subject  had  engaged  the  minds  of  Baptist  min- 
isters and  prominent  laymen  from  the  very  incipiency  of 
Texas  Baptist  missions;  but  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  civil 
and  religious  restrictions,  if  not  positive  inhibitions,  were 
insuperable,  until  the  country  achieved  its  independence,  and 


100  The  Life  and  "Writings  of 

a  government  was  organized  guaranteeing  to  all  the  fullest 
religious  liberty, 

Travis  Baptist  Churcli  was  organized  by  Judge  R.  E.  B. 
Baylor  in  1839,  the  Church  at  Independence  by  Rev.  Thomas 
Spraggins  in  1839,  and  the  Church  at  La  Grange  by  Rev.  T. 
W.  Cox,  in  the  same  year. 

A  call  was  issued  for  a  convention,  to  be  composed  of 
delegates  from  all  the  churches  in  the  State,  for  the  purpose  of 
organizing  an  association.  Only  the  above  named  churches, 
with  an  aggregate  membership  of  forty-five,  responded  to  the 
call.  J.  J.  Davis,  John  MclSTeese  and  Thomas  Trenmier  were 
elected  to  represent  the  Independence  Church.  W.  H.  Cleve- 
land, J.  W.  Collins  and  James  Hall  represented  the  Church  at 
Travis;  R.  E.  B.  Baylor,  T.  W.  Cox,  J.  L.  Davis  and  J.  L. 
Lester  the  church  at  La  Grange. 

These  delegates  assembled  in  Travis.  Austin  County, 
Thursday,  October  8th,  1840,  and  organized  the  Union  Bap- 
tist Association,  the  first  Baptist  organization  in  the  State, 
except  a  local  church.  T,  W.  Cox  was  made  Moderator, 
J.  W.  Collins,  Secretary;  R.  E.  B.  Baylor,  Corresponding 
Secretary. 

Education  in  general,  and  a  Baptist  school  of  high 
grade  in  particular,  were  some  of  the  subjects  to  be  considered 
at  this  meeting,  and  it  was  expected  that  a  plan  for  a  univer- 
sity would  be  formulated. 

Owing,  however,  to  the  small  attendance,  it  was  deemed 
wise  to  postpone  the  question  for  future  consideration. 

The  second  session  of  the  association  was  held  at  La 
Grange,  October  7th,  1841.  A  larger  number  of  churches 
were  represented  in  this  meeting,  with  a  largely  increased  con- 
stituency, and  after  an  exhaustive  discussion  of  the  subject, 
in  all  its  limits  and  bearings,  "The  Texas  Baptist  Education 
Society"  was  organized,  from  which  all  Baptist  educational 
institutions  in  the  State  have  sprung,  as  will  be  hereafter  seen. 

The  members  of  this  society  were  much  enthused  on  the 
subject  of  education,  and  cherished  the  hope  that  they  would 
he  able  to  take  immediate  steps  toward  executing  their 
purpose. 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  101 

The  invasion  of  Texas  b}'  a  large  force  from  Mexico 
under  command  of  General  Woll,  in  18-12,  threw  the  country 
again  into  a  state  of  war,  the  issues  involved  and  the  results 
of  which  completely  absorbed  public  attention,  and  taxed  the 
resources  of  the  people  to  such  an  extent  that  all  religious  and 
educational  enterprises  were  held  in  abeyance. 

Every  man  capable  of  bearing  arms  was  in  the  Texas 
army,  and  determined  to  resist  unto  death  the  re-establish- 
ment of  Mexican  despotism,  if  this  should  be  the  price  of  per- 
petuating their  liberties,  secured  through  the  struggles  and 
sacrifices  of  a  campaign  of  nearly  twenty  years. 

Owing  to  the  disturbance  thus  created,  only  informal 
meetings  of  the  Educational  Society  were  held  in  1841,  1842, 
1843  and  1844  at  which  little  was  accomplished,  or  even 
attempted,  in  the  way  of  executing  the  great  purpose  for 
which  it  was  formed. 

In  October,  1845,  the  Society  held  its  first  regular  ses- 
sion since  its  organization  in  1841.  The  zeal  of  its  promoters 
was  unabated,  however,  and  the  work  was  taken  up  where  it 
had  been  left  off  four  years  before.  Judge  R.  E.  B.  Baylor 
was  elected  President;  Wm.  M.  Tryon,  Vice-President;  B.  B. 
Baxter,  Recording  Secretary;  J.  G.  Thomas,  Corresponding 
Secretary,  and  James  L,  Farquhar,  Treasurer.  A  Board  of 
Managers  w^as  created,  composed  of  Hosea  Garrett,  K.  T. 
Byars,  Richard  Ellis,  Stephen  Williams  and  Z.  IST.  Morrell. 

At  this  meeting  it  was  resolved  to  found  a  Baptist  Uni- 
versity in  Texas,  upon  a  plan  so  broad  that  the  requirements 
of  existing  conditions  would  be  fully  met,  and  that  would  be 
susceptible  of  enlargement  and  development  to  meet  the 
demand  of  all  ages  to  come. 

Rev.  William  M.  Tryon  and  Judge  R.  E.  B.  Baylor  were 
appointed  a  committee  to  prepare  a  charter  for  the  institution, 
and  secure  its  passage  by  the  Congress  of  the  Republic. 

We  here  digress  to  make  a  statement,  and  pause  to  recite 
an  incident,  which  shows  William  M.  Tryon  and  R.  E.  B. 
Baylor  to  be  worthy  of  all  the  confidence  ever  reposed  in  them 
by  the  Baptists  and  the  people  of  Texas  generally.  In  this  age 
of  inordinate  ambition,  and  in  which  a  spirit  of  selfishness  is 
injected  into  almost  every  transaction,  public  and  private,  the 


102  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

incident  will  read  like  a  romance,  or  a  fabrication  in  order  to 
nnduly  exalt  a  favorite  character. 

The  early  Baptists  had  their  disagreements  and  intellect- 
ual conflicts.  Some  of  their  business  meetings  were  stormy 
and  tempestuous.  The  leaders  were  intellectual  giants,  and 
their  convictions  matured  with  deliberation,  and  were,  there- 
fore, very  decided.  They  were  contended  for  earnestly  and 
courageously,  but  always  on  their  merit,  in  a  spirit  of  fairness, 
and  with  no  thought  of  subserving  a  selfish  end.  Selfish  con- 
siderations were  subordinated  to  the  general  good.  If  a  sacri- 
fice was  to  be  made,  every  man  begged  that  he  be  allowed  to 
make  it,  and  that  some  one  else  be  selected,  if  a  distinguished 
honor  was  to  be  conferred.  There  never  lived  on  this  earth 
a  people  who  more  beautifully  exemplified  the  doctrine  of  the 
apostle,  "in  honor  preferring  one  another," 

On  one  occasion,  during  a  session  of  the  trustees,  there 
was  a  pressing  necessity  for  $500.  T.  J.  Jackson  arose  and 
subscribed  the  whole  amount.  This  gave  offense  to  every 
other  member  of  the  board.  They  said  he  was  "greedy,"  and 
insisted  on  giving  a  part,  or  all  of  the  amount,  themselves. 

It  frequently  occurs  in  legislative  and  deliberative  bodies, 
when  the  opportunity  is  offered  to  make  some  reputation,  or 
to  acquire  some  advantage,  men  are  on  their  feet  instantly,  and 
there  is  a  scramble  for  recognition  from  the  presiding  officer 
of  the  assembly.  When,  however,  money  for  any  purpose  is 
needed,  it  matters  little  how  laudable  the  object,  nor  how 
urgent  and  pressing  the  situation  may  be,  men  have  to  be  fre- 
quently singled  out  and  asked  if  they  will  not  give.  This  is 
very  justly  called  the  high-pressure  method  of  collecting. 

In  the  early  days,  when  money  was  to  be  raised  by  the 
Trustees,  there  was  a  scramble  for  recognition  from  the  Presi- 
dent, every  member  anxious  to  give  his  part,  and  even  more, 
if  the  other  members  would  permit  him  to  be  guilty  of  such  a 
breach  of  early  Texas  ethics.  These  statements  will  be  ques- 
tioned, perhaps,  but  they  are  from  personal  observation,  made 
as  a  little  boy,  wdien  I  followed  my  venerated  father  to  the 
meetings  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Baylor  University. 

Judge  Baylor  was  an  eminent  lawyer,  well  known  to 
politicians  and  officials  of  the  Republic,  and  the  preparation  of 


De.  Eufus  C.  Bueleson.  103 

the  charter  came  strictly  within  the  scope  of  his  profession, 
and  it  seems  that  this  feature  of  the  committee's  duty  would 
have  devolved  very  naturally  on  him.  But  not  so.  Rev. 
William  l.I.  Tryon  wrote  the  instrument  thus  demonstrating 
the  versatility  of  his  talent,  leaving  the  blank  for  the  insertion 
of  the  name.  The  document  was  submitted  to  Judge  Baylor 
j'or  reWsion  and  amendments.  After  considering  it  ^^dth 
much  care,  he  approved  the  instrument  as  originally  drafted, 
and  suggested  that  the  bJank  left  for  the  name  be  filled  with 
"Tryon  University." 

Just  here  is  to  be  recorded  one  of  the  sublimest  acts  of 
unselfishness  to  be  found  in  the  annals  of  Texas  history.  Both 
Judge  Baylor  and  Mr.  Tryon  were  men  of  great  wisdom,  and 
gifted  with  uncommon  foresight.  Representing  the  Baptists 
of  Texas,  they  were  reasonably  well  assured  that  they  were 
building  an  institution  that  would,  perhaps,  stand  to  bless  and 
benefit  mankind  through  all  the  unfolding  years  of  time,  and 
that  undying  renown  would  be  the  heritage  of  the  man  whose 
name  was  placed  in  that  blank. 

"If  glory  was  a  bait  that  angels   swallowed, 
How  then  should  souls  allied  to  sense  resist  it." 

These  patriot  fathers  must  have  been  closely  related  to 
the  gods.  A  contest  arose  between  them,  not  for  position, 
advantage  or  wealth,  but  to  avoid  those  allurements  of  honor, 
so  •  fascinating  to  ordinary  mortals,  and  confer  them  on 
another. 

Mr.  Tryon  proposed  that  the  institution  be  christened 
"Baylor."  Judge  Baylor  objected,  and  suggested  "Tryon." 
Mr.  Tryon  did  not  consent  to  this  suggestion,  stating  that  he 
had  been  actively  advocating  the  establishment  of  the  school 
for  years,  and  if  it  were  named  in  his  honor,  some  might  think 
his  efl:"orts  had  been  in  behalf  of  his  own  glory. 

Judge  Baylor  remarked  that  he  had  been  in  politics  in 
both  Kentucky  and  Texas,  and,  as  is  always  the  case,  political 
prejudices  had  been  engendered,  which  might  seriously  retard 
the  enterprise  in  its  incipiency. 

This  controversy,  involving  only  the  avoidance  of  honor, 
was  prolonged  and  remained  unsettled,  so  Judge  Baylor  after- 


104  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

wards  stated,  until  some  other  members  of  the  Education 
Society  were  called  in,  who  instructed  the  committee  to  insert 
the  name  of  "Baylor  University"  in  the  blank.  ISTot  that 
Judge  Baylor  was  held  in  higher  esteem  by  the  members  of 
the  society  and  friends  of  the  institution  than  Mr.  Tryon,  but 
for  the  reason  that  the  unanimous  verdict  of  the  denomination 
was,  that  this  honor  was  justly  due  one  of  these  enterprising, 
self-denying  and  consecrated  brethren,  and  only  one  could  be 
the  recipient  of  this  compliment  at  their  hands. 

There  are  few  incidents  in  history  more  truthfully  con- 
firming the  beautiful  apothegm  of  Mathew  Pryor,  "and  vir- 
tue is  her  own  reward."  For  while  the  institution  bears  the 
honored  name  of  Baylor,  yet  the  entire  absence  of  the  self- 
seeking  spirit  on  the  part  of  William  M.  Tryon  on  that  his- 
tory making  occasion,  inseparably  connects  his  name  with  that 
of  Baylor.  And  he  "^vill  receive  like  honor  through  all  the 
ceaseless  ages  to  come. 

The  charter  was  applied  for,  and  issued  by  the  Republic 
of  Texas,  February  1st,  1845.  Among  the  wise  and  liberal 
provisions  of  the  charter,  the  following  Board  of  Trustees 
were  named :  R.  E.  B.  Baylor,  J.  G.  Thomas,  A.  G.  Haynes, 
Hosea  Garrett,  A.  C.  Horton,  J.  L.  Lester,  R.  B.  Jorman, 
James  Huckings,  Nelson  Kavanaugh,  O.  Drake,  Eli  Mercer, 
Aaron  Shannon,  J.  L.  Farquhar,  R.  S.  Armstead,  William  M. 
Tryon,  and  E.  W.  Taylor. 

It  provided  for  a  preparatory  department  to  the  univer- 
sity; also  a  female  department,  and  such  other  features  of  an 
institution  of  its  grade  as  the  Trustees  in  their  judgment  might 
ordain. 

The  presiding  officer  of  the  school  was  styled  President, 
other  members  of  the  faculty  Professors,  and  the  head  of  the 
female  department,  Principal. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  Trustees  was  called  to  be  held 
at  Independence,  May  7th,  1845.  The  charter  provided  that 
a  quorum  must  consist  of  a  majority  of  the  board.  At  this 
meeting  there  was  not  a  quorum  present,  and  the  board 
adjourned  to  meet  at  Brenham,  May  15th. 

The  board  was  temporarily  organized  at  this  meeting. 
Maj.  Albert  G.  Haynes  moved  that  Judge  R.  E.  B.  Baylor  be 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  105 

elected  President.  This  motion  prevailed,  and  Maj.  Haynes 
went  down  in  history  as  having  made  the  first  motion  ever 
entertained  by  that  noble  body, 

A  committee  was  appointed  to  draft  by-laws,  modes  of 
procedure  and  rules  of  order  for  its  government.  At  7  o'clock 
p.  m.  the  board  reconvened.  Judge  Baylor  being  absent,  H. 
Garrett  was  elected  President  pro  tem. 

The  subject  of  a  location  for  the  school  was  discussed, 
and  a  motion  made  to  decide  that  question  at  that  time.  This 
motion  was  defeated,  for  the  reason  that  the  places  that  would 
become  candidates  for  the  location  were  not  apprised  that  the 
question  would  be  settled  at  that  time. 

The  board  adjourned  to  meet  at  Mount  Gilead,  October 
the  13th,  and  public  notice  given  that  the  question  of  locating 
the  school  would  be  determined  at  that  time. 

This  meeting  was  held  pursuant  to  adjournment,  and 
proposals  for  location  received.  Travis,  Huntsville,  Shan- 
non's Prairie  and  Independence  entered  the  contest  and  filed 
their  bids. 

Aaron  Shannon,  E,.  G.  Jarman,  J.  G.  Thomas  and  jS^elson 
Kavanaugh  Avere  appointd  on  a  committee  to  examine  the 
propositions  of  these  towns,  and  report  to  the  board  the  result 
of  their  labor.  At  the  afternoon  session  this  committee 
reported  as  follows: 

"Your  committee,  having  carefully  examined  the  pro- 
posals as  presented,  and  having  fixed  the  valuation  of  all  uncul- 
tivated lands,  except  town  lots,  at -seventy -five  cents  per  acre, 
and  the  town  property  at  what  such  property  might  sell  for  in 
cash,  find  the  aggregate  result  as  follows : 

The  subscription  from  Travis,  $3,586.25;  Huntsville, 
$5,417.75;  Grimes'  Prairie,  $1,725.00;  Independence,  $7,- 
925.00;  all  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 

Money  was  exceedingly  scarce  in  Texas  during  these 
early  days,  and  not  only  were  private  business  transactions 
largely  conducted  by  barter,  but  subscriptions  to  public  enter- 
prises were  often  made  in  kind;  the  donor  giving  such  things 
as  would  serve  a  practical  purpose.  As  will  be  seen  by  the 
report  of  the  committee  appointed  to  examine  the  bids  of  the 
towns  competing  for  the  location  of  the  proposed  school,  this 


106  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

was  the  case  in  this  instance.     A  very  small  part  of  the  bids 
were  in  cash. 

To  illustrate  this  point,  a  subscription  of  one  of  the  towns 
that  had  entered  the  race  for  the  location  is  here  appended, 
which  will  be  read  with  interest : 

One  Section  of  Land. 

One  Yoke  of  Oxen. 

Five  Head  of  Cattle. 

One  Cow  and  Calf. 

One  Bay  Mare. 

One  Bale  of  Cotton. 

Twenty  Days'  Hauling. 

Cash,  $200. 

Independence  at  that  time  was  quite  a  center  of  wealth 
and  refinement,  and  something  also  of  an  educational  center. 
The  natural  beauty  and  healthfulness  of  the  place  was  unsur- 
passed. These  considerations,  coupled  with  the  fact  that  the 
financial  ofl'er  was  almost  twice  as  large  as  any  other  place, 
induced  the  Trustees  to  fix  the  seat  of  the  university  in  that 
charming  and  erstwhile  glorious  village. 

The  question  of  location  having  been  disposed  of,  the 
Board  proceeded  to  organize  permanently,  a  pro  tern  organi- 
zation only,  having  been  all  that  had  been  effected  up  to  this 
time.  Rev.  William  M.  Tryon  was  elected  president,  E.  W. 
Taylor,  secretary,  and  A.  G.  Haynes,  treasurer. 

The  Board  held  its  third  session  in  December,  1845,  and 
after  considering  the  question  of  a  domicile  for  the  school, 
concluded  it  would  be  unwise  to  undertake  to  erect  a  building, 
owing  to  the  financial  stringency  of  the  times,  and  that  a  two- 
story  frame  building  which  was  included  in  the  Independence 
subscription,  could  be  used  for  the  opening.  A  committee  was 
appointed  to  take  up  the  matter  of  a  more  suitable  and  com- 
modious structure,  as  soon  as  the  business  conditions  of  the 
country  were  improved. 

Rev.  Henry  L.  Graves  was  elected  first  president  of  Bay- 
lor University,  and  Henry  F.  Gillette  principal  of  the  prepa- 
ratory department. 

Dr.  Graves  was  born  in  Yanceyville,  ISTorth  Carolina, 
February  22d,  1813.    He  was  a  graduate  of  the  University  of 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  BuRLESoisr.  107 

j^orth  Carolina,  and  filled  the  chair  of  Mathematics  in  Wake 
Porest  College.  In  1838  he  moved  to  Georgia  and  took  charge 
■of  a  school  at  Cave  Springs.  In  1841  he  took  a  course  in 
Hamilton  Theological  Seminary,  ISTew  York. 

Returning  to  Georgia  in  1843,  he  taught  a  classical  school 
in  Covington,  until  1846;  when  he  was  elected  as  above  stated, 
to  the  presidency  of  Baylor  University.  He  departed  from 
Covington  for  Texas  immediately,  and  arrived  in  Galveston 
December  4th,  1846.  Dr.  Graves  possessed  those  qualifica- 
tions and  advantages  that  fitted  him  for  the  position  to  which 
he  had  been  elected.  He  enjoyed  both  literary  and  theological 
training,  and  graduated  in  both  departments.  Dr.  Graves 
was  not  only  the  first  president  of  Baylor  University,  but  was 
also  the  first  president  of  the  Baptist  State  Convention,  or- 
ganized in  1848.  He  died  December  4,  1881,  in  Brenham, 
Texas. 

Henry  F.  Gillette,  the  first  principal  of  the  preparatory 
department  was  quite  a  celebrated  early  Texas  educator,  hav- 
ing taught  near  Washington-on-the-Brazos  for  several  years. 
In  1844  he  moved  to  Independence  and  founded  Indepen- 
dence Academy,  the  best  known,  and  most  successfully  con- 
ducted school  in  the  state. 

Mr.  Gillette  was  bom  in  Granbury,  Connecticut,  July  16, 
1815,  and  came  to  Texas  in  1831,  when  a  mere  lad  only  16 
years  old.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Trinity  College,  Hartford, 
and  educated  for  the  Episcopal  ministry.  His  health  was 
greatly  impaired  by  close  application,  and  sedantary  habits, 
lie  dismissed  this  purpose  from  his  mind. 

A  more  useful  character  never  lived  in  Texas.  After 
letiring  from  the  school  room  at  Independence,  he  settled  on 
an  estate  on  Galveston  bay,  and  in  1866  founded  Bayland 
Orphans  home,  which  blessed  Texas  for  nine  years  under  his 
wdse  and  parental  management. 

Mr.  Gillette  was  a  warm  and  trusted  personal  friend  of 
General  Houston  and  President  Anson  Jones,  both  of  whom, 
during  their  administrations  offered  him  any  position  he  might 
prefer,  but  he  declined  all  political  preferment,  and  chose  the 
more  unostentatious  duties  of  life.  He  promoted  all  educa- 
tional enterprises  projected  in  his  day,  and  in  this  direction 


108  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

devoted  his  energies  and  fine  ability.    He  died  in  1896,  full  of 
honors,  at  the  ripe  age  of  81. 

On  his  retirement  from  active  participation  in  the  affairs 
of  the  school,  the  trustees  to  testify  their  high  appreciation  of 
the  service  rendered,  adopted  the  following  resolutions : 

"Eesolved,  By  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Baylor  Univer- 
sity in  regular  session  assembled,  that  our  thanks  are  justly 
due,  and  are  hereby  cheerfully  tendered  to  Prof.  Henry  F. 
Gillette,  for  his  wise  and  faithful  service  to  our  cherished  in- 
stitution during  its  infancy. 

Resolved,  Second,  That  whatever  measure  of  success  it 
may  have  attained  is  to  be  credited  to  his  learning,  judgment 
and  tact  as  a  teacher,  and  that  the  best  wishes  of  this  Board  for 
his  success  will  follow  him  in  every  good  work  he  may  here- 
after undertake." 

The  school  was  opened  on  the  18th  of  May,  1846,  with 
24  pupils.  Prof.  Gillette  had  entire  charge,  and  was  the  only 
teacher  until  October  of  that  year,  at  which  time  the  Trustees- 
employed  an  assistant. 

On  the  4th  of  February,  1847,  Henry  L.  Graves  the 
president,  arrived  at  Independence,  and  assumed  the  responsi- 
bilities of  his  office. 

Up  to  this  time,  the  trustees  had  reserved  the  right  to  have 
a  voice  in  disciplinary  and  internal  management  of  the  school,, 
but  at  a  meeting  held  June  1st,  1848,  this  authority  was 
•abrogated,  and  the  sole  government  and  management  was 
offered  the  president  for  two  years.  He  to  select  his  own  as- 
sistants, receive  all  tuition  fees,  and  become  responsible  for 
the  salaries.    President  Graves  acceded  to  the  proposition. 

The  attendance  increased,  though  by  no  means  as  rapidly 
as  was  expected.  Agents  were  employed  to  solicit  subscrip- 
tions of  money  or  material,  and  in  1849  a  two-story  stone 
building  40x50  feet,  was  commenced  and  completed  the  fol- 
lowing year. 

Permanent  scholarships  were  provided  for,  by  the  Trus- 
tees as  a  means  of  commending  the  school  to  public  patronage 
and  favor.  The  price  of  permanent  scholarships  was  fixed  at 
$500,  family  at  $100,  church  scholarships  at  $200,  individual 
at  $100,  charity  scholarships  at  $50. 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Bukleson.  109 

The  trustees  were  convinced  that  the  receipts  from  tuition 
fees  were  then  inadequate,  and  would  for  some  time,  under  the 
most  favorable  circumstances,  be  insufficient  to  support  the 
faculty.  A  resolution  was  therefore  passed,  that  a  strong 
effort  be  made  to  raise  an  endowment  fund  of  $10,000.  The 
interest  from  this  sum,  would  enable  the  board  to  compensate 
the  president,  and  the  tuition  fees  could  be  applied  toward 
the  payment  of  his  assistants.  Six  agents  were  appointed,  viz : 
H.  L.  Graves,  J.  W.  D.  Creath,  J.  H.  Stribling,  R.  C.  Burle- 
son, G.  W.  Baines,  and  J.  H.  Taliaferro.  These  agents  were 
instructed  to  sell  scholarships,  while  prosecuting  the  work  of 
raising  the  endowment. 

The  Board  of  Trustees  was  a  noble,  liberal,  broad-gauged 
body  of  men,  and  from  the  beginning  had  sacrificed  and  strug- 
gled most  willingly,  for  the  success  of  the  school.  They  had 
very  little  encouragement  up  to  this  time,  but  were  now  more 
hopeful,  as  faint  glimpses  were  caught  of  the  silver  lining 
that  every  cloud  is  said  to  have. 

This  hope  was  short  lived  however,  and  discouragements 
thickened.  At  the  next  meeting,  held  on  the  13th  of  June, 
1851,  Prsident  Graves  tendered  his  resignation.  An  effort 
was  made  to  induce  him  to  withdraw  it,  but  he  insisted  on  its 
acceptance,  which  was  done,  and  a  vote  of  thanks  tendered 
him,  for  the  able  manner  in  which  he  had  presided  over  the 
institution  from  February  4th,  1S47,  to  June  13th,  1851. 


110  The  Life  and  Writings  of 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


Baylor  University  Born  in  a  Storm — Santa  Fe  Expedi- 
tion  SOMERVILLE  CAMPAIGN BaTTLE  OF  MiER— TeXAS 

A  ISTew  Country — Unsettled  Conditions — Slow  Pro- 
gress OF  all  Schools — Judge  A.  S.  Lipscomb — Per- 
sonal Popularity  —  Nominates  Mr.  Burleson  for 
President  —  Providence  Leading  —  Mr.  Burleson's 
First  Ambition — States  Conditions  of  His  Accept- 
ance— State  Convention — Mass  Meeting^Confers 
WITH  Other  College  Presidents — Outlines  His  Pol- 
icy FOR  Government  of  the  School. 


3  AYLOK  UNIVEKSITY  may  be  said  to  have  been 
born  in  a  storm,  and  lived  in  a  storm  up  to  the  time 
Dr.  Burleson  was  placed  at  the  helm  in  1851.  The 
determination  to  establish  it,  was  reached  by  the  Texas  Baptist 
Education  Society  in  1841,  only  five  years  after  the  close  of 
the  Revolution  between  Texas  and  Mexico  in  1836,  and  before 
the  excitement  following  that  passionate  period  had  fully  sub- 
sided. During  this  time  also,  occurred  the  most  serious  con- 
flicts and  collisions  between  the  early  settlers  and  Indian  tribes. 
The  Presidential  election  of  that  year  was  after  a  most  stormy 
campaign  which  diverted  the  public  mind  from  religious  and 
educational  affairs  to  politics,  and  was  disquieting  from  every 
point  of  view. 

The  sad  fate  of  those  who  went  on  the  Santa  Fe  Expedi- 
tion was  still  fresh  in  the  minds  of  the  people.  The  Somer- 
ville  campaign,  the  battle  of  Mier  and  the  Snively  Expedition 
were  distressing  events  in  Texas  history,  of  recent  occurrence. 

The  school  was  located  in  1845,  formally  opened  in  1846^ 
while  the  heated  and  tumultuous  campaign  resulting  in  the 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson. 


Ill 


annexation  of  Texas  to  the  United  States,  was  distracting  the 
attention  of  the  people.  It  had  scarcely  emerged  from  the 
feverish  conditions  engendered  by  this  controversy,  when  war 
was  declared  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico,  March 
11th,  1846. 

During  that  sanguinary  conflict,  not  only  Baylor  Univer- 
sity, but  every  other  moral  and  educational  enterprise  strug- 
gled for  bare  existence. 

Added  to  all  these  untoward  conditions,  it  will  be  remem- 
bered that  Texas  was  a  new  country,  very  sparsely  settled,  and 


A.  S.  LIPSCOMB. 


every  interest,  civil,  religious,  financial  and  commercial,  was 
in  an  embryonic  state.  ISTothing  was  established  as  in  older 
states,  not  even  the  government  itseK. 

For  these  reasons,  and  owing  to  these  unsettled  condi- 
tions, the  institution  had  not  grown  as  rapidly,  met  the  de- 
mands of  the  people  as  readily,  nor  fulfilled  its  mission  in  the 
world  as  quickly,  as  its  wise  and  unselfish  projectors  had  hoped. 

Judge  Abner  S.  Lipscomb  had  just  become  a  member  of 
the  Board  of  Trustees;   he  was  not  only  one  of  the  most  emi- 


112  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

nent  lawyers  in  the  state,  but  having  held  himself  aloof  from 
all  the  acrimonious  political  controversies  of  these  times,  was 
perhaps  the  most  popular  man  in  Texas.  A  brief  notice  of 
his  life,  is  worthy  of  insertion  in  this  record.  Judge  Lips- 
comb was  born  in  South  Carolina  in  1789,  and  came  to  Texas 
in  1839,  when  he  was  50  years  old.  Lie  moved  from  South 
Carolina  to  Alabama  in  1810  where  he  commenced  the  prac- 
tice of  law  after  having  studied  under  John  C.  Calhoun.  He 
was  district  judge  in  1819,  and  afterward  from  1823  to  1835, 
chief  justice  of  the  supreme  court  of  that  state.  He  was 
appointed  Secretary  of  State  by  President  M.  B.  Lamar,  after 
his  arrival  in  Texas,  and  served  during  his  administration,  and 
later  on  elected  an  associate  justice  of  that  first  famous 
supreme  court  of  Texas,  composed  of  "R.  T.  Wheeler,  John 
Hemphill  and  Abner  S.  Lipscomb.  Their  decisions  and 
opinions  are  held  in  the  very  highest  esteem  by  members  of 
the  legal  profession,  and  their  fame  as  lawyers  has  crossed 
state  lines,  and  like  their  opinions  has  become  the  common 
property  of  the  people  of  the  United  States.  And  even  more, 
their  opinions  are  quoted  by  English  Barristers,  as  embodying 
the  highest  legal  expressions  upon  all  questions  decided. 

It  was  most  fortunate  therefore  that  Judge  Lipscomb 
was  a  member  of  the  Board  at  this  crisis  in  the  history  of  the 
institution,  and  most  fortunate  also,  that  when  the  Board  met 
June  13th,  1851,  to  elect  Dr.  Graves'  successor,  that  Judge 
Lipscomb  placed  the  name  of  Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson  in  nomi- 
nation for  the  presidency  of  Baylor  University.  This  fact 
alone,  not  only  gave  Mr.  Burleson,  who  was  now  only  27 
years  old,  prestige,  but  was  an  endorsement  of  the  school, 
which  coming  from  a  man  of  Judge  Lipscomb's  fame  and 
popularity,  was  re-assuring  to  the  Trustees  and  friends  of  the 
institution,  who  had  labored  so  assiduously  for  its  success,  and 
inspired  a  degree  of  confidence  in  the  minds  of  the  people  of 
Texas,  that  commendatory  words  from  no  other  man  in  the 
state  would  have  done. 

Mr.  Burleson's  election  being  without  dissent  or  opposi- 
tion, he  appeared  before  the  Board,  and  signified  his  accept- 
ance of  the  high  trust  and  grave  responsibility. 

Here  is  the  culmination  of  a  story  that  those  familiar 
with  the  circumstances,  must  clearly  see  is  the  direction  of 


De.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  113 

Providence,  and  in  which  Mr.  Burleson  is  the  leading  human 
character.  As  already  noticed,  Mr.  Burleson's  first  ambition 
and  intention  was  to  study  law,  and  strive  to  become  not  only 
a  great  jurist,  but  a  great  statesman,  and  with  this  in  view, 
a  course  of  study  was  accordingly  arranged.  After  his  con- 
version however  in  1839,  he  felt  impressed  to  preach  the 
Gospel,  abandoned  his  original  intention,  and  changed  his 
course  of  study. 

While  a  student  in  ]Srashville  University  in  1810,  his 
health  became  greatly  impaired,  and  he  was  carried  home  to 
die.  When,  however,  contrary  to  expectations,  he  regained  his 
health,  he  wanted  to  return  to  Nashville  University,  but  his 
father  protested,  thinking  his  health  would  again  fail  under 
the  j)ressure  of  close  application,  and  confinement.  As  a 
compromise  measure  he  engaged  to  teach  in  Mississippi,  from 
1840  to  1845.  This  experience,  when  his  tastes  and  predilec- 
tions were  in  a  formative  state,  cultivated  and  developed  that 
disposition  to  instruct,  which  after^vard  became  in  him,  an 
overwhelming,  consuming  desire.  And  while  he  never  enter- 
tained any  thought  of  abandoning  the  ministry,  he  decided  that 
education  should  be  the  leading  feature  in  the  work  of  his  life. 

If  his  father  had  allowed  him  to  re-enter  the  university 
at  ISTashville,  he  would  never  have  taught,  and  but  for  thi^i 
experience  in  the  school  room,  love  for  the  work  would  not 
have  been  acquired;  but  for  this  love  for  the  work,  he  never 
would  have  become  president  of  Baylor  University.  All  this 
was  in  answer  to  his  prayers,  offered  to  Almighty  Grod  (during 
numerous  seasons  of  fasting)  to  lead  and  direct  him  into  fields 
of  labor,  in  which  God's  name  might  be  glorified,  and  his  life 
most  usefully  spent. 

In  answer  to  prayer,  God  placed  His  hand  on  Rufus  C. 
Burleson  in  the  Piney  woods  of  Fulton  county,  Mississippi, 
in  1841;  led  him  back  to  north  Alabama  in  1845;  to  Coving- 
ton, Kentucky,  in  1846;  to  Texas  in  1848;  preserved  his  life 
in  1849  when  he  was  stricken  down  with  a  malignant  malady; 
led  him  to  Independence  in  1851,  and  placed  him  where  he 
would  not  be  overlooked,  when  his  head  and  hand  were  needed 
to  direct  the  affairs  of  Baylor  University,  an  infant  Texas  insti- 
tution. 


114 


The  Life  and  Writings  of 


Dr.  Burleson  had  attended  every  annual  commencement 
of  the  school,  from  the  year  of  his  arrival,  and"  was  familiar 
with  the  plans  of  its  government  and  control.  He  had  also 
studied  as  he  would  a  text-book,  the  laws  by  which  Brown, 
Madison,  and  other  successful  universities  were  controlled,  and 
saw  at  a  glance,  some  of  the  obstacles  in  the  way  of  the  har- 
monious and  successful  management  of  Baylor.  The  Trustees 
had  reserved  some  rights  in  disciplinary,  and  other  matters 
which  did  not  come  properly  within  the  scope  of  their  author- 
ity, and  in  order  that  this  school  might  be  placed  on  the  high 
plane  of  other  great  institutions,  and  that  clashes  and  con- 


■ON  THE  OLD  COLLEGE  CAMPUS  AT  INDEPENDENCE. 

The  Building  in  which  De.  Burleson  opened  the  Male  Depaetment  of  Bayloe 
Uniteesity,  September  1st,  1851. 

ilicts  between  faculty  and  trustees  might  be  avoided,  to  the 
greatest  extent  possible,  he  offered  certain  conditions  of  his 
acceptance  of  the  Presidency  to  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

First.  That  all  disciplinary,  and  internal  matters  of  the 
school  be  arranged  and  settled  by  the  Faculty,  and  all  external 
and  business  affairs  be  managed  by  the  Trustees. 

Second.  That  the  university  should  never  go  in  debt, 
and  that  a  model  should  be  agreed  on  for  buildings,  which 
could  be  carried  out  and  completed  part  at  a  time,  and  yet  form 
one  harmonious  whole  when  completed. 

Third.     That  an   endowment   of   ten   thousand   dollars 


De.  Kufus  C.  Buki^eson.  115 

should  be  i'aised  at  once  and  placed  at  interest,  and  that  this 
amount  be  increased  to  fifty  thousand  dollars,  at  the  rate  of  ten 
thousand  dollars  every  five  years,  and  that  the  Trustees  pro- 
vide adequate  buildings  as  they  were  needed. 

Tourth.  That  the  male  and  female  pupils  were  to  be 
separated,  and  the  two  departments  to  be  conducted  separately. 

Fifth.  That  as  president  of  the  school,  he  was  not  to  be 
required  to  give  up  preaching  the  gospel,  at  such  times  and  in 
such  places  as  would  not  interfere  or  conflict  with  any  official 
duties. 

The  Board  of  Trustees  after  consultation,  accepted  all 
these  conditions,  as  reasonable  and  wise,  and  on  the  13th  day 
of  June,  1851,  Dr.  Burleson's  official  connection  with  Baylor 
University  commenced. 

The  Baptist  State  Convention  was  then  in  session  at  In- 
dependence, and  delegates  representing  many  of  the  best 
churches  in  Texas  were  present.  The  Trustees  decided  that  it 
was  an  opportune  time  to  place  some  of  its  policies,  especially 
that  of  raising  an  endowment  fund,  before  the  denomination. 
After  advising  wdth  the  officers  and  leaders  of  the  convention, 
an  agreement  was  reached  that  a  great  mass  meeting  would  be 
held  in  the  interest  of  the  institution,  on  the  night  of  June  the 
14th.  Invitations  were  issued  to  the  people  of  Washington 
county  regardless  of  denominational  connections,  to  attend. 
To  the  students  of  history  it  is  again  a  pleasure  to  introduce 
Judge  Abner  S.  Lipscomb,  whose  friendship  was  so  valuable 
to  the  institution  in  its  infancy  and  early  struggles.  Judge 
Lipscomb,  Judge  R.  E.  B.  Baylor,  and  Rev.  J.  W.  D.  Creath, 
were  appointed  to  address  the  meeting,  lay  the  plans  of  the 
Board  before  the  people,  and  make  an  appeal  for  subscrip- 
tions to  the  endowment  fund. 

The  good  effects  of  this  meeting  were  numerous.  Presi- 
dent Burleson  felt  less  like  he  was  leading  a  forlorn  hope,  or 
climbing  aboard  a  sinking  ship.  The  Trustees  became  still 
more  hopeful,  and  the  friends  at  large,  much  more  encouraged. 

As  a  result  of  the  appeal  made  for  subscriptions  to  the 
endowment  fund,  five  thousand,  three  hundred  and  fifty  dol- 
lars was  raised  in  cash  and  pledges,  the  largest  amount  per- 
haps, that  had  ever  been  raised  in  Texas  at  one  time,  for  edu- 
cation or  any  kindred  purpose. 


116  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

In  this  age  of  large  private  fortunes,  immense  aggrega- 
tion of  wealth,  and  the  liberal  donations  to  universities  and 
all  eleemosynary  institutions,  this  amount  may  seem  insigni- 
ficant. But  when  the  deranged  currency  system  of  the  state 
at  that  time,  is  considered,  the  scarcity  of  money,  the  disturbed 
conditions  through  which  the  state,  it  may  be  said,  was  still 
passing,  and  the  still  more  important  fact,  that  the  people  with 
few  exceptions,  were  not  established  in  business,  the  amount 
is  magnificent.  A  compliment  to  the  earnestness  and  power 
of  the  speakers,  and  a  splendid  tribute  to  the  liberality  and 
self-sacrificing  nature  of  those  who  gave  it. 

Notwithstanding  that  Dr.  Henry  L.  Graves,  the  retiring 
president,  left  the  institution  his  parting  benediction  and  bless- 
ing, and  the  fact  that  Dr.  Burleson,  the  president-elect, 
brought  with  him  much  learning  and  enthusiasm  to  his  new 
position,  and  notwithstanding  there  had  been  a  forward  move- 
ment all  along  the  line,  there  were  trustees  and  some  friends 
full  of  pessimism,   as  to  its  future  success  and  prosperity. 

They  argued,  that  while  some  progress  had  been  made, 
it  was  little  more  than  a  beginning;  the  buildings  were  inad- 
equate and  unsuitable;  there  was  no  prospect  of  obtaining 
scientific  and  pholosophical  apparatus;  and  not  even  the 
nucleus  of  a  library  had  been  formed.  Even  the  learning  and 
enthusiasm  of  the  new  president  did  not  remove  the  feeling 
of  doubt;  for  they  contended  that  while  perhaps  he  was  the 
best  man  for  the  place  whose  services  were  available,  still  'he 
was  comparatively  a  young  man,  with  no  experience  as  a 
college  president.  These  whisperings  of  discontent  and 
demoralization,  reached  Dr.  Burleson's  ear,  but  did  not  dis- 
courage him,  though  he  was  fully  aware  of  all  the  difficulties 
that  were  in  the  way  of  the  success  of  the  school. 

One  of  the  mottoes  that  he  had  adopted  in  early  life  was, 
"A  resolute  mind  is  omnipotent." 

He  had  the  theory  and  outline  of  a  great  university 
clearly  in  his  mind,  but  understood  that  there  was  a  vast  dif- 
ferance  between  practical  and  theoretical  knowledge,  and 
however  plausible  a  proposition  might  be,  unless  it  was  sus- 
ceptible of  demonstration,  it  was  utterly  useless  in  the  practical 
affairs  of  life.  The  present  eniergency  was  not  a  time  for 
experiments,  and  the  application  of  Utopian  plans.     Mistakes 


Dk.  Eufus  C.  Burleson.  117 

must  be  avoided,  as  far  as  human  wisdom  could  accomplisli 
that  end. 

To  prepare  himself  for  every  issue'that  might  arise  in  his 
administration,  he  sought  counsel  from  educators  of  known 
ability,  and  acknowledged  success. 

Letters  were  addressed  to  Dr.  R.  E.  Pattison,  president 
of  the  Seminary  at  Covington,  Kentucky;  Dr.  Francis  Way- 
land,  president  of  Brown  University;  Dr.  Basil  Manly,  pres- 
ident of  Alabama  University,  asking  for  advice  and  sug- 
gestions, as  to  how  to  proceed  in  building  up  a  great  Baptis; 
University  in  Texas. 

All  these  distinguished  scholars  and  college  presidents 
responded  by  making  timely  suggestions,  and  furnishing  val- 
uable literature  covering  this  field  of  practical  learning.  All 
concurred  in  the  opinion,  that  in  an  effort  to  build  up  a  school 
in  a  new  country,  where  the  population  was  a  heterogeneous 
mass  with  unsettled  and  conflicting  interests,  and  with  diver- 
gencies of  opinion  upon  all  questions,  with  society  crude  and 
unorganized,  it  would  be  necessary  to  remodel  and  modify  the 
regulations  and  courses  of  study  in  older,  and  more  thoroughly 
organized  and  completely  equipped  institutions.  They  ad- 
vised that  in  ordaining  rules  and  policies,  that  such  only  should 
be  adopted,  as  were  susceptible  of  being  ultimately  developed 
into  the  system  of  well-understood  college  law. 

After  studying  this  literature,  and  considering  all  these 
suggestions,  the  following  outline  of  the  policy  for  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  institution  was  decided  on : 

First:  The  government  of  Baylor  University  shall  be 
strictly  parental  to  all  her  students,  in  sickness  or  in  health, 
in  or  out  of  school,  and  ever  an  alma  mater,  and  not  injusta 
noverca. 

Second:  The  president  and  faculty  will  seek  by  every 
possible  means,  to  guard  the  health,  and  cultivate  the  morals, 
as  well  as,  develop  the  intellect  of  the  student,  that  they  may 
become  useful  citizens  in  church  and  state. 

Third :  All  hazing,  acts  of  vandalism,  disregard  of 
property  rights,  shall  be  placed  under  an  eternal  ban,  as 
crimes  against  the  college  government,  and  well-ordered 
society. 


118         "  The  Life  and  Wkitings  of 

.Fourth  :  The  president  and  faculty  will  seek  to  impress 
upon  every  student,  the  fact  that  every  rule  is  made  for  his 
good,  and  its  rigid  enforcement  to  promote  his  welfare. 

Fifth :  Adopt  such  a  curriculum,  prescribe  such  a  course 
of  studies  and  such  modes  of  teaching  as  are  calculated  to 
arouse  thought,  and  develop  the  habit  and  faculty  of  think- 
ing, rapidly,  profoundly  and  correctly. 

Sixth :  In  addition  to  the  usual  course  of  college  studies, 
give  special  attention  to  English  literature,  and  the  history  of 
our  own  great  men,  so  as  to  fire  the  soul  mth  love  for  God, 
home  and  native  land. 

Seventh:  The  president  and  faculty  will  treat  all 
students  exactly  alike,  regardless  of  their  circumstances  in 
life ;  and  personal  favoritism  and  partiality  will  be  eliminated 
entirely  from  all  regulations  governing  the  school. 

Eighth :  The  mottoes  of  Baylor  University  shall  be, 
"Pro  Ecclesia,  Pro  Texana;"  "Dulce  et  Decorum,  pro  patria 
Mori." 

Having  reached  an  understanding  with  the  Trustees,  as 
to  a  division  of  rights  and  authority  between  the  President  and 
themselves,  and  adopted  the  outline  of  a  code  for  the  Univer- 
sity, Dr.  Burleson  now  commenced  to  cast  about  for  a  corps 
of  teachers  and  assistants. 

He  called  to  his  assistance.  Professor  William  L.  Foster, 
Dr.  T.  C.  Foster,  Bev.  Horace  Clark,  Miss  Hattie  Davis  and 
Miss  Mary  Davis.  In  making  his  selections  of  teachers  he 
was  very  fortunate,  as  all  developed  peculiar  fitness  for  their 
positions,  and  worthy  of  the  trust  and  confidence  thus  reposed 
in  them. 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  119 


CHAPTER  XV. 


First  Session  of  Baylor  Under  Dr.  Burleson's  Presidency 
— Difficulties  Encountered — School  Reported  to  be 
Dead — Method  of  Correcting  Report — Dr.  Burleson 
A  Born  Advertiser — First  Catalogue  Issued — Rev. 
James  Huckins  Appointed  General  Financial  Agent 
— His  Letter  to  the  Trustees — President  Burleson 
Impresses  the  Trustees  with  the  Stupendous  Work 
OF  Building  a  Great  University. 

HE  first  session  of  Baylor  University  under  Dr.  Bur- 
leson's administration  opened  September  the  1st, 
1851,  under  many  difficulties.  He  seemed  to  be 
in  his  native  element,  however,  when  combating  obstacles. 
He  fought  for  every  victory  he  ever  achieved  in  life,  and  no 
success  ever  came  to  him  except  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet. 

When  confronted  with  a  stupendous  obstruction  his 
slender  form  seemed  to  be  suddenly  transformed  into  the 
proportions  of  a  mighty  giant,  and  his  entire  moral  and  intel- 
lectual nature  a  mighty  flame  of  unconquerable  resolution. 

The  impediments  in  the  way  of  the  success  of  the  opening 
session  were  numerous.  The  only  buildings  were  a  small 
two  story  house,  erected  in  1845  by  the  friends  of  Independ- 
ence Academy,  30x50  feet,  and  a  two  story  stone  building, 
built  in  1849  by  the  trustees.  The  most  serious  trouble,  how- 
ever, was  the  impression  that  had  become  current  in  every 
portion  of  the  state,  that  owing  to  the  resignation  of  Dr.  H. 
L.  Graves  and  faculty,  the  school  was  dead,  and  would  never 
perhaps  be  resuscitated. 

The  first  Avork  of  the  president  and  friends  of  the  insti- 
tution therefore,  was  to  counteract  this  erroneous  impression, 


120  The  Life  and  AYeitings  of 

but  jiist  how,  was  a  most  perplexing  problem.  Texas  at  that 
time  was  entirely  without  railroads,  telegraph  or  telephone 
lines,  had  no  daily  papers,  and  very  few  weeklies,  and  the  only 
postal  facilities  or  means  of  communication  were  by  stage,  or 
horse-back  mail  routes.  The  public  thoroughfares  had  re- 
ceived little  or  no  attention  from  state  or  county  governments. 
Very  few  creeks  were  spanned  by  bridges,  and  the  cumbersome 
ferry  boat  was  the  only  means  of  crossing  the  larger  rivers. 
It  was  a  crisis  however  in  the  history  of  the  school,  and  some- 
thing must  be  done.  Dr.  Burleson  was  equal  to  the  emer- 
gency, and  a  plan  was  quickly  devised. 

Circulars  were  printed  announcing  the  opening  of  the 
school,  personal  letters  were  written  to  leading  men  in  every 
settlement  and  community,  and  the  services  of  a  half  dozen 
young  men  accustomed  to  horse  back  riding  and  familiar  witJi 
the  country,  were  secured.  These  half  dozen  couriers  were 
started  in  as  many  directions,  and  each  assigned  to  separate 
sections  of  country,  so  that  no  two  would  cover  the  same  ter- 
ritory. 

These  young  men  knew  all  the  "trails,"  "fords,"  and 
short  routes.  If  the  water  courses  happened  to  be  swollen, 
their  hardy  ponies  were  spurred  into  the  water  and  swam 
to  the  opposite  shores.  They  went  on  the  wings  of  the  wind, 
and  in  a  few  days  every  Baptist  family  in  the  state,  as  well  as 
many  who  were  not  Baptists,  were  in  possession  of  a  circular 
or  letter,  stating  the  status  of  educational  affairs  at  Independ- 
ence; that  not  only  would  Baylor  University  open  on  the 
1st  day  of  September,  with  a  full  corps  of  teachers,  but  that 
board  could  be  secured  at  $8.00  per  month,  which  included 
lodging  and  table  accommodations,  fuel,  lights,  laundry,  medi- 
cines and  nursing  in  case  of  sickness.  This  great  sacrifice  was 
made  by  the  heroic  people  of  the  erstwhile  delightful  town 
of  Independence,  to  encourage  attendance,  and  thus  enable 
the  infant  institution  to  recover  its  fallen  fortunes,  and  get 
squarely  on  its  feet. 

While  these  couriers  were  out.  Dr.  Burleson  continued 
the  work  of  putting  the  buildings  in  the  best  possible  condi- 
tion, a  work  to  which  he  had  devoted  himself  with  the  resident 
trustees,  during  the  entire  summer. 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson. 


121 


He  decided  to  separate  the  male  and  female  departments. 
The  buildings  were  situated  one  thousand  yards  apart  on  op- 
posite hills.  The  male  department  would  be  conducted  in  the 
stone  building  known  as  Graves  Hall,  in  honor  of  the  first 
president,  and  the  female  department  conducted  in  the  frame 
building  used  bj  Independence  Academy. 

The  work  of  the  special  couriers  was  partially  successful 
in  removing  the  wrong  impressions  that  had  gained  currency 
abroad,  but  not  in  time  for  many  students  who  had  expected 
to  attend  to  make  the  needed  preparation  and  reach  Inde- 
pendence and  enter  at  the  beginning  of  the  term. 

The  school  opened  however  with  a  total  enrollment  of 
fifty-two;  twenty-seven  in  the  male,  and  twenty-five  in  the 
female  department. 


OLD  BAYLOR  UNIVERSITY  BUILDINGS  AT  INDEPENDENCE. 

From  the  pulpit,  in  the  press,  and  on  the  platform  much 
discussion  had  been  indulged  in  as  to  the  practicability  or  suc- 
cess of  any  effort  to  build  up  an  institution  of  high  grade  in 
Texas  at  that  time.  The  consensus  of  opinion  was  that  society 
was  too  crude,  and  the  attention  and  mind  of  the  people  too 
much  absorbed  in  civil  and  political  questions,  giving  form  and 
stability  to  the  government,  building  homes  and  establishing 
themselves  in  business,  for  that  time  and  thought  to  be  de- 
voted to  an  institution  of  learning,  necessary  to  its  success. 
It  w^as  contended,  that  the  task  when  undertaken  by  Baptists 
omng  to  their  democratic  form  of  government,  possessing  no 
executive  authority,  relying,  only  on  the  constraining  powers 


122  The  Life  and  Weitings  of 

of  voluntary  action  to  execute  plans,  was  utterly  hopeless  and 
useless. 

It  was  also  argued  that  Methodists,  Episcopalians,  Pres- 
byterians and  Catholics,  in  view  of  their  centralized  ecclesias- 
tical forms,  would  succeed  in  all  their  educational  enterprises 
far  better  than  Baptists.  This  fallacious  and  deceptive  posi- 
tion, seems  to  have  been  accepted  by  some  of  the  former 
friends  of  Baylor  University,  and  nothing  but  a  successful 
venture  could  be  expected  to  remove  it.  Indeed  the  faculty 
had  been  tainted  with  this  view,  and  justified  themselves  in 
entertaining  it  by  the  history  of  Baylor,  and  the  small  attend- 
ance upon  the  school  at  that  time. 

They  went  to  Dr.  Burleson  with  their  demoralization  and 
disaffection,  and  told  him  that  he  had  made  a  fatal  mistake 
in  leaving  a  flourishing  church,  to  go  aboard  a  sinking  ship, 
and  advised  that  president  and  faculty  alike  resign  before 
being  engulfed.  This  did  not  swerve  him  one  hair's  breadth 
from  his  purpose,  but  as  in  every  emergency  of  his  life,  he 
went  bravely  and  earnestly  to  work,  not  only  in  the  class  room, 
but  in  writing  personal  letters  to  prominent  men,  and  sending 
circulars  all  over  Texas,  presenting  the  true  condition  of  the 
school,  and  imploring  them  to  stand  by  it  in  this  supreme 
moment  of  its  history,  or  else  Baptist  institutions  in  Texas 
would  be  doomed  for  a  century,  and  possibly  for  all  time  to 
come.  The  few  students  in  school  were  valuable  allies  in  this 
campaign.  They  wrote  to  their  friends  at  home,  and  espec- 
ially all  former  students  of  their  acquaintance,  urging  them  to 
return,  that  there  had  never  been  such  enthusiasm  in  study, 
such  love  and  harmony  in  social  intercourse,  and  that  Baylor 
University  under  the  Presidency  of  Dr.  Burleson,  would  be- 
come a  grand  success  and  some  day  the  glory  of  the  young 
Lone  Star  State. 

This  method  of  advertising  the  school  did  not  cease  with 
the  opening.  The  students  and  faculty  continued  to  write 
personal  letters,  and  Dr.  Burleson  advertised  it  liberally 
through  the  meager  channels  available,  wrote  articles  for 
the  press,  correcting  the  mistake  that  Baylor  University  was 
dead,  showing  that  it  was  not  even  in  a  moribund  condition, 
but  with  a  faculty  unsurpassed  by  many  older  and  better 


Dk.  Kufus  C.  Burleson.  123 

'established  institutions,  was  prepared  to  offer  first  class  educa- 
tional advantages. 

Dr.  Burleson  was  a  born  advertiser,  and  this  quality  stood 
liim  in  splendid  stead  all  through  life.  What  he  wrote  was 
read,  and  what  he  said  was  remembered.  This  plan  of  an- 
nouncing the  condition  of  the  school,  and  commending  it  to 
the  people  of  Texas,  was  his  origination.  And  while  it  may 
be  said  to  have  been  simple,  very  natural,  and  in  fact  the  only 
thing  that  could  have  been  done  under  the  circumstances, 
yet  its  wisdom  consists  in  this  fact.  All  great  propositions 
are  simple  when  demonstrated.  Many  men  if  confronted  with 
his  difficulty  would  have  folded  their  arms,  lost  heart,  and 
failed  to  do  anything.  The  plan  succeeded,  and  very  soon 
students  commenced  to  return,  and  in  June,  1852,  there  were 
ninety-one  male  and  seventy-five  female  students  on  the  col- 
lege roll,  a  total  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-six. 

During  this  year  a  modest  catalogue  was  issued,  the  first 
ever  issued  by  any  school  in  the  state.  This  contained  some- 
thing of  a  financial  exhibit  of  the  receipts  and  disbursements 
of  money  during  the  session,  and  showed  President  Burleson's 
compensation  for  the  year  to  be  exactly  $332.00.  His  pro- 
portion of  the  money  received  would  have  been  more  than 
this  sum,  but  he  made  a  financial  sacrifice,  owing  to  the  dis- 
content existing  in  the  faculty  with  reference  to  their  pay. 
Professors  B.  S.  Fitzgerald  and  S.  G.  O'Bryan,  both  of 
whom  were  accomplished  scholars  and  teachers  of  experience, 
had  been  added  to  the  teaching  force,  and  nothing  was  more 
apparent  than  that  the  income  from  tuition  receipts,  could 
not  be  relied  on  to  adequately  compensate  the  members  of  the 
faculty.  President  Burleson  pressed  on  the  trustees  the  im- 
portance and  urgent  necessity  of  raising  the  endowment,  stip- 
ulated as  one  of  the  conditions  upon  which  he  accepted  the 
presidency.  He  volunteered  to  represent  the  board,  in  pre- 
senting the  matter  to  the  people  of  Texas,  and  suggested  that 
Hev.  James  Huckins  be  employed  as  a  general  agent  to  raise 
the  endowment.  The  board  acted  on  President  Burleson''^ 
suggestion,  at  a  meeting  held  on  the  2 2d  of  June,  1852,  and 
■opened  correspondence  with  Rev.  Huckins  immediately,  wlio 
was  then  in  the  states.  He  was  perfectly  familiar  with  the 
history  of  the  institution,  and  knew  also  every  member  of  the 


124  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

Board.  He  knew  them  to  be  as  noble  spirits  as  ever  served 
any  institution,  but  all,  except  Judge  Abner  S.  Lipscomb  wli«> 
bad  been  a  trustee  of  Alabama  University,  entirely  without 
experience  in  the  management  of  schools.  Some  members  of 
the  Board  were  fine  scholars,  all  well  educated,  but  learning 
was  not  the  only  quality  required  to  launch  a  great  educational 
enterprise  upon  a  successful  career,  as  stated,  when  Dr.  Burle- 
son took  charge,  the  trustees  had  reserved  some  authority  ia 
the  internal  and  disciplinary  government  of  the  students.. 
When  shown  and  convinced  by  him  that  this  was  not  properly 
within  their  province,  this  authority  was  relinquished,  and  they 
devoted  themselves  entirely  to  the  business  affairs  of  the 
school. 

But  even  in  this  matter  they  had  made  some  mistakes^ 
had  disregarded  the  advice  of  experienced  educators,  and  im 
making  expenditures  had  acted  on  the  assumption  that  agents 
who  collected  money  were  under  no  sort  of  responsibility  tO" 
the  donors  for  its  judicious  use.  Dr.  Huckins  knew  that  agents 
frequently  receive  donations  for  a  specific  purpose,  and  are- 
expected  to  see  that  the  money  is  used  to  execute  the  purpose- 
for  which  it  was  contributed.  The  acts  of  the  Board  he  alst> 
knew  had  not  been  reduced  to  business  methods,  or  properly 
systematized,  so  while  he  was  a  devoted  friend  to  the  school,, 
and  was  willing  to  accept  the  agency,  yet  he  learned  lessons  of 
wisdom  from  President  Burleson  in  reference  to  the  govern- 
ment of  the  University,  and  accepted  the  agency  on  the  con- 
ditions laid  down  in  the  following  communication : 

Hon.  K.  E.  B.  Baylor,  Kev.  G.  W.  Baines,  Hon.  A.  G.  Haynes., 

Hon.  W.  Holmes,  Committee  of  the  Trustees  of  Baylor 

University : 

Deak  Brethren  :  Your  proposition  to  employ  me  as 
agent  of  Baylor  University,  at  a  salary  of  $1,000.00  per  year 
and  traveling  expenses,  has  been  very  carefully  considered,, 
and  I  am  now  prepared  to  accept  it  on  certain  conditions. 

In  making  these  conditions,  I  disclaim  anything  like  dic- 
tation, impeachment  of  your  acts,  or  to  question  your  motives. 
I  have  no  such  feeling;  but  as  the  great  burden  of  collecting; 
funds  devolves  on  me  as  agent,  and  as  the  donors  will  look  to> 
me  in  some  degree  for  the  judicious  expenditure  of  their 
money,  you  must  excuse  these  conditions : 


Dk.  Eufus  C.  Burleson.  125 

First:  That  you  make  no  further  appropriations  until 
all  the  liabilities  of  the  school  are  liquidated. 

Second:  That  you  make  immediate  efforts,  as  soon  as 
the  debts  of  the  institution  are  paid,  to  build  suitable  edifices, 
for  rooms  to  accommodate  the  students  of  the  collegiate  de- 
partment, and  also  a  boarding  house. 

Third :  That  at  the  close  of  the  present  session,  or  your 
contract,  you  either  sell  the  property  you  have  purchased  for 
a  boarding  house  or  rent  it,  and  apply  the  income  to  the  pay- 
ment of  interest  due  from  the  Trustees  to  the  endowment 
fund. 

Fourth  :  That  whatever  is  done  in  future  by  way  of  ex- 
penditure by  the  Trustees,  so  far  as  the  funds  department  is 
concerned,  shall  be  done  by  funds  subscribed,  and  given  ex- 
pressly for  that  purpose,  as  no  money  as  yet  received  was  sub- 
scribed for  this  department. 

Fifth :  That  a  more  judicious  and  economical  system  of 
expenditures  be  adopted,  and  that  a  statement,  or  memoranda 
of  your  past  disbursements,  be  collected  and  arranged  in  a  book 
by  your  Treasurer,  so  as  to  show  the  plain  standing  of  all  your 
financial  transactions. 

Should  these  conditions  be  satisfactory  to  you,  and  if 
they  will,  in  your  opinion  be  satisfactory  to  the  Board,  I  am 
willing  should  Providence  permit,  to  serve  you.  If  they  are 
not,  then  I  can  not  accept  the  agency.  I  am  accountable,  as 
all  agents  are,  in  no  small  degree  for  a  wise  and  judicious  ex- 
penditure of  all  money  collected.  Donors  look  to  the  agent; 
if  they  complain,  they  complain  to  the  agent.  The  secretaries, 
or  chief  agents  of  all  our  great  Baptist  missionary  and  educa- 
tional societies,  are  the  responsible  parties  in  the  eyes  of  the 
public.  The  Boards  are  hardly  known  in  such  matters.  So 
is  the  financial  agent  of  any  great  body.  They  are  the  instru- 
mentalities by  which  the  funds  are  raised,  and  they  can  not 
avoid  the  responsibility  connected  with  their  disbursement. 
If  wasted,  or  injudiciously  used,  they  are  made  to  suffer. 

May  I  therefore  again  repeat,  that  I  make  these  sugges- 
tions in  love  and  affection.  I  regret  exceedingly  some  ex- 
penditures that  have  been  made,  but  in  future  I  trust  more 
<care  will  be  exercised,  and  that  we  will  be  prepared  to  have 


126  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

every  act  scrutinized  by  a  candid  public  and  coming  gener- 
ations. Sincerely  Yours, 

JAMES  HUCKINS. 

The  Board  of  Trustees  were  successful  business  men,  and 
thoroughly  conscientious,  but  failed  in  a  measure,  to  compre- 
hend the  relations  between  an  agant  and  the  public,  or  those 
that  existed  between  the  agent  and  trustees.  They  had  not 
up  to  this  time  fully  appreciated  the  fact  that  all  money  re- 
ceived by  them  was  a  trust  fund  for  the  honest  and  judicious 
handling  of  which,  not  only  the  agent  was  morally,  if  not 
legally  accountable,  but  President  Burleson  also. 

As  an  educational  document  therefore  it  was  very  val- 
uable. More  so,  since  it  was  in  harmony  with  nearly  every 
principle  laid  down  by  Dr.  Burleson,  defining  the  duties  of 
President  and  Trustees,  as  a  condition  of  his  acceptance.  They 
appreciated  the  wisdom  of  all  Dr.  Huckins'  conditions,  ac- 
cepted his  terms,  and  commissioned  him  as  the  general  finan- 
cial agent  of  the  University.  He  was  instructed  to  solicit  sub- 
scriptions : 

Pirst :  To  pay  all  debts  of  the  University  that  had  been 
incurred. 

Second :  To  erect  suitable  and  commodious  dormitories, 
so  much  needed  for  the  male  department. 

Third :  Por  the  Presidential  endowment,  and  other 
chairs  in  the  faculty. 

Pourth :  To  make  much  needed  repairs  and  enlarge,  and 
improve  the  accommodations  in  the  female  department. 

Pifth :  To  collect  dues,  and  sell  scholarships,  for  which 
the  Board  had  provided. 

Sixth :  To  submit  quarterly  reports  to  the  Treasurer  of 
the  Board,  showing  all  subscriptions,  and  collections,  and  from 
what  source  derived. 

Seventh :  To  make  a  special  effort  to  secure  subscrip- 
tions to  the  endowment  of  the  chair  of  Physical  Science,  which 
had  been  filled  by  Prof.  J.  B.  Stiteler. 

President  Burleson  presented  the  importance  of  forming 
the  nucleus  of  a  college  library  to  the  Trustees,  and  also  the 
indispensable  neccessity  of  an  ample  supply  of  chemical  and 
philosophical    apparatus.     Acting    on    his    suggestion    Dr. 


De.  Rufus  C.  Buklesox.  127 

Huckins,  the  agent,  was  instructed  to  make  an  appeal  to  the 
people  for  standard  books,  and  the  means  with  which  to  pur- 
chase the  apparatus.  Dr.  Huckins  being  then  as  noticed  in 
the  states,  this  contract  was  made  by  correspondence,  and  he 
went  immediately  to  work.  Whatever  of  unwisdom  may  have 
characterized  the  acts  of  the  Trustees  on  former  occasions, 
and  on  other  matters,  they  made  no  mistake  in  this  instance. 
The  agent  was  a  loyal  and  devoted  friend  not  only  to  Baylor 
University,  but  all  Texas.  He  canvassed  the  state  in  1838 
and  '39  in  the  interest  of  the  Home  ]\lission  Society,  with  the 
view  of  collecting  data  as  to  the  needs  of  the  state  for  that 
great  organization  of  world  wide  usefulness.  He  had  lived  in 
Texas  since  1840,  and  from  two  years  traveling,  and  eleven 
years  residence,  he  was  prepared  to  present  the  cause  he  repre- 
sented from  personal  knowledge,  which  gave  him  a  very  de- 
cided advantage. 

Dr.  Huclvins  was  a  fine  scholar,  an  eloquent  preacher,  a 
happy  extemporaneous  speaker  and  a  man  of  tireless  energy. 
He  possessed  much  personal  magnetism,  dauntless  courage, 
and  was  very  resolute  in  purpose.  All  these  qualities  fitted 
him  for  the  position  of  general  financial  agent  of  the  school, 
above  almost  any  man,  whose  services  could  have  been  secured. 
He  passed  to  his  reward  August  14th,  1863. 

The  Board  of  Trustees  held  frequent  sessions  during  the 
summer,  and  Dr.  Burleson  was  in  almost  constant  communi- 
cation with  them.  He  impressed  them  with  the  stupendous 
work  of  building  a  great  institution  of  learning  anywhere, 
and  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances,  but  especially 
in  a  new  country,  like  Texas,  was  at  that  time. 

Personal  and  financial  sacrifices  would  have  to  be  made, 
herculean  toil  performed,  sleepless  vigilance  exercised,  and  a 
high  order  of  business  wisdom  and  acumen  required.  Judge 
Lipscomb  also  lectured  the  Board  frequently,  not  only  coun- 
seling them  very  wisely,  but  giving  them  many  chapters  from 
his  experience,  as  a  trustee  of  Alabama  University.  By  these 
means,  the  Trustees  had  a  clearer  conception  of  their  duties, 
authority,  prerogatives  and  privileges.  More  than  this,  the 
situation  was  much  more  hopeful  and  reassuring  from  the 
fact  that  there  was  a  clear  understanding  between  the  Presi- 


128 


The  Life  and  Writings  oh- 


dent  and  the  Board,  a  perfect  understanding  between  the  agent 
and  the  Trustees  also,  and  a  beautiful  degree  of  harmony  pre- 
vailing between  President,  Trustees,  General  Agent  and  Fac- 
ulty. All  these  conditions  presaged  success,  and  the  victories 
to  be  achieved  in  coming  years. 


Dr.  Kufus  C.  Buklesoa'.  129 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


Effects  of  the  Revolutions  Between  Texas  and  Mexico 
IN  1836,  AND  Between  the  United  STAiiES  and  Mexico 
IN  1846  Still  Peeceptible — Mexicans  Muttering, 
Texans  on  the  Alert — Successful  Canvass  by  the 
Financial  Agent  of  Baylor  in  the  States — His  Re- 
port— Commences  Work  in  Texas — Lonely  Travels 
Sleeps  Under  Trees—President  Burleson's  Compen- 
sation FOR  THE  First  Year — Attendance. 


I     1  HE  results  of  the  revolution  between  Texas  and  Mexico 

W>"'13l  ^^  1836,  and  the  war  between  the  United  States  and 
'  ^      Mexico  ten  years  later,  in  1846,  both  ending  in  the 

defeat  of  the  Mexican  forces,  and  the  loss  of  immense  territory 
by  Mexico,  intensified  the  spirit  of  revolution  among  these  peo- 
ple. Technically  the  issues  involved  in  these  wars  were  settled, 
morally  there  was  no  settlement  at  all,  for  the  reason  that  the 
mass  of  Mexicans  chafed  under  the  defeat  and  disasters  as  a 
consequence  of  these  wars,  and  longed  for  an  opportune  time 
to  avenge  their  Avrongs. 

One  of  the  favorite  pretexts  and  excuses  for  reviving  and 
renewing  the  controversy  mth  Texas,  before  being  admitted 
into  the  Union,  and  with  the  United  States  after  annexation, 
was  the  question  of  the  boundary  of  the  territory  included  in 
the  geographical  limits  of  Texas,  and  territory  ceded  to  the 
American  government  as  a  result  of  the  war  of  '46. 

The  state  had  nothing  to  fear  from  the  mutterings  of  dis- 
content heard  across  the  Rio  Grande,  and  the  hostility  and 
hatred  of  the  Mexican  people.  The  constant  agitation  of  this 
question  by  the  press  of  Mexico,  and  the  remote  p'v^sibility 


130  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

of  another  resort  to  arms  mth  a  people,  with  whom,  as  with 
all  Latin  races,  revolution  seems  to  be  an  innate  element  of 
disposition  and  character,  kept  the  affairs  of  Texas  in  a  state 
of  some  uncertainty,  and  hindered  to  some  extent  its  progress 
and  development. 

This  was  especially  so  of  educational  matters,  and  moral 
enterprises.  Baylor  University  had  been  effected  by  these 
conditions. 

The  Treaty  negotiated  with  Mexico  in  1853  by  Thomas 
Gadsden,  by  which  the  United  States  paid  ten  million  dollars, 
and  secured  the  entire  Marrila  Valley,  consisting  of  an  area 
of  forty-four  thousand  square  miles,  and  including  most  of  the 
territory  of  Arizona  and  ISTew  Mexico,  removed  even  the  possi- 
bility of  further  trouble  with  Mexico,  and  Texas  from  this  time 
on,  went  forward  in  leaps  and  bounds. 

Dr.  Burleson  took  advantage  of  this  wise  piece  of  states- 
manship, as  it  effected  Baylor  University  in  particular,  and 
education  in  Texas  in  general,  to  advance  the  interest  of  the 
institution  over  which  he  presided. 

Another  favorable  event  in  the  history  of  the  school  was, 
Kev.  James  Huckins,  the  general  financial  agent  had  returned 
from  the  states  where  he  had  been  canvassing  for  Baylor 
University,  with  much  success.  He  brought  with  him 
$2,256.00  in  cash  collected  for  the  endowment  fund,  a  number 
of  valuable  books  presented  to  the  library,  and  also  contribu- 
tions for  the  nucleus  of  chemical,  philosophical  and  scientific 
apparatus. 

A  still  more  encouraging  feature  of  the  agent's  report 
was  that  in  ISTew  Orleans,  Mobile,  Charleston,  Richmond, 
iSTashville,  Boston,  and  other  eenters  of  wealth  and  population 
that  he  had  visited,  and  presented  the  importance  of  educa- 
tion in  Texas,  the  interest  of  the  people  was  aroused  on  the 
subject,  and  there  was  an  earnest  desire  among  the  more  in- 
fluential and  educated  classes  for  the  religious  and  educa- 
tional uplifting  of  the  people  of  the  state. 

President  Burleson  was  much  encouraged  by  this  report, 
and  the  Board  instructed  Dr.  LIuckins  to  commence  his  can- 
vass of  Texas  at  once. 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  131 

Texas  has  now  ten  thousand  miles  of  railroads  on  which 
fast  trains  fly  from  limit  to  limit  in  a  few  hours.  It  has  also 
a  network  of  telegraph  and  telephone  lines,  and  almost  every 
town  and  vicinity  is  blessed  with  a  daily  mail.  In  many 
places  rural  free  delivery  has  been  introduced,  and  mail  matter 
is  posted  at  tlie  front  gate  and  received  at  the  same  place. 
On  occasions  uncommonly  urgent,  when  the  telegraph 
line  is  thought  to  be  too  slow,  people  living  hundreds,  and 
thousands  of  miles  away  are  rung  up,  and  communicated  with 
instantly,  in  person.  The  fast  train  annihilates  distance,  the 
telephone,  time. 

Few  people,  now  living,  can  appreciate  what  a  canvass 
of  the  state  at  that  time  involved.  It  meant  long,  weary, 
horseback  rides,  over  lonely  prairies,  and  forest  solitudes: 
sometimes  swimming  swollen  streams,  and  resting  at  night 
beneath  the  gracious  boughs  of  an  oak.  The  tired  horse,  "in- 
stead of  being  turned  into  a  comfortable  barn,  was  "hobbled 
out,"  to  feed  on  the  long  grass,  while  the  agent,  meatless  and 
breadless,  hoped  to  reach  a  settler's  house  early  the  next  morn- 
ing, and  find  something  to  satisfy  the  cravings  of  the  inner 
man. 

Dr.  Huckins  had  been  tenderly  bred,  and  notwithstanding 
he  had  traveled  in  Texas  for  five  years  as  missionary,  and  ad- 
vance agent  for  the  American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society, 
and  knew  the  privations  and  hardships  he  would  have  to  un- 
dergo, accepted  the  position  cheerfully,  and  performed  his 
duties  gladly. 

On  horseback,  and  alone,  this  scholar,  and  cultured  Chris- 
tian man,  who  had  thrilled  the  people  of  the  East  with  his 
eloquence,  and  elevated  Texas  pioneers  to  higher  planes  of 
social  and  Christian  excellence,  started  on  his  mission.  The 
scattered  Baptists,  and  settlers  were  visited,  the  importance 
of  Baylor  University  presented.  The  people  loved  the  insti- 
tution, the  cause  of  education  and  the  man.  They  responded 
to  his  appeals  generously  and  promptly,  and  if  they  had 
possessed  the  financial  ability,  every  necessity  and  want  of  the 
University  would  have  been  supplied. 

Of  money  they  had  very  little,  and  promised  very  little. 
Their  substance,  however,  they  divided,  so  when  Dr.  Huckins 


132  The  Life  and  Wkitings  of 

finished  the  year's  canvass,  and  submitted  his  report  to  the 
Board  of  Trustees,  he  had  raised  $30,000,  A  small  part  of 
this  was  in  cash,  but  the  amount  consisted  mainly  in  wild 
lands,  cows,  horses,  mules,  hides,  wool,  beeves,  and  cotton. 

The  agent's  service  in  behalf  of  the  school  from  a  finan- 
cial standpoint  was  valuable,  but  was  of  equal,  if  not  of  more 
importance,  from  another  point  of  view.  It  advertised  it  more 
than  could  have  been  done  at  that  time,  through  any  other 
medium,  and  thus  brought  it  into  prominence,  and  commended 
it  to  public  favor,  which  perhaps  could  not  have  been  accom- 
plished in  any  other  way. 

The  Trustees  thanked  Dr.  Iluckins  for  his  timely  and 
successful  service  to  the  institution,  a]id  he  returned  to  Gal- 
veston, to  accept  the  pastorate  of  the  church  which  he  had 
organized  in  1840,  and  to  which  he  had  been  unanimously 
recalled. 

As  stated.  Dr.  Burlesons'  compensation  for  the  first  year 
of  his  presidency  was  $336.00,  as  a  result  of  his  own  arduous 
efforts,  coupled  mth  the  successful  work  of  the  general  agent, 
this  was  increased  the  second  year  to  $642.00. 

Prof.  J.  B.  Stiteler  was  added  to  the  faculty  during  this 
year,  and  filled  the  chair  of  ISTatural  Science,  and  the  Germaii 
language. 

The  Philomathesian  Society  was  established  during  this 
session,  and  held  weekly  meetings  for  debates,  lectures,  and 
other  forms  of  mental  culture. 

The  course  of  study  was  broadened,  raised  to  a  higher 
standard,  and  into  it  a  spirit  of  utilitarianism  was  infused. 

The  study  of  the  modern  languages,  especially  the  Span- 
ish and  German,  was  decided  to  be  of  the  highest  importance 
by  the  President  of  the  institution  and  Board  of  Trustees. 
The  population  of  Mexico,  they  argued,  to  which  Texas  is 
properly  the  key,  speak  the  Spanish;  and  the  original  grants  of 
land  in  our  rapidly  growing  state,  are  written  in  that  language; 
and  as  many  of  the  students  have  the  practice  of  law  in  view, 
it  is  important  that  facilities  be  afforded  them  for  acquiring 
the  Spanish  languages. 

The  importance  of  the  German,  arises  from  the  fact,  that 
already  a  large  number  of  these  people  have  settled  in  this 


Dk.  Eufus  C.  Bukleson.  Vi?> 

country,  and  Imndreds  more  are  daily  arriving  on  our  shores. 
In  years  to  come,  business  contact  with  them  will  be  unavoid- 
able, and  while  it  is  the  duty  of  every  person  who  emigrates  to 
this  country,  with  the  view  of  making  it  his  permanent  home, 
claiming  the  protection  of  the  United  States  flag,  and  taking 
advantage  of  our  lav/s,  to  learn  tlie  English  language  and  con- 
form to  the  genius  of  our  civil  institutions,  still  there  may, 
and  doubtless  vnll  be  exegencies  when  a  knowledge  of  the  Ger- 
man will  be  both  desirable  and  valuable. 

Hence  President  Burleson  and  the  Trustees  were  anxious 
to  secure  a  Faculty  capable  of  teaching  these  languages,  as  well 
as  the  studies  in  the  college  course.  They  therefore  congratu- 
lated themselves  that  in  nominating  a  Faculty  for  this  session, 
they  had  accomplished  this  most  desirable  end.  They  then 
spoke  with  some  little  boastfulness,  and  said,  "Baylor  Uni- 
versity can  now  furnish  facilities  for  the  acquisition  of  the 
French,  Spanish  and  German  languages,  not  surpassed  by  any 
similar  institution. 

The  matriculations  in  the  male  department  at  the  close  of 
this  session  were  95,  two  in  the  Sophomore  class,  14  in  the 
Freshman,  and  77  in  the  preparatory  department.  In  the 
female  department  about  90  students  were  enrolled,  making 
a  total  of  185  students  in  the  entire  institution. 


134  The  Life  and  Writixc4S  of 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


Miss  Geoegia  Jenkins — Birth — Comes  to  Texas  with  Hek 
Father  in  1836 — Attends  Judson  Female  Institute — 
Graduates  with  Honor — Temperance  Demonstration 
in  Old  Washington — Marriage  in  1853 — Bridal 
Tour  to  ISTew  Orleans — First  Dinner  at  Home — Con- 
sulted BY  Her  Husband  on  all  Important  Matters — 
Domestic  Policy — ^Government  of  Her  Family — 
Sacrifices  and  Struggles  for  the  Cause  of  Education 
in  Texas — Her  Character. 


Tj  R.  BURLESON"  was  very  much  absorbed  in  the  affairs 
^^S  of  Baylor  TJniversity  during  the  session  of  1853,  but 
^^  not  too  much  so,  to  devote  himself  to  some  of  the 
weighty  social  and  domestic  affairs  of  life.  He  had  visited  In- 
dependence frequently,  during  his  residence  in  Houston, 
formed  the  acquaintance  of  Miss  Georgia  Jenkins,  and  be- 
came enamored  with  her  beauty,  and  charms  of  character.  He 
wooed  and  won  her  hand  and  heart,  and  on  the  3rd  day  of 
January,  1853,  led  her  to  the  marriage  altar j  where  Dr.  Henry 
L.  Graves,  the  first  president  of  the  University,  in  the  little 
Baptist  school  house,  used  for  the  opening  of  Baylor,  per- 
formed the  ceremony  that  inseparably  linked  their  destinies  for 
life. 

Many  acts  of  wisdom,  in  private,  as  well  as  public  life, 
are  to  be  justly  placed  to  Dr.  Burleson's  credit,  but  in  no  step 
ever  taken  was  more  wisdom  displayed  than  in  this  affair  of 
the  heart,  as  was  fully  verified  by  forty-eight  years  of  mar- 
ried life.     Miss  Jenkins  was  born  in  Merriweather,   Green 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson. 


135 


County,  Georgia,  and  when  a  mere  child,  came  to  Texas  in 
1836  with  her  father.  Judge  P.  C.  Jenkins,  an  eminent  lawyer 
and  statesman,  and  settled  in  Washington. 

Three  years  after  her  arrival  in  Texas,  in  1839,  Judson 
Female  Institute  was  established  in  Marion,  Alabama,  under 
the  able  management  of  Dr.  Milo  P.  Jewett,  who  has  the  dis- 
tinction of  being  the  first  President  of  Vassar  College,  a  school 
of  world  wide  renown.  Judson  soon  became  one  of  the  first 
institutions  in  the  south,  and  when  in  1849,  Miss  Jenkins  was 
ready  to  enter  colIe2:e,  she  was  sent  to  this  institute. 


DR.  BURLESON  AND  WIFE  IN  1853. 

Although  designed  for  young  ladies,  "it  does  not  neglect 
solid  and  thorough  education,  yet  it  has  always  given  special 
attention  to  the  a3sthetic  branches,  and  as  a  consequence  has 
gained  great  reputation  for  the  accomplishments  which  it 
bestows  upon,  and  weaves  into  the  character  and  lives  of  the 
young  ladies  who  are  educated  under  its  management." 

Miss  Jenkins,  being  well  prepared  in  the  rudiments, 
finished  the  full  course,  and  graduated  with  high  honors  in 
1852,  and  returned  immediately  to  her  home  in  the  west. 

She  came  of  a  family  of  prominent  cultivated  people, 
and  being  well  educated  herself,  was  hence  imbued  with  its 


136  The  Life  aixd  Writixgs  of 

importance,  and  well  fitted  for  all  the  duties  of  an  educators 
wife. 

The  Faculty  of  the  University  very  generously  made 
sonie  financial  concessions  to  Dr.  Burleson,  and  excused  him 
from  active  teaching  duties,  which  enabled  him  to  make  a 
bridal  tour  to  New  Orleans.  He  and  his  bride  were  driven  to 
Chappell  Hill,  and  after  spending  two  or  three  days  with 
friends,  took  the  stage  for  Houston. 

Galveston  was  then  visited,  two  days  pleasantly  spent 
with  acquaintances,  after  which,  a  steamer  was  taken  for  oSTew 
Orleans,  where  they  remained  five  weeks. 

Mrs.  Burleson  spent  the  time  in  social  recreation,  and 
Dr.  Burleson  in  perfecting  himself  in  the  Spanish  language. 

The  tour  was  extended  to  Raymoud,  Mississippi. 

Returning  to  Texas,  Dr.  Burleson  and  bride  went  direct 
to  their  modest  little  cottage  in  Lidependence. 

The  first  dinner  Mrs.  Burleson  ever  served  as  mistress  of 
her  own  household,  she  had  to  dine  with  her.  Judge  R.  E.  B. 
Baylor,  Rev.  H.  Garrett,  IST.  Kavanaugh,  T.  J.  Jackson,  Trus- 
tees of  the  school,  and  eight  boarders. 

Mrs.  Burleson's  mother,  with  sympathy  for  her  inexperi- 
enced daughter,  contributed  several  dishes  for  the  meal.  Judge 
Baylor  addressing  himself  to  the  young  wife  said,  "Sister 
Burleson,  your  first  dinner  is  most  excellent,  and  if  you  im- 
prove as  you  acquire  experience  in  the  culinary  art,  you  Avill 
be  able  to  arrange  a  spread  not  only  good  enough  for  a  collegX' 
president,  but  fit  for  a  king." 

]\[rs.  Burleson  was  too  conscientious  to  receive  all  this 
compliment  to  herself,  and  divulged  the  secret  that  her  good 
mother  had  assisted  her  in  preparing  the  meal. 

At  the  marriage  altar  was  not  the  first  time  Mr.  Burleson 
had  met  Miss  Jenkins  on  an  interesting  public  occasion.  In 
1849,  two  years  before  their  marriage,  there  was  a  great  temp- 
erance demonstration  in  Washington,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Sons  of  Temperance.  People  w^ere  present  from  all  the  coun- 
try within  a  radius  of  one  hundred  miles  of  that  town,  and 
living  witnesses  estimate  the  crowd  at  ten  thousand  people, 
Governors,  Senators,  Congressmen,  Judges,  Lawyers  and  dis- 
tinguished Statesmen  participated  in  the  demonstration.     It 


Dr.  Kufus  C.  Burlesox.  137 

was  on  a  scale  far  in  advance  of  any  meeting  tliat  liad  been 
undertaken  in  Texas  up  to  that  time  and  for  brilliancy  and 
display,  easily  exceeded  any  convocation  ever  held  in  the  state. 

Miss  Jenkins  was  selected  to  present  a  silk  banner  to  the 
state  organization  of  the  Sons  of  Temperance,  and  Mr.  Burle- 
son was  commissioned  to  receive  it.  Miss  Jenkins  was  a  strong 
friend  of  temperance  from  her  girlhood,  and  on  this  occasion 
acquitted  herself  with  great  credit,  in  the  presentation  address. 
Mr.  Burleson  was  not  a  recent  convert  to  the  cause,  and  not  a 
novice  in  temperance  speaking,  having  delivered  his  tirst  ad- 
dress on  the  subject  in  1843,  when  only  20  years  old  in  Ita- 
wamba County,  Mississippi. 

Mrs.  Burleson  was  consulted  freely  by  her  husband,  be- 
fore fi  decision  was  reached  upon  any  question  of  importance. 
This  could  he  shown  by  a  great  number  of  letters  written  to 
her,  during  his  absence  from  home.  The  following  is  selected 
for  this  purpose,  from  among  scores  found  among  his  papers. 
It  is  used  in  this  connectio]i  for  the  additional  reason  that  it 
contains  some  reference  to  his  election  as  president  of  Union 
University  at  Murfreesboro,  Tennessee. 

Decatur,  Ala.,  Aug.  21,  1859. 

My  Dear  Wife  : — Since  I  mailed  my  last  letter  yester- 
day, I  haA^e  received  a  communication  from  Doctors  J.  R. 
Graves  and  John  W.  King,  informing  me  of  my  election  to 
the  Presidency  of  Union  University.  I  am  so  overwhelmed 
with  astonishment  that  I  know  not  what  to  think,  say  or 
write.  Oh  how  I  do  wish  I  was  by  your  side  to  hear  your  wise 
counsel,  always  of  so  much  value  to  me.  I  feel  incompetent 
to  decide  any  great  question  without  your  advice. 

In  every  respect,  my  position  as  President  of  Union  Uni- 
versity would  be  easier,  and  perhaps  more  honorable  and 
profital>le.  There  we  should  be  clear  of  taking  boarders  and 
much  drudgery.  The  salary  I  learn  is  ample,  and  the  society 
as  good  as  any  in  the  United  States.  Murfreesboro  has  about 
5,000  inhabitants,  or  is  about  the  size  of  Houston.  Then  as 
successor  of  Dr.  Eaton,  my  position  would  be  as  honorable  as 
that  of  any  Baptist  preacher  in  the  country. 

But  then  I  am  bound  to  Texas,  our  church,  and  Baylor 
University  by  a  thousand  tender  ties  of  joy,  of  suffering  and 


138  The  Life  and  Wettings  of 

affection.  How  could  we  leave  our  mother,  brothers,  sisters, 
and  the  bones  of  our  little  daughter;  and  Brothers  Eoss,  Creatli 
and  Taliaferro !  The  very  thought  makes  me  weep,  and  yet 
the  hand  of  God  may  be  in  this  move,  and  I  dare  not  refuse  it 
a  prayerful  consideration.  We  have  had  some  experience  in 
Texas  that  was  by  no  means  pleasant,  but  then  opposition  and 
difficulties  would  meet  us  anywhere,  except  in  heaven.  I  con- 
fess it  would  be  very  agreeable  to  me  to  be  so  near  my  vener- 
able father,  and  other  members  of  my  family.  One  thing  that 
astonishes  me  so  much,  is  the  course  of  Bro.  J.  E..  Graves;  ho 
tells  me  my  election  was  unanimous,  urges  me  to  accept,  and 
overwhelmes  me  with  kindness. 

Please  show  this  letter  to  Brother  Richard,  and  you  and 
he  write  me  your  opinion  immediately. 

I  have  replied  to  the  note  of  the  committee  on  notifica- 
tion, that  I  would  visit  Murfreesboro,  and  examine  the  situa- 
tion carefully,  and  give  them  an  answer.  But  I  promise  you 
my  dear  wife  on  the  altar  of  fidelity,  and  by  the  sweet  eyes 
of  our  dear  children,  not  to  make  any  decision  until  I  see  or 
hear  from  you. 

Your  devoted  husband, 

RUFUS  C.  BURLESOK. 

Five  children  was  the  result  of  this  union,  only  two  of 
whona  survive. 

Mrs.  Hallie  B.  Morris,  and  Richard  Adair  Burleson, 
both  of  Waco,  Texas. 

When  God  called  the  third  little  child  to  Himself,  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  Burleson  were  in  (V.rkness  and  grief,  but  exclaimed, 
"Let  God's  will  be  done,  it  may  be  that  He  intends  for  us  to 
be  Mother  and  Father  to  the  children  of  Texas."  This  was  not 
to  be,  so  far  as  all  the  children  of  Texas  were  concerned,  but 
10,000  rise  up  to  bless  their  memory,  and  hold  them  in  the 
most  affectionate  recollection. 

To  found,  and  successfully  conduct  the  affairs  of  a  great 
institution  of  learning,  involves  toil  and  sacrifice  on  the  part 
of  those  immediately  connected  with  it.  This  toil,  this  young 
and  tenderly  raised  woman  cheerfully  performed,  and  theso 


De.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  139 

sacrifices  she  as  cheerfully  made.  The  full  extent  of  her  self- 
f orgetfulness  only  God  will  ever  know. 

She  is  a  woman  of  admirable  poise  and  imbued  with  much 
tenacity  of  design.  She  was  loyal  to  her  father  in  the  wilds 
of  Texas  long  before  Baylor  University  was  established,  has 
been  a  devoted  working  member  of  the  Baptist  church  wher- 
ever she  has  lived,  and  true  to  her  great  husband  in  the  grand 
work  of  his  life.  When  he  was  in  the  midst  of  difficulties/  and 
seemed  to  be  almost  overwhelmed,  she  was  cool  and  hopeful, 
and  offered  valuable  counsel. 

Hers  is  a  most  beautiful  life,  and  uniformly  so;  and  her 
admirable  traits  of  character  w^ere  not  only  resplendent  in 
times  of  sunshine  and  joy,  but  were  lustrous  and  radiant  when 
overcast  with  the  clouds  of  adversity,  when  strength  of  pur- 
pose is  most  needed.  To  her  children,  she  has  been  a  mother, 
in  the  broadest  acceptation  of  that  term ;  to  her  husband,  a  con- 
stant living  inspiration,  and  richly  deserves  the  exalted  esteem 
in  which  she  is  held  by  family  and  friends. 

Mrs.  Burleson,  with  a  correct  view  of  the  mechanism  of 
society,  of  which  the  family  is  the  unit,  believed  with  Mrs. 
Sarah  J.  Hale, 

"Home  is  the  sphere  of  harmony  and  peace, 
The  spot  where  angels  find  a  resting  place, 
When,  bearing  blessings,  they  descend  to  earth." 

She  understood  that  it  was  the  key  to  the  arch  of  refined 
society,  and  the  corner-stone  and  foundation  upon  which  rests 
the  good  found  among  all  nations.  She  therefore  sedulously 
guarded  the  threshold  of  her  home  that  her  family  might  be 
reared  and  dwell  in  an  untainted  atmosphere,  "By  their 
fruits  ye  shall  know  them,"  was  a  declaration  as  true  in  its 
application  to  the  moral,  as  the  physical  world. 

The  law  of  cause  and  eft'ect  is  ceaseless  in  its  operations, 
and  universal  in  the  diffusion  of  its  energies.  In  the  relation 
of  parent  and  child,  its  forces  are  as  palpable,  as  the  relation 
of  the  tree  to  the  fruit  it  bears;  so  "Like  parent  like  child*' 
was  no  exception  to  the  doctrine,  and  domesticity  hangs  to- 
gether like  the  various  parts  in  architectureal  construction. 

Mrs.  Burleson  therefore  believed  that,  not  only  must 
her  own  life  be  a  spotless  example,  but  her  children  as  well, 


140  The  Life  axd  AVritixgs  of 


MPS.  GEORGIA  J.  BURLESON. 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  141 

and  that  her  home  must  he  untainted  by  the  corrupting  affairs 
of  the  world,  if  her  family  bore  the  blameless  reputation,  ex- 
pected of  those  occu]:)ying  a  position  so  exalted  before  the 
public. 

That  her  high  ideals  in  personal  character  and  home  life 
might  be  attained,  as  nearly  as  possible,  every  book,  the  nature 
of  Avhich  would  tend  to  vitiate  the  taste  of  her  household  was 
placed  under  a  ban;  every  amusement  not  calculated  to  ele- 
vate the  character,  prohibited,  and  every  form  of  social  recre- 
ation not  refining  in  its  tendency,  disallowed,  as  a  pastime,  in 
the  sacred  pi-eciucts  of  her  family  circle. 

As  a  result  of  her  domestic  policy  her  surviving  children 
have  been  to  her  a  real  joy  in  the  evening  of  life,  and  not 
thorns  in  the  flesh,  as  is  too  often  the  case  where  children  are 
allowed  to  indulge  in  practices  of  doubtful  propriety. 

Mrs.  Burleson  was  raised  in  affluent  circumstances,  and 
was  a  stranger  to  the  sacrifices  she  was  called  upon  to  make 
after  her  marriage  for  the  cause  of  education  in  Texas;  but 
nevertheless,  whether  occupying  her  first  unpretending  cottage 
at  Independence  and  Waco,  or  her  present  more  spacious 
residence,  she  was  uncomplaining,  and  felt  that  her  immola- 
tion was  for  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  good  of  the  world. 

The  improvement  accomplished  by  the  people  in  educa- 
tional matters  in  the  last  half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  is 
flowing  on  in  a  mighty  tide  to  the  generations  yet  to  come, 
and  will  roll  on  downward  to  latest  posterity.  It  will  bear 
upon  its  bosom  our  triumphs,  our  victories,  our  virtues  and 
blessings,  and  whatever  else  we  have,  meritorious  to  bequeathe 
as  an  inheritance.  All  these  will  be  enjoyed  and  shed  their 
fragrance  on  lives  not  yet  come  into  the  world,  and  mankind 
will  be  raised  to  higher  planes  of  moral  and  intellectual  ex- 
cellence. 

But  some  things  will  not  be  transmitted,  or  inherited  by 
posterity,  either  immediate  or  remote,  and  these  are  the  trials 
and  sacrifices  made  by  such  heroines  as  Mrs.  Georgia  J.  Burle- 
son for  nearly  a  half  centuiw,  in  behalf  of  education  and  re- 
ligion in  the  wilderness  of  Texas,  when  this  mighty  Baptist 
empire  was  almost  a  void,  and  without  moral  comeliness  or 
form. 


142  The  Life  and  Writings  of 


CHAPTER  XVIir. 


Baylor  Now  a  Real  University — Every  Facility  for  a 
Complete  Education  Offered — A  College  Code 
Adopted — Duties  of  the  President  and  Trustees 
Defined — Admission  of  Students — Course  of  Instruc- 
tion. 


/V^  T  tlie  opening  of  the  third  session  of  the  institution  in 
gss^  1854,  110  students  matriculated  in  the  male  depart- 
^  ment.  Scholars  were  advanced  to  the  Senior,  Junior, 
Sophomore  and  Ereshman  classes,  and  the  school  began  to 
assume  the  proportions  of  a  real  university.  Every  facility 
for  a  complete  education  was  offered;  notwithstanding  which 
fact,  there  was  some  disposition  on  the  part  of  parents  to  send 
their  children  to  be  educated  in  the  schools  of  other  states. 
This  was  ill-advised  at  the  time,  and  unfair  to  Texas  institu- 
tions, and  remains  so  to-day. 

Dr.  Burleson  protested  against  the  practice  in  the  fol- 
lowing language : 

"The  President  and  Trustees  see  with  regret  the  tendency 
with  some  Texans  to  patronize  ISTorthem  or  distant  colleges 
instead  of  sustaining  institutions  founded  in  their  own  state. 
It  is  e-^ddent  however,  that  a  young  man  educated  in  Texas, 
will  have  peculiar  advantages,  not  only  in  forming  many 
acquaintances  from  every  part  of  the  state  during  his  college 
course,  but  in  learning  fully,  the  habits,  character,  and  want;* 
of  the  people  with  whom  he  is  to  live  and  act. 

It  is  the  fixed  determination  of  the  President  and  Trus- 
tees, to  fully  meet  the  educational  wants  of  Texas,  and  to 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  143 

qualify  their  students  to  become  the  brightest  ornaments,  and 
firmest  pillars   of  this  great  and  growing  commonwealth." 

At  a  meeting  held  just  before  the  opening  of  the  session, 
the  President  and  Trustees  adopted  a  scientific  course  for  the 
benefit  of  students  preparing  for  business  pursuits,  or  those 
whose  means  would  not  allow  them  to  complete  the  regular 
course.  This  embraced  the  entire  course  of  sciences,  mathe- 
matics, Belles-Lettres,  and  one  of  the  modern  languages.  Any 
student  completing  these  studies,  was  entitled  to  the  Degree 
of  Bachelor  of  Philosophy. 

The  adoption  of  the  following  code,  gave  the  university 
still  more  dignity  as  such,  and  defined  more  clearly  the  rela- 
tions between  President,  Professor,  Trustee  and  pupil. 

LAWS  FOR  THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  BAYLOR  UKL 

VERSITY. 

The  government  of  Baylor  University  is  designed  to  par- 
take of  both  moral  and  parental  character. 

It  is  intended  by  a  mild,  yet  firm  treatment,  and  by  ap- 
pealing to  the  better  feelings  of  the  heart,  to  secure  attention 
to  study,  a  correct  deportment,  and  a  taste  for  intellectual  pur- 
suits and  virtuous  habits.  In  order  to  secure  these  great  ends 
with  more  certainty,  the  President  and  Board  have  estab- 
lished the  following  laws  and  regulations : 

Of  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Trustees  to  enact  the  laws,  and 
taken  general  supervision  of  the  University.  They  have  the 
power  to  elect  Professors,  determine  their  salaries,  and,  if 
necessary,  remove  them  from  ofiice.  They  shall  conduct  the 
financial  affairs  of  the  institution,  and  furnish  buildings,  lib- 
rary and  apparatus. 

They  shall  have  the  sole  power  of  expelling  students,  and 
fijiing  the  rates  of  tuition.  They  shall  meet  as  often  as  the 
gocd  of  the  institution  may  require. 

Of  the  President  and  Professors. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  President  to  preside  at  all  the 
meetings  of  the  Faculty,  at  which  he  shall  be  entitled  to  one 


144:  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

vote  as  Professor,  and  the  casting  vote  when  the  votes  of  the 
Faculty  are  equally  divided.  It  shall  be  his  duty  to  lay  before 
the  Faculty  and  Trustees  all  matters  relating  to  the  welfare 
of  the  institution,  which  may  seem  to  him,  to  need  their  atten- 
tion. 

The  President,  aided  by  the  Faculty,  shall  be  charged 
with  the  execution  of  the  laws  of  the  University  relating  to 
instruction  and  discipline.  He,  or  such  oificer  as  he  may 
appoint  in  his  absence,  shall  conduct  religious  services  in  the 
chapel,  morning  and  evening. 

He  shall  make  a  semi-annual  report  in  writing  to  the 
Board  of  Trustees,  of  the  condition  of  every  department ;  and 
shall  offer  such  suggestions  and  propose  such  measures  as  in  his 
opinion  would  tend  to  its  improvement. 

He  shall  see  that  a  regular  and  separate  account  is  kept 
of  every  student's  standing  and  character,  and  by  the  aid  of 
the  Faculty,  shall  promptly  suspend  every  student  whose 
standing,  either  moral  or  literary,  is  such  as  to  require  it  ac- 
cording to  law. 

He  shall  see  that  a  monthly  repoi't  of  the  standing  of 
every  student  is  sent  to  his  parent  or  guardian. 

The  President  shall  also  be  a  Professor  entitled  to  tho 
salary  and  responsible  for  the  duties  of  that  office. 

Every  Professor  shall  devote  himself  earnestly  to 
the  duties  of  his  department,  with  which  no  other  duty  shall 
interfere. 

It  shall  be  his  duty  not  only  to  communicate  a  given 
amount  of  knowledge  to  his  classes,  but  to  incite  in  them  an 
ardent  love  of  learning  and  virtue,  and  inspire  them  with 
lofty  aspirations  for  mental  and  moral  greatness. 

Each  Professor  shall  consider  himself  an  officer  of  dis- 
cipline as  much  as  of  instruction,  charged  with  the  super^dsion 
of  his  own  class. 

He  will  take  notice  of  every  instance  of  absence  or  viola- 
tion of  the  laAvs,  whether  in  his  own  class  or  elsewhere,  and 
take  measures  at  once  to  correct  it;  if  his  own  efforts  be  unsuc- 
cessful, or  the  offence  be  repeated,  he  shall  report  it  to  the 
proper  authority. 


De.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  145 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Professors  to  report  the  Presi- 
dent to  the  Board  of  Trustees,  if  he  neglect  to  enforce  the 
laws  of  the  University, 

Each  recitation  shall  continue  one  hour,  unless  otherwise 
ordered  by  the  Faculty.  Of  this  time,  fifteen  minutes  shall  be 
occupied  in  reviewing  the  recitation  of  the  preceding  day. 

The  time  of  recitations  shall  be  so  arranged  that  each 
student  may  have  ten  minutes  recreation  between  his  recita- 
tions. 

Immediately  after  the  daily  recitation  of  each  student, 
the  Professor  shall  affix  a  numerical  mark  to  his  name,  desig- 
nating the  value  of  his  recitation.  For  a  perfect  recitation  the 
number  shall  be  ten;  for  an  imperfect  one  a  smaller  number, 
and  for  a  deficiency  0. 

If  the  deficiency  has  been  satisfactorily  explained  before 
the  commencement  of  the  recitation — that  is,  if  it  has  arisen 
from  circumstances  over  which  the  student  had  no  control,  no 
other  mark  shall  be  added.  If  the  explanation  be  unsatisfac- 
tory, or  if  no  explanation  be  offered,  it  shall  incur  an  additional 
demerit  mark  of  from  three  to  ten.  Disturbance  in  the  chapel, 
or  the  lecture  room,  or  in  any  part  of  the  College  premises, 
shall  incur  a  demerit  of  from  three  to  ten. 

Absence  at  the  time  of  calling  the  roll,  unless  previous 
permission  be  granted,  or  unless  the  reason  why  that  permis- 
sion could  not  be  requested,  be  rendered  previously  to  12 
o'clock,  M.,  of  the  subsequent  day,  shall  incur  a  demerit  of 
from  three  to  ten. 

Absence  from  rooms  after  dark  and  before  9  o'clock,  P. 
M.,  a  demerit  of  five;  if  after  nine  o'clock,  P.  M,,  a  demerit 
of  ten.  These  will  all  be  entered  upon  the  report  of  each 
Professor.  jSTo  allowance  is  ever  to  be  made  for  repeated  neg- 
ligence or  habitual  indolence, 

"VNTienever  the  demerits  of  a  student  for  any  term  amount 
to  thirty,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  President  to  inform  his 
parent  or  guardian  of  the  fact,  and  whenever  his  demerits 
amount  to  one  hundred,  to  dismiss  him  from  the  University 
and  to  inform  his  parent  or  guardian  that  he  has  done  so. 

On  Monday  of  every  week  each  officer  shall  make  to  the 

10 


146  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

President  a  report  of  the  standing  of  every  student  for  the 
week  preceding. 

The  Faculty  shall  meet  weekly  at  such  hour  as  they  may 
appoint.  They  shall  choose  a  Secretary,  who  shall  keep  a 
permanent  record  of  all  their  doings. 

Each  Professor  shall  hold  himself  responsible  for  the 
condition  of  his  recitation  room,  and  for  the  preservation  and 
good  order  of  the  apparatus  and  instruments  committed  to  his 
charge. 

The  Board  of  Trustees  shall  have  the  authority  to  dis- 
miss any  officer  whenever,  in  their  judgment,  the  good  of  the 
Institution  may  demand  it;  and  also  to  appoint  any  person  or 
persons  of  good  moral  character  and  ascertained  competency 
to  teach  in  the  University,  in  any  department  of  science  or 
learning,  on  such  conditions  as  they  may  approve. 

No  Professor  shall  resign  without  permission  of  the  Board 
of  Trustees,  except  at  the  end  of  a  term,  and  after  having 
given  two  months'  previous  notice  of  his  intention  to  do  so. 

Admission  of  Students. 

ISTo  student  shall  be  admitted  unless  he  presents  to  the 
President  suitable  testimonials  of  good  moral  character;  and 
if  he  comes  from  another  College  he  must  also  present  a  certifi- 
cate of  regular  dismission,  and  of  good  standing  in  the  institu- 
tion he  has  left. 

The  earliest  age  at  which  it  will  be  advantageous  for  h 
student  to  enter  the  University,  is  at  the  completion  of  the 
fifteenth  year.  The  President  is,  however,  authorized  to 
matriculate  a  student  at  an  earlier  age,  provided  sufficient  and 
peculiar  reasons  exist,  and  his  parent  or  guardian  places  hira 
under  such  moral  supervision,  as  is  satisfactory  to  himself. 

The  form  of  matriculation  is  as  follows :  A  student  who 
wishes  to  become  a  member  of  the  University  must  first  pre- 
sent his  testimonals  to  the  President,  who,  if  satisfied  of  his 
evidences  of  good  character,  will  admit  him  as  a  candidate  for 
examination,  and  direct  him  to  the  officer,  by  whom  the  exam- 
ination is  to  be  made.  If  his  examination  be  satisfactory,  the 
student  shall  procure  and  read  a  copy  of  the  By-Laws  of  the 
University;  after  which  he  shall  call  on  the  President,  and 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  147 

sign  a  declaration  of  his  deliberate  intention  to  obey  all  the 
laws  of  the  University,  so  long  as  he  shall  remain  a  member 
of  it. 

As  soon  as  a  student  is  matriculated,  the  President  shall 
furnish  his  parent  or  guardian  (if  he  be  a  minor)  a  copy  of  the 
laws  of  the  University, 

Requisition  for  Admission. 

Students  received  in  the  Preparatory  Department  at  any 
stage  of  advancement.  Candidates  for  admission  in  the  Fresh- 
man class,  must  sustain  an  examination  in  the  following  books : 
English,  Latin  and  Greek  Grammars,  Caesar,  Virgil,  Cicero's 
select  orations,  Greek  Testament,  Arithmetic,  and  Algebra  as 
far  as  equations  of  the  second  degree.  Candidates  for  ad- 
vanced standing,  must  sustain  an  examination  in  all  the  studies 
required  of  the  class  which  they  wish  to  enter. 

Course  of  Study. 

The  following  are  courses  of  instruction  in  the  University. 
Others  may  be  added  however  from  time  to  time,  according 
to  the  pleasure  of  the  Faculty  and  Trustees : 

A  course  of  instruction  in  the  Latin  language  and  litera- 
ture. 

A  course  of  instruction  in  the  Greek  language  and  litera- 
ture. 

A  course  of  instruction  in  Mathematics. 

A  course  of  instruction  in  Modem  Languages. 

A  course  of  instruction  in  ISTatural  Philosophy. 

A  course  of  instruction  in  Civil  Engineering. 

A  course  of  instruction  in  Chemistry  and  Physiology. 
•     A  course  of  instruction  in  the  English  Language  and  Lit- 
erature, and  Rhetoric  and  Oratory. 

A  course  of  instruction  in  Moral  and  Intellectual  Philo- 
sophy, and  the  Evidences  of  Christianity. 

A  course  of  instruction  in  History  and  Political  Economy. 

A  course  of  instruction  in  the  Application  of  Chemistry 
to  the  Fine  Arts. 


148  The  Life  and  "Writings  of 

Any  student  completing  the  above  courses  shall  be  en- 
titled to  the  Degree  of  A.  B. 

Partial  Course. 

Those  who  wish  to  pursue  a  partial  course  of  study  can  do 
so  by  a  request  from  their  parent  or  guardian;  or,  if  of  suit- 
able age,  by  their  own  request.  They  will  be  required  to  re- 
cite with  the  regular  classes  in  those  studies  which  are  similar. 
They  will  have  the  privilege  of  regular  students,  and  free 
access  to  the  Library  and  Lectures. 

By-Laws. 

As  the  object  of  discipline  is  to  promote  mental  and  moral 
culture,  and  restrain  vice,  the  following  laws  shall  be  strictly 
observed : 

1st.  Every  student  shall  pursue  diligently  the  course  of 
studies  prescribed  for  him  by  the  Faculty;  and  failing  to  do 
so,  he  shall  first  be  affectionately  admonished  by  the  Faculty, 
and  unless  reclaimed,  shall  be  suspended  from  the  Institution. 

2nd.  Lf  a  student  is  unable,  from  ill  health,  to  pursue 
his  studies,  he  shall  immediately  request  leave  of  absence; 
until  such  be  obtained,  he  is  held  responsible  for  the  discharge 
of  his  duties.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  President  to  com- 
municate immediately  to  the  parent  or  guardian  of  the  student 
that  such  leave  of  absence  has  been  granted. 

3rd.  Any  student  guilty  of  using  profane  or  obscene  lan- 
guage shall  be  publicly  reprimanded ;  and  for  the  third  offense 
he  shall  be  suspended. 

4:th.  ISTo  student  shall  carry  about  his  person  or  keep  fire- 
arms or  other  dangerous  weapons,  and  if  found  guilty  shall  be 
suspended. 

5th.  Any  student  guilty  of  playing  at  cards,  or  any 
other  game  of  hazard,  shall  be  suspended. 

Gth.  Any  student  who  shall  oppose,  or  speak  against  the 
decisions  and  established  rules  of  the  Faculty,  in  the  presence 
of  other  students,  shall  first  be  publicly  reprimanded,  and  on 
the  second  offense  shall  be  suspended. 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson,  149 

7th.  Any  student  who  shall  be  guilty  of  licentiousness, 
using  ardent  spirits,  or  visiting  drinking  establishments,  shall 
be  suspended. 

8th.  IsTo  student  shall  be  out  of  his  room  after  the  hour 
prescribed  by  the  Faculty;  and  any  student  guilty  of  noctui-nal 
disorders  or  ro veilings,  shall  be  suspended. 

9th.  Xo  oLudcTit  shall  become  connected  with  any  danc- 
ing school,  society  or  social  club,  without  the  approval  of  the 
Faculty. 

10th.  ISTo  suspended  student  shall  come  within  the  col- 
lege campus,  but  shall  retire  to  such  place,  and  for  such  a  timo 
as  prescribed  by  the  Faculty;  and  failing  to  obey  this  rule, 
shall  be  deemed  worthy  of  expulsion. 

11th.  Any  student  who  associates  with  an  expelled  stu- 
dent, shall  be  deemed  worthy  of  suspension. 

12th.  The  laws  of  the  University  extend  over  the  whole 
period,  from  commencement  to  close  of  term;  no  portion  of 
any  week  being  exempt  from  them. 

13th.  Any  student  who  behaves  improperly  at  church, 
or  commits  any  act  inconsistent  with  the  deportment  of  a 
gentleman,  shall  first  be  affectionately  admonished  by  the 
President,  and  unless  reclaimed,  he  shall  request  the  parent 
or  guardian  to  withdraw  the  offender  from  the  institution. 

14th.  Every  student  shall  be  responsible  for  the  dam- 
ages committed  by  him  on  the  furniture  and  property  of  the 
institution. 

15th.  Permission  of  absence  from  the  University  shall 
not  be  granted  unless  for  causes  of  urgent  necessity. 

16th.  ISTo  student  who  is  a  minor,  shall  open  an  account 
without  the  written  permission  of  his  parent  or  guardian; 
and  every  student  is  required  to  make  a  monthly  report  to  his 
parent  or  guardian  of  his  expenses. 

17.  The  Faculty  shall  have  power  to  enact,  from  time 
to  time,  such  other  regulations  as  they  may  deem  necessary', 
not  inconsistent  with  the  established  laws  and  regulations  of 
the  University. 

The  "Adelphian,"  the  third  volunteer  literary  society  was 
formed  among  the  students  during  the  session. 


150  The  Life  and  Writings  of 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


Close  of  the  Fall  Teem  of  1854 — School  in  Prosperous 
Condition — Three  Literary,  and  Several  Secret 
Societies  Formed — Society  Demonstration — Address 
OF  Rev.  R.  H.  Taliaferro — President  Burleson  Un- 
favorably Impressed  with  the  Effect  of  These  So- 
cieties ON  THE  Student  Body — Delivers  a  Lec- 
ture ON  the  Subject  in  1855,  Which  was  Repeated, 
AND  Elaborated  Before  the  State  Teachers'  Associa- 
tion AT  El  Paso  in  1898 — The  El  Paso  Address — BLa.z- 
ING — The  Practice  Suppressed  in  Baylor  University. 


T  the  close  of  the  session  of  Baylor  University  in  1854, 
there  were  three  literary,  or  debating  societies  con- 
nected with  the  institution,  all  partaking  more  or  less 
of  a  secret  nature.  The  Philomathesian,  Erisophian  and  Adel- 
phian.  In  addition  to  these  were  several  purely  secret  societies 
formed  and  almost  every  student  in  the  university  was  a  mem- 
ber of  some  one  of  these  organizations.  The  members  became 
much  absorbed  in  the  success  of  these  societies,  and  in  many 
instances  neglected  their  studies  to  promote  their  welfare. 
They  gave  a  great  demonstration  during  commencement  week, 
and  invited  Rev.  R.  H.  Taliaferro  then  pastor  at  Austin,  to 
deliver  a  special  address  before  them.  Mr.  Taliaferro's  ad- 
dress was  eloquent,  wise  and  most  profound,  and  gave  these 
college  secret  societies  much  prestige. 

President  Burleson  had  encouraged  their  organization, 
thinking  they  would  result  in  only  good  to  the  members,  but 
they  assumed  an  attitude  toward  student  life,  that  did  not  im- 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  151 

press  him  very  favorably.  At  the  opening  of  the  session  of 
1855,  he  delivered  a  lecture  before  the  students  on  the  sub- 
ject of  such  organizations,  which  embodied  some  of  his  settled 
policies  for  the  government  of  schools.  This  lecture  was 
elaborated,  the  subject  developed,  and  delivered  before  the 
Texas  State  Teachers'  Association  at  El  Paso,  during  the  ses- 
sion of  1898.  This  address  contains  so  much  college  wisdom, 
so  much  college  history,  and  is  so  characteristic  of  the  man  that 
we  give  it  in  full.  The  address  is  reproduced  also,  to  show 
that  Dr.  Burleson  at  this  early  period  in  his  life  as  a  college 
President,  plainly  saw  the  evils  of  hazing  among  students 
and  he  was  among  the  first  educators  in  America  to  stamp  the 
practice  with  strong  disapproval,  and  place  it  under  an  eternal 
ban,  so  far  as  the  institution  over  which  he  presided  was  con- 
cerned. 

Secret  Societies  ij«^  Colleges. 

There  is  no  question  that  demands  the  profound  attention 
of  educators  and  patriots  more  than  the  inner  life  and  moral 
culture  of  our  colleges  and  universities.  After  fifty-seven 
years'  experience  and  earnest  study,  I  am  convinced  that  many 
of  our  great  universities  are  sowing  the  tares  of  lawlessness  and 
anarchy. 

I  refer  especially  to  the  brutal  habit  of  "hazing,"  or  drag- 
ging new  students  out  of  their  beds  at  the  hour  of  midnight, 
tying  their  hands,  blindfolding  them,  drenching  them  in  mud 
or  water,  encasing  them  in  cofiins,  and  other  things  that  would 
disgrace  Comanche  Indians.  I  also  refer  to  stealing  chickens 
and  turkeys,  robbing  bee-gums,  tearing  down  gates  and  sign- " 
boards,  hauling  away  buggies  and  carriages,  etc.,  which  are 
tolerated  and  laughed  at  as  college  tricks  in  many  of  our  great 
institutions.  Secret  societies  are  justly  regarded  as  the  chief 
and  fountain  of  many  of  these  degrading  habits  in  college  life. 
Especially  as  their  acts  are  shrouded  in  profound  darkness  and 
secrecy.  I  remark,  first,  secret  societies  in  colleges  are  ab- 
solutely hostile  to  the  true  model  of  every  college. 

Every  college  should  be  a  great  literary  family,  to  guard 
and  nurture  inexperienced  sons  and  daughters  and  prepare 
them  for  the  struggles  and  joys  of  life.     The  President  and 


152  The  Life  and  "Wkitings  of 

every  teacher  should  be  "in  loco  parentis,"  and  Should  guard 
with  parental  tenderness  every  student,  rich  and  poor,  in  sick- 
ness and  health,  in  or  out  of  study  hours.  The  students  should 
form  a  great  literary  family  of  brothers  and  sisters.  For  this 
reason  all  true  colleges  are  called  Alma  Maters,  or  fostering 
mothers.  And  every  college  that  does  not  thus  tenderly  guard 
her  students  is  a  disgrace  to  the  name  of  Alma  Mater,  and  is 
only  a  step-mother,  or  as  Horace  says,  Injusta  IsToverca. 
Everyone  will  see  what  a  monster  a  secret  society  would  be  in 
the  family.  How  utterly  destructive  it  would  be  to  all  fam- 
ily relations  for  the  father  and  part  of  the  family  to  form 
one  secret  society  and  the  mother  and  the  remainder  of  the 
family  to  form  another.  But  it  has  been  argued  that  Masonry 
and  Odd  Fellows  are  secret  societies  and  they  confer  great 
blessings  on  individuals.  But  the  nature  and  purposes  of 
Masonry  and  Odd  Fellowship  are  utterly  unlike  secret  soci- 
eties in  colleges.  Their  great  object  is  to  protect  their  mem- 
bers among  strangers  even  in  foreign  lands.  And  to  protect 
the  widows  and  orphans  of  deceased  brethren.  And  these 
noble  societies  when  thus  conducted,  separate  from  church 
and  State,  become  a  blessing.  But  secret  societies  in  colleges 
can  have  no  such  purposes.  College  boys  are  not  expected  to 
wander  far  away  among  strangers  and  have  no  orphans  and 
widows  to  protect.  Secret  societies  are  as  useless  appendages 
as  the  fifth  wheel  of  a  wagon.  ]!Tot  only  useless  but  liable  to 
entangle  and  upset  the  wheels  that  are  necessary.  Every  col- 
lege student  knows  that  societies  separate  and  apart  from  the 
regular  class  room,  to  draw  students  closer  together  and  discuss 
freely  literary  topics,  are  essential  and  form  an  oasis  in  col- 
lege life.  These  societies  give  the  college  student  all  the 
social  enjoyment  and  literary  culture  he  needs  and  has  time 
to  enjoy.  But  secret  societies  always  impair  and  often  destroy 
the  usefulness  of  the  regular  literary  societies. 

The  origin  of  secret  societies  in  America  will  indicate 
their  nature  and  purpose.  Thomas  Jefferson  introduced  in 
William  and  Mary  College,  Virginia,  the  first  secret  society, 
called  "Phi  Beta  Kappa."  This  society  was  imported  from 
skeptical  France.  And  the  three  Greek  letters  are  indexes  of 
three  Greek  words  for  "Philosophia  biou  kubernetes,"  and 
means  philosophy  is  the  guide  of  life. 


De.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  153' 

France  was  at  that  time  preparing  to  banish  or  burn  the 
Bible,  and  wished  to  introduce  into  all  colleges  the  infidel 
notion  that  philosophy  and  not  the  Bible  was  the  guide  of  life. 
The  next  secret  society  was  introduced  in  Yale  in  1780,  and 
the  third  in  Harvard  in  1781.  The  names  as  well  as  the 
origin  bear  the  taint  of  skepticism.  The  names  of  many  of 
the  secret  societies  indicate  their  degrading  tendency.  The 
following  are  examples,  "Skull  and  Bones  Society,"  "Skull 
and  Key  Society,"  "Spade  and  Grave  Society,"  "Ax  and 
Coffin  Society,"  "Owl  and  Padlock  Society,"  "Skull  and  Ser- 
pent Society."  But  it  may  be  said  that  all  these  arguments 
are  a  priori  and  not  conclusive  unless  sustained  by  experience 
or  a  posteriori.  We  therefore  confidently  appeal  to  facts 
and  experience  as  reported  by  the  greatest  educators  and  insti- 
tutions of  America  and  Europe.  Before  giving  the  expe- 
rience of  great  men  and  institutions  I  would  be  glad  as  a  Texan 
to  introduce  my  own  humble  experience.  When  I  became 
President  of  Baylor  University,  forty-seven  years  ago,  it  was 
strictly  ''universitas  in  ovo."  ISTo  library,  no  apparatus,  no  cur- 
riculum of  studies,  no  college  classes,  no  literary  societies.  It 
became  my  duty  to  map  out  everything  essential  for  the  foun- 
dation of  a  great  university.  In  performing  this  arduous  duty 
I  sought  the  ad\ace  of  the  greatest  educators  in  America,  such 
as  Dr.  Francis  Wayland,  Dr.  R.  E.  Pattison,  Dr.  Howard  Mal- 
come,  Dr.  Basil  Manly  and  others.  In  this  earnest  examina- 
tion of  everything  essential  for  laying  the  foundation  of  Bay- 
lor University  on  a  solid  rock,  the  subject  of  secret  societies 
was  discussed.  After  the  most  exhaustive  examination,  I 
decided  secret  societies  were  injurious  to  colleges,  and  refused 
all  the  importunities  for  their  organization.  But  after  several 
years,  one  of  the  most  learned  professors  was  an  ardent  friend 
of  secret  societies  and  plead  that  all  the  greatest  colleges  in 
America  and  Europe  had  them.  And  that  Baylor  University 
could  not  take  rank  unless  she  followed  the  example  of  these 
great  institutions.  Finally  some  leading  trustees  and  patrons 
joined  in  the  pleading  of  the  professors  and  students  for  secret 
societies.  I  concluded  it  better  to  allow  them  to  make  the 
experiment.  Two  secret  societies  were  immediately  organ- 
ized and  pressed  with  great  enthusiasm,  to  the  injury  of  the 


154:  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

two  literary  societies  that  liad  been  doing  noble  work.  Soon 
the  bitter  fruits  I  predicted  were  realized.  There  were  more 
heart-burnings,  secret  whisperings,  and  conflicts  among  our 
students  than  had  ever  been  known  in  Baylor  University. 

Some  of  my  dear  students  became  greatly  offened  with 
me  because  it  was  whispered  I  was  partial  to  one  of  these  socie- 
ties. When,  indeed,  I  had  nothing  to  do  with  them,  except 
to  counsel  moderation  and  good  order. 

These  bitter  strifes  came  very  near  breaking  up  one  of 
the  best  graduating  classes  we  ever  had.  Fortunately,  about 
this  time  I,  with  the  other  teachers  and  professors,  decided  to 
move  to  Waco,  and  establish  Waco  University.  The  three  lit- 
erary and  three  secret  societies  resolved  to  go  with  us.  For- 
tunately the  managers  of  the  secret  societies  in  ^N^ew  England 
that  granted  the  charters  demanded  that  they  be  returend  to 
Baylor  University,  at  Indepenlence,  and  they  would  gladly 
give  us  charters  for  societies  in  our  new  university  at  Waco. 

We  returned  the  charters,  as  requested,  but  I  declined 
ever  to  inaugurate  a  secret  society  in  any  college  where  I  pre- 
sided. I  would  not  ask  you  to  ask  or  even  to  consider  my 
experience  if  I  stood  alone.  I  beg  you  to  hear  the  experience 
and  the  facts,  as  reported  by  the  greatest  institutions  and 
educators  in  America. 

In  1873,  Dr.  Hitchcock,  President  of  Amherst  College, 
after  a  long  experience  in  regard  to  the  evils  of  secret  societies, 
sought  their  removal.  In  this  arduous  struggle  he  addressed 
letters  to  the  presidents  of  all  the  colleges  in  l!Tew  England, 
to  get  their  opinion  in  reference  to  such  organizations.  All 
responded.     The  first  said : 

"Could  these  societies  be  wholly  removed  from  our  col- 
leges, I  would  think  it  a  result  in  which  the  friends  of  learn- 
ing would  have  great  occasion  for  rejoicing." 

The  second  said:  "As  soon  as  the  faculty  ascertained 
that  secret  societies  were  in  existence,  they  ordered  their  stu- 
dents to  break  off  connection  with  them." 

The  third  said :  "We  are  unanimously  and  decidedly  of 
the  opinion  that  it  would  be  desiarble  to  have  all  secret  societies 
rooted  out  of  our  colleges." 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  155 

A  fourth  said :  "I  have  made  one,  nay,  more  than  one, 
ineffectual  attempt  to  rid  this  college  of  secret  societies." 

A  fifth  said :  "I  suppose  that  it  would  be  desirable  that 
■secret  societies  be  rooted  out  of  our  colleges." 

A  sixth  said :  "I  am  of  the  opinion  that  the  tendency  of 
•such  societies  is  bad  of  necessity." 

The  seventh  said :  ''Their  infl.uence  was  not  suspected  at 
'first,  but  found  to  be  bad,  and  nothing  but  evil  results  are 
likely  to  follow." 

Only  two  new  college  presidents  in  ISTew  England  were 
found  to  be  favorable  to  secret  societies,  and  while  the  leading 
presidents  of  New  England  colleges  were  thus  expressing 
themselves.  Dr.  Crosby,  Chancelor  of  the  University  of  New 
York,  and  Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  in  1873,  published  an  article,  assigning  various* 
conclusive  reasons  why  secret  societies  should  not  exist  in 
colleges. 

Princeton,  in  New  Jersey,  issued  an  order  abolishing 
eleven  secret  societies  from  that  institution.  But  not  only 
individuals,  but  great  universities  have  made  similar  declara- 
tions. In  1874  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  National 
Ohristian  Association  sent  requests  to  245  American  colleges, 
in  twenty  States,  to  obtain  their  positions  on  secret  societies  in 
colleges.  Reports  were  received  from  twenty  States,  and 
forty-eight  colleges.  All  expressed  decided  opposition  to  such 
crganip^ations,  except  three,  a  military  school  in  Vermont,  one 
in  Alabama  and  one  in  Mississippi.  Time  and  space  allow 
us  to  give  only  a  few  samples  of  these  utterances  of  great  insti- 
tutions. Yale  College,  New  Haven,  said  "that  there  are  ser- 
that  they  accomplish  some  good  is  equally  clear."  McKen- 
ious  evils  connected  with  secret  societies  cannot  be  questioned; 
<iree  College,  ]icban',>n,  Ohio,  says:  "We  consider  secret 
societies  a  damage  t('  the  public  societies  and  tending  to  form 
cliques  among  students  and  in  no  way  promoting  of  scholar- 
ship." Union  Christian  College,  Merom,  says:  "We  are 
the  uncompromising  foes  of  secret  societies  in  any  form." 
Eminence  College,  Kentucky :  "We  tolerate  no  secret  socie- 
ties." Clinton  College,  Mississippi :  "No  secret  societies 
liave  ever  been  organized  in  this  college  till  last  year;  we  havo 


156  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

taken  measures  to  prevent  it  making  any  progress,  and  it  will 
soon  die  out."  Oberlin  College :  "ISTo  secret  society  has  ever 
existed  here."  Mai-yville  College,  Tennessee :  "We  believe 
secret  societies  are  fraught  with  mischief  and  should  be  dis- 
couraged in  our  institutions  of  learning."  Secret  societies 
have  also  been  condemned  at  Harvard,  Princeton,  Union,  Jef- 
ferson and  West  Point.  From  all  these  expressions  of  our 
greatest  educators  and  institutions  of  learning,  we  may  justly 
conclude  that  secret  societies,  though  possessing  peculiar  fasci- 
nation to  young  minds,  mil  prove  injurious  to  the  best  inter- 
ests of  our  colleges.  And  I  trust  that  all  the  members  of  the 
Texas  Educational  Association  will  give  this  question  earnest 
attention,  and  remove  everything  from  our  institutions  of 
learning  that  will  be  injurious  to  the  youth  of  Texas;  and  also 
adopt  every  means  and  use  every  power  to  cultivate  and  de- 
velop all  that  will  enoble  and  develop  the  sons  and  daughter? 
of  our  Empire  State." 

In  the  preparation  of  this  work  we  here  depart  from  our 
plan  in  following  .'n  Dr.  Burleson's  footsteps  as  far  as  possible,, 
in  order  to  make  a  co}anected  story  of  the  war  he  inaugurated 
at  this  early  time  xii  his  college  experience  against  the  practice 
of  hazing  among  students,  and  anticipate  his  career  in  other 
places. 

A  great  majority  of  the  college  presidents  in  the  Unite'! 
States  were  unalterably  hostile  to  the  practice,  but  were  pessi- 
mistic as  to  the  success  of  any  plan  for  its  suppression. 

A  distinguished  journalist  had  just  returned  to  the  jSTorth 
from  a  visit  to  Texas,  in  1872,  and  found  a  bad  state  of  affairs 
existing  at  Harvard,  Yale,  Cambridge,  Princeton  and  some 
institutions  on  account  of  this  outrageous  practice.  The  presi- 
dents of  these  schools  were  unreserved  in  their  condemnation 
of  the  practice,  but  said  it  could  not  be  prevented,  and  quietly 
submitted.  This  journalist,  who  was  in  close  touch  with  these 
officials,  replied: 

"This  is  a  mistake.  Hazing,  and  every  other  form  of 
outlawry  among  students,  can  be  prevented.  I  have  just 
returned  from  a  visit  to  Texas,  and  there  I  found  on  the  bor- 
der of  civilization.  Dr.  E.  C.  Burleson,  at  the  head  of  a  univer- 
sity of  Y50  students,  among  whom,  for  forty  years,  there  has 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  BuELESoisr.  157 

never  been  but  one  cas^  of  hazing.  To  this  he  applied  heroic 
measures;  he  outhazed  the  hazers  so  badly  that  the  practice 
ceased  at  once."  Thi.s  statement  ^vas  widely  published  in  the 
ISTorthern  press,  attracted  the  attention  of  those  having  the 
control  of  great  institutions  of  learning  in  hand;  as  a  result 
of  which,  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  ISTational  Educa- 
tional Association  addressed  Dr.  Burleson  a  letter  inquiring 
if  the  statement  was  true.  He  answered  that  it  was,  and  was 
invited  to  deliver  an  address  before  the  association  in  St.  Paul 
in  1873  on  this  subject. 

The  invitation  was  accepted,  and  Dr.  Burleson  was  intro- 
<iuced  to  8,000  teachers  by  the  presiding  officer  of  the  associa- 
tion as  the  first  college  President  in  America  that  had  suc- 
ceeded in  eradicating  this  relic  of  barbarism  from  the  school 
over  which  he  presided.  Prominent  educators  from  Canada 
were  present  during  the  sessions  of  the  St.  Paul  convention, 
and  were  so  much  impressed  with  Dr.  Burleson's  methods  of 
preventing  this  practice  that  he  was  urged  to  discuss  the  same 
subject  before  the  Canadian  Teachers'  Association  at  Toronto 
in  1875.  This  invitation  was  also  accepted;  the  address  deliv- 
ered. A  chord  was  struck  that  vibrated  through  all  educa- 
tional circles  in  America,  and,  while  it  has  not  resulted  in 
removing  hazing,  and  kindred  reprehensible  practices,  from 
the  student  population  of  the  land  entirely,  has  resulted  in  a 
perceptible  diminution  of  these  so-called  sports. 


158  The  Life  and  Writings  of 


CHAPTER  XX. 


Dk.  Bueleson's  FoRESiaHT — Predicts  Future  of  Texas  ani> 
Baylor  University  in  a  Letter  to  His  Brother  Rich- 
AitD  in  1854 — ^  Creation  and  "Criticism  —  Similarity 
AND  Dissimilarity  Between  R.  C.  and  R.  B.  Burleson 
— Baptism  of  General  Sajvi  Houston — Baptistry  of 
Independence  Church — Coffin  Shaped — Filled  With 
Logs — Place  Changed — Description  of  this  HiSTORia 
Spot — Photographed  foe  the  First  Time,  for  This 
Volume,  by  Thomas  A.  Holland. 

N  THIS,  as  well  as  in  all  the  past  ages  of  the  world, 
men  have  lived  who  were  splendid  logicians  when 
the  affairs  that  had  already  transpired  were  under 
discussion.  It  is  not  difficult  for  a  man  of  average  intelli- 
gence to  perform  something  that  has  been  done  under  his  own 
eye.  Men  marvelled  when  Columbus  announced  that  he 
could  stand  an  egg  on  its  end;  but  all  could  do  the  same  thing 
with  as  much  ease  as  Columbus  after  he  had  shown  them  how. 
Great  battles  have  been  fought  in  which  great  mistake.^ 
were  made.  Men  of  a  very  low  order  of  military  genius  can 
see  the  mistakes  after  the  fight  is  over  and  lost.  The  finest 
preachers  sit  in  the  pew;  provided  they  are  judged  by  the 
readiness  with  which  they  point  out  the  defects  in  the  sermon 
after  it  has  been  delivered. 

The  best  musicians  are  never  in  the  choir,  because  the 
least  discord  could  have  been  prevented,  if  the  leader  had  con- 
sulted some  one  in  the  congregation,  after  the  song  had  been 
rendered. 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  159 

Here  is  a  building  of  magnificent  architectural  skill,  but 
it  is  faulty.  These  faults  could  be  detected  by  people  who 
could  not  "saw  a  scribe"  after  the  house  had  been  finished. 

Creation  and  criticism  are  very  different  propositions. 
Creation  looks  forward;  criticism  looks  backward. 

What  we  have  learned  by  observation  and  experience, 
and  what  we  know  by  prescience  are  vastly  different  processes 
of  acquiring  knowledge. 

It  is  an  easier  matter,  in  1901,  to  see  that  Texas  is  a  great 
country,  and  Baylor  University  a  great  institution  of  learning, 
than  to  have  foreseen  these  things  fifty  years  ago. 

Dr.  Burleson  was  gifted  with  foresight,  and  saw,  in  1851, 
what  Texas  and  Baylor  University  would  be  to-day,  and,  for- 
tunately for  his  forethought,  he  drew  a  pen  picture  of  present 
conditions,  in  a  letter  to  his  brother,  Eiehard  B.  Burleson, 
Avhich  is  reproduced : 

Ikdependence,  Texas,  February  6th,  1854. 
Mr.  R.  B.  Burleson,  Decatur,  Ala.: 

Dear  Brother — Early  in  life,  when  our  hearts  were  pure, 
and  our  hopes  were  bright,  we  often  expressed  a  desire  to  each 
other  to  live,  love,  labor  and  die  together.  This  was  also  the 
ardent  wish  of  our  sainted  mother.  But  for  many  years  these 
hopes  have  been  darkened,  and  I  fear  these  former  desires  have 
grown  cold,  but  heaven  knows  not  on  my  part. 

jSTow  I  offer  a  test  to  see  how  the  case  stands  with  you. 
You  are  naturally  fond  of  mathematics;  that  professorship  is 
now  vacant  in  Baylor  University;  the  salary  after  this  year 
will  be  $1,000,  one-third  to  be  pa^d  in  advance.  Tf  you  will 
accept  the  position,  it  shall  be  yours  at  the  end  of  1854. 

You  have  so  entirely  misconceived,  and  have  formed  such 
erroneous  impressions  of  the  real  conditions  and  future  great- 
ness of  Texas  that  you  will  probably  regard  this  offer  as  a 
small  affair,  but  if  you  live  ten  years,  you  will  see  Texas  the 
ISTew  York  of  the  South,  and  Baylor  University  the  brightest 
ornament  of  Texas. 

In  one  of  your  former  letters  you  spoke  of  Texas  as  a 
wild,  savage  country.  My  dear  brother,  there  are  more 
learned  men,  classic  scholars,  regular  graduates  in  Union  Bap- 


160  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

tist  Association,  than  you  are  aware  of.  Bro.  Huckins  is  a 
graduate  of  Brown  University.  Brethren  Baines,  Maxey  and 
Cleveland  of  Alabama  University,  Bro.  Creath  of  Richmond 
College.  Prof.  Stiteler  is  a  graduate  of  both  Pejinsylvania 
University  and  Hamilton  Theological  Seminary.  Bro. 
Graves,  the  first  President  of  Baylor  University,  a  graduate 
of  the  University  of  l^orth  Carolina  and  also  of  Hamilton 
Theological  Seminary. 

Brethren  Baxter,  Baylor  and  Chilton  are  not  graduates, 
but  are  men  of  extensive  information,  and  the  two  last  named 
were  distinguished  Congressmen.  Bro.  Baylor  is  now  a  great 
Judge,  as  well  as  Baptist  preacher. 

Our  laity  are  proportionately  intelligent. 

You  may  ask  how  is  it  that  I  hold  such  a  prominent  posi- 
tion among  such  men?  Well,  I  assure  you  it  is  not  from  supe- 
riority, but  from  my  sleepless  vigilance  and  untiring  energy. 
I  have  traversed  the  whole  State,  and  know  every  prominent 
person  in  our  church. 

I  also  see  the  wonderful  possibilities  of  the  country. 

The  prospect  of  our  institution  is  fine.  We  will  have  not 
far  from  250  students  in  both  departments  this  year,  among 
whom  will  be  seven  or  eight  young  ministers.  *  *  *  * 
Please  write  me  immediately. 

Your  affectionate  brother, 

RUFUS  C.  BURLESOK 

These  brothers  were  near  the  same  age,  bom  in  the  same 
place,  and  were  so  intimately  associated  in  childhood,  boy- 
hood and  manhood  that  something  more  than  a  passing  notice 
of  Dr.  Richard  B.  Burleson  is  deserved. 

He  was  bom  near  Decatur,  Alabama,  January  1st,  1822. 
His  boyhood  was  spent  amid  the  active  duties  of  his  father's 
plantation.  He  received  his  academic  preparation  from  his 
mother,  and  at  the  country  schools  conducted  in  the  commu- 
uity.  The  natural  bent  of  his  mind  was  toward  a  military 
life,  and  his  early  preparation  was  made  with  this  end  in  view. 
He  received  from  the  Representative  in  Congress  from  the 
district  in  which  he  lived  in  !N"orth  Alabama,  the  appointment 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Buelesox. 


161 


to  a  cadetship  in  West  Point  j\Iilitary  Academy.  Capt.  Jona- 
than Burleson,  his  father,  however,  induced  him  to  decline  the 
appointment,  in  favor  of  the  son  of  a  widowed  neighbor.  The 
young  man  in  whose  favor  he  withdrew  was  General  James 
G.  Longstreet,  one  of  the  most  renowned  commanders  in  the 
Confederate  army  in  the  w^ar  between  the  States. 

Kichard  entered  Somerville  Academy,  where  he  pursued 
a  course  of  instruction  for  one  year.  In  1840  he  entered 
Xashville  University,  at  l^ashville,  Tennessee,  completed  the 
course  in  three  years,  and  graduated  with  honor. 

In  1839  he  was  converted,  and  received  the  ordinance  of 


RICHARD  H.  BURLESON. 

baptism  at  the  hands  of  Rev.  W.  H.  Holcombe.  In  1841, 
while  a  student  in  Nashville,  he  \vas  licensed  to  preach  by  the 
First  Baptist  Church,  of  which  Dr.  R.  B.  C.  Howell  was  pas- 
tor. In  1842  his  ordination  was  called  for  by  the  church  at 
Athens,  Alabama.  He  accepted  the  pastorate,  and  served  the 
church  with  marked  satisfaction  for  two  years. 

He  was  called  to  the  care  of  the  church  at  Tuscumbia  in 
1845,  where  he  remained  until  1849,  w^hen  he  was  elected  by 
the  Trustees,  President  of  Moulton  Female  Institute,  which 
position  he  filled  for  six  years.  This  institute  was  raised  to  a 
hiffh  standard  under  Prof.  Burleson's  wise  mana2:ement. 


162  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

He  was  called  to  the  pastorate  of  the  Baptist  Church  in 
Austin,  Texas,  in  1855,  and  conducted  a  female  school  in  that 
city  in  .1856,  while  filling  the  pastorate.  In  December,  1856, 
he  was  chosen  by  the  Trustees  of  Baylor  University,  at  Inde- 
pendence, on  the  recommendation  of  his  brother.  Professor 
of  Moral  and  Mental  Philosophy  and  Belles-Lettres.  This 
professorship  he  held  until  1861,  when  he  was  elected  Vice- 
President  of  Waco  University  and  Professor  of  Natural 
Science. 

In  1875  he  was  appointed  to  a  position  on  the  Geological 
Surveying  Corps  by  Gov.  Richard  Coke,  but  resigned  at  the 
expiration  of  the  first  year  of  service,  and  returned  to  his 
former  position  in  the  faculty  of  Waco  University.  He  died 
December  21st,  1879. 

An  unqualified  endorsement  is  placed  on  the  following 
estimate  of  his  character,  taken  from  a  "Brief  History  of  the 
Burleson  Family." 

As  a  teacher,  thousands  can  testify  that  his  zeal,  ability, 
punctuality  and  conscientiousness  were  never  surpassed. 
ISTeither  private  interest,  nor  rain,  nor  heat,  nor  bodily  pain 
ever  detained  him  from  the  post  of  duty  for  twenty-three 
years.  The  great  success  of  Baylor  and  Waco  Univer- 
sities is  due  in.  eminent  degree  to  his  management  of  their 
internal  affairs,  while  his  brother,  Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson, 
watched  after  the  financial  and  general  interests  abroad. 
Teaching  and  his  classes  had  become  a  part  of  his  being. 
IN'othing  was  more  affecting  during  his  long  and  painful  suffer- 
ing, especially  in  a  feverish,  dreaixdng  state,  than  to  call  a 
class  roll  of  fifteen  or  twenty,  and  go  through  whole  lessons 
in  his  favorite  sciences,  geology,  botany  and  astronomy,  often 
mingling  with  the  exercises  his  tender  admonitions  to  the 
tardy,  and  his  commendations  to  the  diligent.  Who  can  tell 
the  power  of  a  life  so  conscientious  and  devoted  ?  It  is  need- 
less to  state,  in  regard  to  one  so  widely  known,  that  Prof. 
Burleson  was  no  ordinary  man,  this  having  been  abundantly 
evinced  in  a  public  career  of  nearly  forty  years.  To  talents  of 
a  high  order  were  added  wealth  and  family  influence.  A  bril- 
liant future,  so  tempting  to  youthful  ambition,  was  opened 
to  him.     But  to  be  useful  to,  not  to  gain  the  applause  of,  his 


De.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  163 

fellowman;  to  serve  truly  his  day  and  generation,  inspired  his 
ambition  and  determined  his  life-work.  Convinced  before  he 
had  reached  his  majority,  when,  as  yet,  most  young  men  ot" 
his  talents  are  dazzled  by  visions  of  pleasure  or  prospects  of 
ambition,  that  his  noble  and  unselfish  purpose  would  be  most 
successfully  achieved  by  devoting  himself  to  the  ministry  and 
the  instruction  of  the  young,  his  resolution  was  formed.  It 
was  no  idle  resolve.  It  was  a  life  purpose.  Every  other  con- 
sideration was  made  subordinate.  It  absorbed  all  the  energies 
of  his  being;  was  pursued  with  an  ardor  that  suffered  no  remis- 
sion, and  which  only  the  cold  breath  of  death  could  chill.  Of 
his  character  as  a  preacher,  it  may  be  stated  that  no  one  could 
listen  with  the  least  attention  to  his  preaching  without  taking 
away  with  him  the  conviction  that  he  was  eminently  thought- 
ful, intellectual,  profoundly  learned  in  bis  profession, 
intensely  in  earnest;  that  his  pulpit  instructions  -^ere  not 
merely  perfunctory,  to  gain  applause  or  benefit  himself,  but 
free  from  every  taint  of  modern  skepticism,  so  common  with 
the  most  intellectual  class,  even  in  the  pulpit;  that  his  teach- 
ings were  the  outgrowth  of  convictions  that  controlled  his  will 
and  governed  his  own  life. 

As  an  orator,  his  style  was  gentle  and  persuasive,  logical 
rather  than  impassioned,  his  manner  graceful  and  impressive. 
These  qualities,  energized  by  great  earnestness  and  zeal,  light- 
ing up  and  adorning  his  manly  features,  and  teeming  from 
his  fine,  penetrating  eye,  though  they  might  not  always  con- 
vince, never  failed  to  ^  the  attention  and  win  the  admiration 
of  his  hearers.  But,  as  an  educator,  he  was  pre-eminent. 
.  His  methods  were  absolutely  his  own — original — as  original 
as  the  epic  of  Homer,  the  orations  of  Demosthenes,  or  the 
allegory  of  Bunyan.  Intellectually,  it  were  not  difficult,  per- 
haps, to  find  his  equal;  but  morally,  his  peers  among  living 
teachers  are  probably  few. 

Perhaps  the  most  characteristic  peculiarity  about  him,  as 
a  teacher,  was  his  rare  power  of  analysis,  enabling  him  to  fix 
the  attention  of  the  learner  successfully  upon  each  phase  or 
part  of  his  subject,  until  he  had  mastered  the  whole.  To  this 
quality  he  added  in  a  most  eminent  degree,  a  modest,  concen- 
trated earnestness,   begetting  a  gentleness   of  manner  that 


164  The  Life  axd  Writings  of 

endeared  liini  to  his  pupils.  His  teaching, , free  from  every 
appearance  of  levity  and  trifling  in  matter  and  manner,  im- 
pressed the  heai-er  with  a  deep  sense  of  the  value  and  impor- 
tance of  his  instructions.  Gentle,  earnest,  dignified,  and  in 
love  with  his  work,  he  never  failed  to  win  the  affections  of  his 
pupils,  and  to  inspire  them  with  his  own  love  and  thirst  for 
knowledge. 

His  intercourse  with  his  fellowmen  was  charactrized  by 
frankness  and  candor.  His  diffidence  amounted,  sometimes, 
to  what  seemed  to  be  lack  of  self-assertion.  He  died  as  he 
had  lived,  his  last  days  being  characteristic  of  his  long  life  of 
usefulness. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Waco  Uni- 
versity, held  in  1875,  the  degree  of  LL.  D.  was  conferred  on 
Professor  Burleson.  In  conferring  the  degree  the  Trustees 
stated,  "as  a  scholar  and  educator  Dr.  Richard  B.  Burleson 
was  in  every  way  worthy  of  this  eminence  and  distinguished 
honor." 

The  similarity  in  the  career  of  these  two  brothers  is  most 
striking,  and  their  course  in  life  so  much  alike  that  it  makes 
scarcely  more  than  one  foot-print. 

They  were  bom  in  the  same  place,  with  only  eighteen 
months  difference  in  their  ages.  Both  received  primary 
instruction  at  home.  Both  attended  Somerville  Academy 
and  [N^ashville  University.  They  were  converted  about  the 
same  time,  baptized  by  the  same  minister,  and  united  with  the 
same  church.  Both  were  licensed  to  preach  by  the  same 
church  in  ISTashville,  under  the  pastorate  of  the  same  man. 
Both  filled  pastorates  and  taught  early  in  life.  Both  came 
west,  were  connected  with  the  same  school,  one  as  President, 
the  other  as  Vice-President.  Both  died  in  the  same  city,  and 
sleep  in  the  same  cemetery.  Added  to  all  this,  there  was  a 
most  marked  and  striking  personal  resemblance  between  them; 
so  much  so,  that  one  was  frequently  mistaken  for  the  other. 

^Notwithstanding  all  this,  and  all  these  points  of  resem- 
blance, in  temperament,  disposition  and  character,  they  were 
as  unlike  and  dissimilar  as  any  two  men  who  ever  lived.  One 
was  an  optimist,  the  other  a  pessimist.  One  was  hopeful,  the 
other  despondent.     One  was  fired  to  redouble  his  efforts  in  the 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burlesox.  165 

face  of  opposition,  the  other  quailed  before  it.  One  scaled 
mountains,  the  other  traversed  valleys.  An  incident  in  their 
lives,  when  mere  boys,  illustrates  this  difference  in  their 
character. 

])uring  one  of  their  rambles  in  the  forest,  near  the 
Burleson  home  on  Flint  river,  these  boys  became  bewildered. 
They  tramped  through  the  forest  for  hours,  and  the  more  they 
traveled  the  more  completely  they  lost  their  bearing.  Around 
and  around  in  a  circle  they  walked,  over  hill,  through  swamp, 
thicket  and  jungle.  Both  became  tired,  footsore  and  hungry. 
^N'o  familiar  spot  was  found,  and  nothing  noticed  by  which 
they  could  take  correct  reckoning  and  strike  a  course  for 
home. 

Finally,  discouraged,  disheartened  and  despairing,  Rich- 
ard said :  ^^Eufus,  we  are  lost,  hopelessly  lost,  in  this  forest. 
I  can  go  no  farther.  Let  us  lie  down  beside  this  tree  and  die, 
and  thus  end  our  suffering  and  misery."'  This  proposition 
startled  Rufus,  who  felt  the  situation  to  be  desperate,  but  with 
that  resolution  that  characterized  every  relation  in  life,  he 
answered : 

*^Why,  Richard,  no;  let  us  press  on,  and  we  will  reach  oul- 
home  in  safety." 

These  boys  did  press  on,  and  early  the  following  morning 
a  friend  was  met  on  one  of  the  thoroughfares  in  the  county, 
who  picked  up  these  bewildered  and  tired  boys  and  carried 
them  to  their  homes,  ten  miles  down  Flint  river.  So  it  was 
all  through  life.  Richard  said,  'Sve  can't;"  Rufus  said,  "we 
can  and  will." 

Xot^^dthstanding  these  points  of  resemblance  and  dis- 
similar elements,  as  contradictory  as  it  may  seem,  and  para- 
doxical as  it  may  appear,  both  succeeded  in  everything 
undertaken  and  in  every  aft'air  of  life. 

It  was  ]^ovember  19th  of  this  year  (1854),  while  filling 
the  pastorate  of  the  Independence  Church,  in  connection  with 
his  duties  as  President  of  the  University,  that  Dr.  Burleson 
administered  the  ordinance  of  baptism  to  General  Sam 
Houston.  This  became  a  historic  event,  and  was  ever  afterward 
one  of  Dr.  Burleson's  most  pleasant  memories.  While  serving 
as  pastor  of  this  church,  Dr.  Burleson  had  a  baptistry  made  in 


166  The  Life  and  "Writings  of 

the  bed  of  Kountz  Creek,  north  of  town,  in  the  shape  of  a 
coffin. 

Since  baptism,  the  word  of  God  taught,  was  designed  to 
typify,  in  part,  a  regenerated  soul  buried  to  sin,  he  contended 
that  this  style  of  baptistry  was  a  beautiful  observance  of  the 
eternal  fitness  of  things  that  ministers  of  the  gospel  should  not 
fail  to  note.  In  this  place  he  baptized  a  large  number  of  the 
students  of  Baylor  University  during  his  pastorate,  hundreds 
of  whom  ^vill  feast  their  eyes  on  the  picture  presented  in  this 
volume,  and  will  recall  many  occasions  of  spiritual  rejoicing 
experienced  around  this  place  of  hallowed  recollections. 


POOL  WHERE  DR.  BURLESON  ADMINISTERED  THE  ORDINANCE  OF  BAP- 
TISM TO  GENERAL  SAM  HOUSTON. 

When  it  was  announced  that  Greneral  Houston  was  to 
receive  the  ordinace  at  this  place,  some  mischievous  boys  went 
the  night  before  and  filled  the  baptistry  with  mud  and  tree 
tops.  The  sexton  went  down  in  the  morning  to  see  that  the 
pool  was  in  order,  came  back  very  much  distressed,  and 
reported  to  Dr.  Burleson  that  the  baptistry  was  full  of  mud, 
and  that  it  could  not  be  removed  in  time  for  him  to  use  it  that 
evening.  "Very  well,"  he  calmly  replied,  "I  will  outgeneral 
these  mischievous  boys  from  the  country,  and  baptize  the 
General  in  Little  Rockv."    The  change  was  announced  at  tho 


Dr.  Eufus  C.  Burleson.  167 

service  that  morning,  and  a  great  concourse  of  people  was 
present. 

It  was  no  ordinary  occasion.  Ko  man  in  the  United 
States,  jSTorth  or  South,  was  more  in  the  public  eye  than  Gen- 
eral Houston.  He  was  severely  wounded  in  the  battle  of 
Horseshoe  Bend,  and  distinguished  himself  for  valor  in  the 
war  of  1812.  He  served  one  term  in  Congress  from  Ten- 
nessee in  1823,  and  was  elected  Governor  of  the  State  in  1827. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  convention  that  promulgated  the 
Declaration  of  Texas  Itidependence,  March  2d,  1836,  and 
moved  the  adoption  of  the  report  of  the  committee  appointed 
to  prepare  it.  He  took  his  rifle  in  one  hand,  a  JDen  in  the  other, 
and  affixed  his  name  to  that  document.  He  was  elected  Com- 
mander-in-Chief of  the  Texas  army,  and  was  the  hero  of  the 
battle  of  San  Jacinto.  He  was  twice  President  of  the  Repub- 
lic, after  the  liberty  of  the  people  had  been  achieved,  and 
tmce  Governor  after  the  State  was  admitted  into  the  Union, 
and  served  also  three  terms  as  Representative  of  the  people  in 
the  United  States  Senate.  We  repeat,  this  was  no  ordinary 
occasion,  and  Dr.  Burleson's  experience,  one  of  the  rarest  in 
the  history  of  any  minister.     ■ 

It  is  not  extravagant  to  say,  for  simple  beauty,  a  more 
lovely  place  could  not  be  found  in  all  Texas  in  which  to  admin- 
ister the  ordinance  of  baptism  to  this  old  hero,  patriot,  states- 
man and  humble  Christian. 

It  has  undergone  no  changes  in  all  these  years,  except  a 
large  cedar  tree  that  stood  near  has  been  felled  and  removed. 
The  limpid  waters  of  Little  Rocky  come  purling  over  beds  of 
clean  gravel,  white  flat  rock,  through  masses  of  luxuriant 
lillies  and  cress,  and  pour  over  a  rocky  precipice  five  feet  high 
and  form  a  segment-shaped  pool  of  foaming  water  twenty  feet 
in  diameter.  At  the  south  end  of  this  beautiful  pool  there  is 
a  bank  of  rich  earth,  sodded  with  bermuda  grass  and  studded 
^vith  wild  flowers.  This  bank  bisects  the  current,  and  the 
water  flows  out  in  two  streams,  making  an  island  of  it,  and 
forming  a  long  lake  100  feet  below.  The  finest  old  live  oaks 
in  all  the  wide  world  stand  at  intervals  on  the  bank,  sheltering 
full-uddered   kine,   which,   with   the   sparkling  water,  rocky 


168 


The  Life  and  Writings  of 


ledges,  green  sward  and  masses  of  lillies,  make  this  historic 
spot  a  landscape  of  indescribable  beauty. 

The  ])icture  presented  of  this  place,  a.s  well  as  the  tomb 
of  Judge  K.  E.  B.  Baylor,  and  the  baptistry  of  the  Indepen- 
dence Church,  were  specially  made  for  this  publication  by 
Mr.  Thomas  A.  Holland,  an  accomplished  artist  of  Brenham, 
and  these  photographs  are  the  first  ever  made  of  these  historic 
spots.  J.  T.  Hairston  and  Harry  Ha_ynes,  the  two  gentlemen 
seen  in  the  picture  of  the  place  where  General  Houston  was 
baptized,  were  present  as  boys,  and  both  eye-witnesses  to 
the  baptismal  scene,  over  forty-seven  years  ago. 


BAPTISTEY  OF  THE  INDEPENDENCE  CHURCH. 

Here  Dr.  Burleson  Immersed  a  Large  Number  of  Students  and  Other 

Candidates. 


Dr.  Kufus  C.  Burleson.  169 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


Baylor  University  From  1855  to  1860 — Brilliant  Fac- 
ulty— Impressions  Made  on  the  Character  of  the 
Students — ^A  Personal  Testimony — Independence  a 
Small  Village — Boarding  Facilities  Inadequate — 
Discontent  Among  Students — President  Burleson 
Erects  a  Three-story  House,  Two-story  Annex — 
Assumes  a  Heavy  Financial  Obligation — Disastrous 
Drought  in  1857 — Affects  Attendance — Recupera- 
tive Powers  of  Texas — Storm  of  September  8tii, 
1900. 


fj    URIj^G  the  sessions  of  Baylor  University  from  1855 
^^?       to   1860,  Dr.   Burleson's  duties  as  President  were 
■^^'      strenuous  and  his  resourceful  character  taxed  to  it? 
last  limit. 

The  faculty  was  composed  of  the  following  professors : 

Rev,  Rufus  C.  Burleson,  A.  M.,  President,  and  Professor 
of  Moral  Philosophy,  Belles  Lettres  and  Spanish. 

Rev.  Richard  B.  Burleson,  A.  M.,  Vice-President,  Profes- 
sor of  ^Natural  Science  and  Political  Economy. 

David  R.  Wallace,  A.  M.,  M.  I).,  Professor  of  Latin, 
Greek  and  French  Languages. 

Oscar  H.    Leland,    A.    B.,   Professor   of   Mathematics, 
Mechanical  Philosophy  and  Astronomy. 

Louis  Franke,  A.  M.,  Professor  of  the  German  Language 
and  Literature. 

Professor  James  L.  Smith,  Principal  of  the  Preparatory 
Department. 

Professor  AVilliam  IT.  Long,  Tutor. 


lYO 


The  Life  akd  Writings  of 


E,ev.  Frank  Kiefer,  Professor  J.  W.  Willrick  and  Charles 
T.  Kavanangii  and  S.  G.  O'Brien  were  also  teachers  during 
the  time. 

This  statement  is  intended  to  be  by  no  means  invidious, 
but  a  more  brilliant  corps  of  teachers  and  accomplished  schol- 
ars, were  never  marshaled  in  any  institution  in  Texas  for  tho 
instruction  of  the  young. 

All  had  won  college  degrees  in  the  best  schools  in  tho 


Dh.  R.  C.  Bukleson.  Peof.  R.  B,  Bueleson.  Prdi.  Jj.  U.  Wallace. 

Pbof.  O.  H.  Lbland.  Peof.  J.  L.  Smith.  Peof.  G.  W.  Willeick. 

DR.  BURLESON'S  FIRST  FACULTY  AT  BAYLOR  UNIVERSITY, 

country,  except  those  in  charge  of  the  Preparatory  Depart- 
ment, and  carried  with  them  into  their  recitation  rooms  a 
degree  of  earnestness  and  enthusiasm  rarely  equalled.  More 
can  be  said  of  these  teachers;  they  impressed  the  dignity  of 
their  characters  upon  the  pupils,  and  aroused  a  spirit  of 
studiousness  and  ambition  that  led  them  to  aspire  to  higher 
planes,  and  to  attain  to  the  greatest  excellence  in  every  avoca- 
tion and  profession  in  life,  of  which  they  were  capable. 


De.  Rufus  C.  Buelesok".  171 

This  author  wishes  here  to  add  a  parenthetical  sentence, 
and  tender  his  thanks,  and  express  his  undying  appreciation 
for  the  influence  made  upon  his  boyish  character  and  life  by 
the  lofty  example  of  these  teachers.  It  was  felt  at  the  time, 
and  abides  more  brightly  in  the  meridian  of  life. 

The  members  of  this  faculty  not  only  formed  a  splendid 
teaching  force,  but  they  were  also  disciplinarians,  and  rendered 
the  President  valuable  service  in  the  enforcement  of  law  and 
the  government  of  the  university  and  reduced  lawlessness 
and  disorder  in  the  student  body  to  a  minimum. 

To  be  sure,  there  were  cases  requiring  discipline,  but  the 
offenses  were  of  a  harmless  nature,  and  for  the  amusement  of 
the  students,  and  intended  as  no  kind  of  indignity  to  the 
President  of  any  member  of  the  faculty. 

Independence  at  that  time  was  one  of  the  most  delightful 
towns  in  the  State.  Many  of  the  wealthy  families  of  Texas 
had  moved  to  the  place  and  settled,  on  account  of  the  relig- 
ious, educational  and  social  advantages  offered.  The  town, 
however,  was  small,  the  number  of  boarding  students  very 
large,  and  lodging  and  table  accommodations  entirely  inade- 
quate, l^ot  only  was  President  Burleson  confronted  with 
this  difficulty,  but  the  University  building  was  more  crowded 
than  the  boarding  houses.  On  account  of  these  desiderata 
there  was  much  discontent  among  the  students.  Many  had 
intimated  that,  unless  more  comfortable  boarding  places  could 
be  secured  and  more  commodious  and  suitable  recitation 
rooms  provided,  they  would  be  compelled  to  return  to  their 
homes,  and  arrange  to  attend  some  other  institution. 

This  was  a  crisis  in  the  history  of  Baylor  University. 
President  Burleson  realized  that  the  grievance  of  the  students 
was  just,  their  demands  reasonable,  and  that  something  must 
be  done  to  relieve  the  tension  of  the  situation.  He  laid  the 
matter  before  the  Trustees,  who  were  convinced  of  the  neces- 
sity for  more  room,  and  took  immediate  steps  to  provide  it. 
They  erected  a  two-story  stone  building,  40x80  feet,  which, 
with  the  two-story  building  erected  in  1849,  was  ample  for 
present  demands  in  this  direction. 

The  situation,  however,  was  only  partially  relieved.  The 
students  must  not  only  have  rooms  in  which  to  recite,  but  they 


172  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

must  have  somewliere  to  live.  Both  President  Burleson  and 
the  Trustees  made  many  unsuccessful  endeavors  to  induce 
some  capitalist  to  erect  a  large  boarding  house,  to  meet  the 
other  necessitous  features  of  the  situation. 

Failing  in  this,  Mr.  Burleson  resolved  to  do  so  himself. 
To  raise  the  money  to  enable  him  to  execute  his  purpose,  he 
mortgaged  land  inherited  from  his  father's  estate,  and  built  a 
three-story  house,  octagon-shaped,  "with  three-  story  galleries 
running  entirely  around  it.  This  building  contained  twenty- 
five  large  rooms,  each  capable  of  accommodating  four  young 
men.  In  the  center  of  the  octagon,  a  large,  stone  stack  chim- 
ney was  built,  giving  a  fireplace  to  each  room. 

These,  wdth  the  six  rooms  in  his  residence,  gave  him 
thirty-one  rooms.  He  could  thus  accommodate  nearly  one 
hundred  boarders,  which,  with  those  scattered  around  town, 
made  it  easy  for  all  the  students  who  came  from  a  distance  to 
find  comfortable  quarters.  The  President  then  announced, 
in  a  spirit  of  triumph,  that  Baylor  University  not  only  boasted 
of  having  the  finest  faculty  of  any  institution  west  of  the 
Mississippi  River,  but  commodious  school  buildings,  a  good 
library,  philosophical  apparatus,  and  ample  boarding  accom- 
modations, and  unsurpassed  facilities  of  every  kind. 

All  this  had  its  effect,  and  students  came  thronging  to 
Independence  from  almost  every  settled  county  in  Texas,  and 
from  Louisiana,  Arkansas,  Mississippi,  Alabama,  and  one  from 
Boston. 

Three  other  buildings,  16x32  feet,  for  study  and  recita- 
tion rooms,  were  also  built.  Mr.  Burleson's  expenditure,  in 
making  all  these  needed  improvements  was  about  $10,000,  and 
absorbed  his  entire  patrimony.  In  thus  tiding  the  institution 
through  a  crisis,  the  result  added  gloriously  to  the  cause  of 
education  in  Texas,  but  entailed  a  heavy  financial  burden  on 
him,  from  which  he  never  fully  recovered.  In  addition  to  the 
ordinary,  or,  rather,  it  should  be  said,  extraordinary,  demands 
made  on  the  financial  resources  of  one  occupying  the  foremost 
position  among  the  Baptists  of  Texas,  he  had  from  that  day 
on,  for  many  years,  a  heavy  interest  account  to  meet  annually. 

But  for  the  great  wdsdom  displayed  by  President  Burle- 
son, in  providing  for  the  necessities  of  the  institution,  and  the 


Dr.  Kufus  C.  Burlesox.  173 

financial  sacrifice  made  to  do  so,  Baylor  University  might  have 
liad  a  gravestone  to  mark  its  last  resting  place,  instead  of  an 
ascending  star. 

This  tremendous  sacrifice  was  not  appreciated  then,  and 
it  is  feared  has  not  been  appreciated  since.  Since  some  of 
those  for  whom  it  was  made,  and  who  were  its  greatest  bene- 
ficiaries, were  among  the  first  to  denounce  him  as  "a  miserable 
financial  failure,"  and  persecute  and  pursue  him,  in  his  embar- 
rassed and  crippled  financial  condition. 

Men  who  had  made  comfortable  fortunes  out  of  his  heroic 
self-abnegation,  and  gave  their  children  the  opportunities  for 
a  finished  education  by  the  facilities  he  provided,  and  who 
should  have  been  on  their  knees  at  his  feet  offering  him  thanks 
as  their  benefactor  and  deliverer,  instituted  suits  against  him 
on  open  accounts  for  insignificant  sums. 

During  the  year  of  1857  the  prosperous  condition  of  the 
school  was  somewhat  interfered  with  and  attendance  reduced 
from  the  effects  of  a  drought  unprecedented  in  the  history  of 
the  State.  Very  little  rain  fell  from  January  to  December. 
]S'o  part  of  Texas  was  exempt  from  the  disaster.  Both  the 
corn  and  cotton  crops  were  complete  failures;  and  as  cotton 
was  the  chief  reliance  of  the  people  for  money,  some  of  the 
students  were  withdrawn  from  school  by  their  parents,  and 
others,  who  had  contemplated  sending  their  children  were 
unable  to  do  so. 

All  the  water  courses  dried  up,  springs  stopped  flowing, 
and  water  for  man  and  beast  became  very  scarce.  Grass  was 
burtied  to  a  crisp,  and  stock  suffered  and  died  in  large  numbers 
as  a  result.  The  earth  became  so  dry  that  it  cracked  and 
gapped  to  such  an  extent  that  travel  was  unsafe.  All  the  corn 
consumed  by  the  people  for  bread  and  other  purposes  was 
imported  at  a  tremendous  cost,  and  in  many  communities  sold 
at  two  and  three  dollars  per  bushel.  The  meager  resources  of 
the  people  being  thus  exhausted  in  providing  the  absolute 
necessities  of  life,  tuition  fees  could  not  be  collected,  and  the 
President  and  f  actulty  were  all  seriously  embarrassed. 

An  end  to  this  disaster,  however,  was  not  long  deferred. 
Copious  rains  came  in  time  for  the  planting  season  of  1858. 
This  revived  the  drooping  spirits  of  the  people,  and  enabled 


174  The  Life  and  "Writings  of 

Copious  rains  came  in  time  for  the  planting  season  of  1858. 

'No  country  on  the  continent  possesses  greater  recupera- 
tive powers  than  Texas.  Disasters  of  every  name  and  nature 
may  roll  over  it,  paralyzing  every  business  and  industry ;  condi- 
tions may  be  untoward  to-day,  but  to-morrow  the  business 
horizon  will  brighten,  and  all  with  the  people  and  country  is 
well. 

The  story  of  the  memorable  storm  that  devastated  the 
Gulf  coast  on  the  8th  of  September,  1900,  furnishes  the  most 
recent  instance  of  the  recuperative  character  of  the  country. 
Desolation  and  ruin  was  left  in  its  wake,  evidences  of  which 
would  now  be  hard  to  find.  The  beautiful  city  of  Galveston 
was  torn,  and  left  in  piles  of  unsightly  debris.  One  year  after- 
ward the  restoration  and  rehabilitation  was  almost  complete, 
and  the  city,  in  many  respects,  far  exceeded  its  fonner  beauty 
and  magnificence. 

Baylor  University  not  only  recovered  from  the  disasters 
of  this  fearful  misfortune,  but  President  Burleson  and  the 
Trustees  went  on  from  victory  to  victory,  planning  for 
improvements  and  enlarging  their  scope  of  operations. 


Dr.  Eufus  C.  Burlesox.  175 


CHAPTER  XXll. 


Facilities  of  the  University  Enlarged — Departjients  of 
Law  and  Theology  Established — Address  of  Judge 
James  Jeffries- — Faculty  of  the  Law  School — Rem- 
iniscences— Theological  Department — Assumed  No 
Great  Proportions  on  Account  of  the  AVar  Between 
THE  States. 


D 


JEPARTMENTS  in  Law  and  Theology  were  estab- 
lished during  these  years,  and  conducted  with  much 
satisfaction  and  success,  especially  the  Department  of 
Law.  The  Law  Faculty  was  composed  of  Hon,  E,.  E.  B.  Bay- 
lor, LL.  D. ;  Hon.  E.  T.  Wheeler,  LL.  D. ;  General  John  Sayles 
and  Colonel  William  P.  Eogers.  Of  the  qualifications  of 
these  professors,  it  is  enough  to  say  that  Judges  Baylor  and 
Wheeler  had  been  members  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Alabama 
and  Texas,  General  Sayles  an  author  of  high  standing,  and 
Colonel  Eogers  one  of  the  most  eminent  members  of  the 
Texas  bar. 

This  department  enrolled  thirty-three  students  in  1858, 
and  issued  diplomas  to  a  graduating  class  of  thirteen  that  year. 
This  class  was  composed  of  the  following  young  attorneys : 

John  Alexander,  Charles  E.  Breedlove,  Thomas  J. 
Brown,  W.  F.  Ewing,  Thomas  J.  Goree,  B.  C.  Hardin, 
Thomas  B.  Haynes  James  Jeffries,  John  W.  Metcalf,  A.  E. 
Morriss,  William  H.  Parks,  John  G.  Walker,  Leonard  W. 
Waller. 

The  President  advocated  the  establishment  of  the  Law 
Department  before  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and  hence,  while 
reserving  no  authority  as  to  the  course  of  instruction  pre- 


170  The  Life  akd  'Writings  of 

scribed,  or  teaching  liimself,  was  careful  to  specify  that  the 
department  would  be  subject  to  the  same  government  as  the 
Literary  Department  of  the  University. 

No  law  student  was,  therefore,  allowed  to  use,  as  a  bever- 
age, any  distilled  or  intoxicating  liquor,  or  to  visit  any  places 
where  they  were  retailed,  or  to  engage  in  hazing  or  nocturnal 
disorders,  or  to  visit  taverns,  stores  or  other  public  places  in 
town,  except  on  suitable  occasions. 

'No  law  student  was  permitted  to  carry  or  keep  in  his 
room  any  pistol  or  other  dangerous  weapon.  All  card  playing 
whatever  was  forbidden,  as  well  as  any  games  of  hazard. 

Any  law  student,  it  was  ordained,  who  shall  ^dolate  any 
of  the  college  laws  or  regulations,  or  be  otherwise  guilty  of 
ungentlemanly  conduct,  to  be  judged  of  by  the  Faculty,  will 
be  liable  to  be  dismissed,  it  being  deemed  unfit  that  any  one 
should  be  admitted  to  the  society  and  companionship  of  stu- 
dents, whose  conduct  is  not  exemplary,  or  be  educated  for  the 
practice  of  an  honorable  profession  who  does  not  maintain  the 
character  of  a  gentleman. 

CouKSE  OF  Instruction. 

The  course  of  instruction  in  the  Law  Department  of 
Baylor  University  was  designed  to  give  a  practical  legal 
education. 

Instruction  was  given  by  means  of  lectures,  text-books, 
examinations  and  Moot  Courts. 

The  lectures  were  designed  to  give  a  knowledge  of  the 
present  state  of  the  laws;  particularly  of  whatever  is  peculiar 
to  the  local  jurisprudence  of  Texas. 

Designated  portions  bf  Ithe  'ite:J5t-books  wore  assigned 
daily,  upon  which  the  students  were  examined.  The  subl 
jects  of  study  were  so  ordered  as  to  give  an  acquaintance  with 
every  branch  of  legal  science. 

Moot  courts  were  conducted  under  the  immediate  super- 
intendence of  the  Professors.  Cases  were  stated  and  assigned 
by  them,  and  the  students  devised  cases  and  remedies,  and 
instituted  and  conducted  suits  through  their  several  stages. 
from  the  commencement  in  the  District  to  a  final  hearing  and 
decision  in  the  Supreme  Court.     Juries  were  impaneled,  wit- 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Buelesox.  1Y7 

nesses  examined,  questions  of  practice,  pleading  and  evidence 
argued  and  decided  in  the  District  Courts.  Cases  removed 
bj  appeal  or  writ  of  error  to  the  Supreme  Court,  and  argued 
orally  and  by  brief,  in  the  same -manner  as  in  the  courts  of  the 
State. 

Written  opinions  were  delivered  by  the  students  upon 
cases  stated,  and  dissertations  read  by  them  upon  designated 
subjects. 

The  students  were  classified  as  juniors  and  seniors.  Those 
who  had  attended  one  session  and  read  during  the  interval, 
or  who  had  read  the  text-books  required  in  the  course,  and 
who  on  examination  by  the  professors  were  found  sufficiently 
advanced,  constituted  the  Senior  Class. 

The  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Laws  was  conferred  only  upon 
the  unanimous  recommendation  of  the  professors  of  this 
department,  and  on  those  students  only  who  had  attended  two 
entire  sessions  and  studied  diligently  during  the  interval,  or 
one  session  after  having  read  the  text  books  required  in  the 
course,  or  an  equivalent,  and  who  were  habitually  studious, 
moral  and  exemplary,  and  who  on  examination  were  found 
worthy  of  the  honor. 

Both  classes  attended  all  the  exercises  in  common. 

^NTo  previous  professional  reading  or  proficiency  was 
required  for  admission. 

Students  were  to  provide  themselves  with  the  following 

Text-Books. 

Junior  Class — Blackstone's  Commentaries  (designated 
portions  only  to  be  used),  Kent's  Commentaries,  Stephen  on 
Pleading,  Greenleaf  on  Evidence,  vol.  1,  Texas  Practice. 

Senior  Cla'?- — Kent's  Commentaries,  Stephen  on  Plead- 
ing, Greenleaf  on  Evidence,  Parsons  on  Contracts,  Story's 
Equity  Turisprudence,  Texas  Practice,  Texas  Pleading,  Texas 
Codes,  liar t ley's  Digest. 

Seniors  intending  to  commence  the  practice  of  the  law 
were  recommended  to  procure,  for  reference  and  study,  tHe 
following  books  in  addition  to  those  required  in  the  course : 
Story  on  Promissory  jSTotes,  Byles  on  Bills  and  ISTotes,  Parson's 
Mercantile  Law,   Story  on  Partnership,   Story  on   Agency, 

12 


178  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

Edwards  (or  Story)  on  Bailments,  Grant  of  Corporations, 
Story  on  the  Conflict  of  Laws,  Patliier  on  Obligations, 
White's  Recapitulation,  Jarman  on  Wills,  Williams  on  Execu- 
tors, Bouvier's  Law  Dictionary,  AVharton's  American  Crimi- 
nal Law. 

This  Department  of  Baylor  University,  succeeded  beyond 
the  most  sanguine  expectations  of  its  projectors,  and  warmest 
friends.  Unfortunately  most  of  the  graduates  enlisted  in  the 
armies  of  the  South,  in  the  war  between  the  states,  and  either 
died  in  camp  of  disease,  or  were  killed  in  battle  before  they 
had  become  established  in  the  practice.  But  it  can  be  said  of 
them,  that  a  more  thoroughly  grounded,  better  prepared,  and 
promising  class  of  young  lawyers,  Avere  never  certified  to  prac- 
tice from  any  law  school  in  the  union.  Those  who  escaped 
unscathed  the  horrors  of  war,  have  since  filled  the  highest 
positions  on  the  bench,  and  at  the  bar  of  Texas,  and  other 
states. 

Mr.  James  Jeffries,  an  alumnus  of  this  department  was 
invited  by  Dr.  Burleson,  to  deliver  an  address  before  the 
students  and  friends  of  the  University  in  1895,  and  his  ad- 
dress is  so  full  of  valuable  historical  facts,  and  interesting 
reminiscences  of  the  School  of  Law  connected  with  Baylor, 
that  copious  extracts  from  it  are  used  in  this  connection : 

''At  Independence  I  met  Dr.  Burleson  for  the  first  time. 
The  Doctor  has  always  lived  in  my  memory  as  one  of  the 
most  polished  of  men  and  eloquent  speakers.  I  was  always 
glad  when  circumstances  brought  me  into  his  presence,  and  I 
attended  church  whenever  he  preached. 

I  was  a  young  man  and  the  bright  eyed  beauties  from  the 
female  college  on  the  hill  may  have  been  an  additional  attrac- 
tion, but  the  sermons  were  enjoyed,  some  of  the  sentiments 
live  with  me  still  and  have  done  me  good.  Dr.  Burleson  has 
been  spared  to  a  ripe  age,  and  who  can  estimate  the  effect  here 
and  hereafter  of  the  seed  which  he  has  been  permitted  to  sow. 
May  his  presence  and  influence  continue  to  give  strength  and 
power  to  the  school  he  so  much  loves,  for  many  years  to  come. 

The  law  class  was  small  and  we  were  soon  all  acquainted 
and  got  down  to  hard  work. 

T  could  sav  a  great  deal  about  that  class;  I  formed  there 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  179 

some  of  the  warmest  attachments  of  my  life.  There  were  no 
disagreeable  men  among  them,  and  not  one  who  could  not 
have  made  his  mark  as  a  lawyer,  but  alas  !  'the  number  was  the 
unlucky  number  of  thirteen  and  many  of  them  are  dead; 
among  the  living  Dr.  Parks  went  into  a  higher  profession, 
the  Ministry,  and  no  doubt  realizes  the  wisdom  of  answering 
such  a  call  in  the  satisfaction  of  a  higher  and  -wider  influence 
for  good.  Goree  became  one  of  the  most  noted  Prison  Super- 
intendents of  the  United  States,  and  is  now  one  of  your  most 
admirable  and  respected  citizens ;  Brown,  our  close  and  logical 
student,  who  went  into  the  interior  of  every  subject,  after  ac- 
quiring reputation  and  fame  at  the  bar,  has  reached  the  goal 
of  the  aspiring  lawyer,  a  place  of  hard  work  on  the  Supreme 
Bench ;  Breedlove,  our  persuasive  advocate,  continues  to  make 
people  and  juries  believe  he  is  right.  I  have  felt  how  hard 
it  was  to  resist  his  eloquence  when  he  was  certainly  wrong. 
Alexander  is  still  at  the  bar,  hard  working  and  conscientious 
as  ever,  and  for  a  number  of  years,  district  attorney  and  county 
judge  of  Burleson  county. 

If  others  are  living  they  have  been  lost  to  me  in  the  march 
of  the  years. 

I  didn't  of  course,  know  much  about  Law  Schools  in  those 
days,  but  in  the  light  of  a  large  experience  since,  I  know  now 
that  that  school  afforded  as  fine  opportunities  for  acquiring  a 
knowledge  of  the  law  as  any  school  established  since  or  before. 

Our  professors  believed  in  the  practical  application  of  the 
principles  they  taught  us,  and  we  soon  had  organized  moot 
courts,  where  cases  were  tried,  with  our  grave  and  able  pro- 
fessors as  judges,  taking  cases  from  our  District  Court  through 
all  the  stages  to  final  determination  in  the  Supreme  Court. 

There  was  a  good  deal  of  floundering,  of  course,  in  the 
beginning,  but  it  was  not  long  before  we  were  fighting  mimic 
battles  with  as  much  seriousness  and  interest  as  we  have  ever 
fought  the  real  battles  of  life,  and  before  we  had  graduated 
we  were  reasonably  prepared  for  our  supposed  life  work. 

I  doubt  if  Mr.  Justice  Brown  or  Brother  Breedlove  ever 
made  better  arguments  than  some  of  those  made  in  our  mimic 
courts. 

In  looking  over  some  old  papers  not  long  since,  a  mis- 
cellaneous collection  of  letters,  some  of  them  reminders  of  the 


ISO  The  Life  a^s'd  Writings  oe 

follies  which  go  along  with  the  wisdom  of  youth  and  keep  up 
the  balance  so  that  we  may  not  appraise  ourselves  too  exorbit- 
antly high  bills  and  other  matter  interesting  at  one  time,  I 
found  several  cases  presented  by  Judge  Wheeler  for  written 
opinions,  and  was  really  astonished  at  the  impudence  and  legal 
acumen  exhibited  by  myself  at  that  early  day.  Unfortu- 
nately many  of  us  start  out  at  a  pace  which  astonishes  our 
friends,  both  at  start  and  finish. 

It  is  astonishing  how  precocious  some  youths  are,  and  how 
the  years  deaden  and  bring  things  down  to  the  true  level. 
Ah,  the  dreams  of  youth,  success,  fame,  "a  dear  girl's  love," 
fortune,  but  in  that  dream  the  courage,  will  power,  and 
patient  toil,  needed  for  success,  does  not  play  an  important 
part  and  even  all  these  virtues  do  not  always  insure  the  ful- 
fillment of  our  dreams. 

Is  there  a  mysterious  something  which  men  of  the  world 
call  "luck?"  and  Christians  give  another  name,  who  can  tell? 
but  there  is  no  royal  road  to  success,  and  plodding  toil  is  the 
only  way  we  know,  and  that,  most  of  us  do  not  relish,  mental 
labor  is  the  hardest  of  all  labor,  the  most  exhaustive  and  the 
mind  is  restive  of  discipline. 

Our  professors  were  all  men  of  mark  and  high  standing. 

They  not  only  taught  us  well,  but  in  their  own  lives  set 
before  us  the  highest  standards  of  life. 

First  on  our  list  of  professors  was 

Judge  Baylor. 

To  liave  known  him  was  never  to  forget  him.  He  was 
anique,  with  the  courtliness  and  instincts  of  the  cavalier,  he 
combined  bon  homme,  which  made  him  the  idol  of  the  com- 
mon people. 

He  was  full  of  quaint  and  humorous  sayings,  and  his 
chuckle  was  most  infectious.  He  did  not  lecture  often,  but 
his  occasional  visits  brought  with  them  the  sunlight.  He  was 
fond  of  quizzing,  and  I  well  remember  the  joy  I  felt  upon  one 
occasion  when  in  his  quaint  and  peculiar  way  he  asked  Mr. 
Jeffries,  "what  kind  of  a  writ  is  a  writ  of  sciery  fiery  enquiry." 
He  had  no  idea  that  I  had  ever  heard  of  this  old  English  writ, 
but  by  the  rarest  chance  I  had  been  attracted  by  the  name  a 


Dk.  Kuftjs  C.  Burlesox.  181 

few  days  before  and  made  the  old  gentleman  open  his  eyes 
by  a  full  and  correct  account  of  it. 

One  of  the  greatest  treats  of  my  life  when  a  boy,  was  to 
sit  open-mouthed  and  hear  him  read  his  charge  to  the  grand 
jury,  at  the  semi-annual  courts  held  in  the  town  where  I  then 
lived. 

They  were  treatises  upon  both  the  criminal  and  the  moral 
law. 

In  connection  with  the  sale  of  whiskey  without  a  license 
with  what  emphasis  he  would  say,  "Gentlement  of  the  grand 
jury,  I  would  not  stand  behind  a  bar  and  deal  out  death  and 
damnation  by  the  half  pint  for  a  pile  of  guineas  as  high  as  the 
seven  stars." 

The  judge  was  a  good  man,  and  an  incorruptible  judge, 
exercising  a  powerful  influence  for  good  in  a  new  country. 

He  was  a  Christian  who  often  went  into  the  pulpit  to 
testify  for  his  religion.     He  has  gone  to  his  reward. 

KOGERS. 

Col.  Wm.  P.  Rogers  was  our  eminent  professor  of  Crim- 
inal Law.  His  name  is  now  the  heritage  of  Texas.  Like 
the  heroic  Garnett  who  upon  one  of  the  most  fateful  field-^. 
in  history,  fell  in  front  of  the  foremost  rank,  marking  the 
high  tide  of  the  Confederacy,  Kogers  upon  another  fateful 
field  fell  at  the  front  covered  wdth  glory.  The  white  wings 
of  peace  have  rested  upon  our  united  and  beloved  country  for 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  the  acrimony  which  engen- 
dered and  survived  our  civil  war  is  now  happily  a  memory,  and 
unpatriotic  would  be  the  voice,  that  would  make  it  more,  but 
I  hope  the  day  will  never  come  in  Texas,  when  her  youth  will 
cease  to  revere  and  honor  the  patriots  who  inspired  by  high 
devotion  to  duty,  counted  their  lives  as  nought,  cheerfully 
suffered  privations  and  performed  deeds  of  heroic  valor,  which 
entitles  them  to  affectionate  remembrance  so  long  as  heroism 
lives  upon  the  earth.  I  hear  that  an  effort  is  being  made  to 
place  a  monument  over  the  remains  of  this  gallant  soldier, 
and  hope  that  Texas  will  honor  herself  by  carrying  it  to  com- 
pletion. This  dead  lawyer  and  soldier,  having  played  well 
his  part  in  life  and  being  enshrined  in  the  hearts  of  his  sur- 


182  The  Life  and  "Writings  of 

vivors,  who  honor  him  in  his  life,  and  in  his  death,  needs 
nothing  from  us,  but  as  the  tender  memorials  of  the  Saints 
touch  the  heart  of  the  world  and  point  the  way  to  Heaven, 
so  the  monument  to  the  heroic  dead,  keeps  alive  the  spirit  of 
the  hero,  a  spirit  which  ought  never  to  die,  and  fires  the  heart 
of  the  young  patriot  for  deeds  of  heroic  \artue. 

We  honor  ourselves  and  discharge  a  duty  to  posterity 
when  we  erect  our  Pantheons.  We  are  all  touched  by  them, 
I  never  look  upon  the  figure  of  the  brave  and  gentle  Lee  in 
'New  Orleans,  standing  in  majesty,  breasting  the  storm,  as  his 
noble  soul  breasted  the  storms  of  fate,  far  above  the  roar  and 
rattle  of  commerce,  and  the  every  day  affairs  of  life,  without 
a  thrill  of  emotion,  which  represents  the  better  part  of  my 
nature.     Let  us  honor  our  heroic  dead. 

Sayles. 

John  Sayles,  the  law  writer  of  Texas,  taught  us  the  prin- 
ciples of  practice.  He  was  a  painstaking  and  thorough  in- 
structor. Mr.  Sayles  led,  to  my  mind  an  ideal  life  at  the  time ; 
he  easily  held  the  position  of  the  best  practitioner  in  that  part 
of  the  state,  and  while  he  was  not  a  man  of  the  people,  his 
commanding  ability  gave  him  an  immense  and  lucrative  prac- 
tice ;  he  resided  at  his  handsome  country  seat  and  with  a  gen- 
eral library,  the  most  complete  which  I  had  then  ever  seen, 
he  devoted  his  time  to  study,  legal  and  literary,  only  absent- 
ing himself  when  in  attendance  upon  the  courts. 

Mr.  Sayles  was  not  only  a  great  lawyer,  but  a  man  of 
literary  acquirements  and  of  high  character,  and  was  most 
helpful  to  the  young  men  with  whom  he  came  in  contact; 
he  was  most  kind  to  me,  inspiring  a  taste  for  the  better  liter- 
ature, as  well  as  for  the  law,  and  I  have  never  ceased  to  re- 
member him  with  affectionate  regard.  He  is  one  of  the  law- 
yers of  Texas  who  will  leave  an  indelible  impress  upon,  and 
will  live  forever  in  her  jurisprudence. 

Wheelek. 

The  professors  named  came  to  us  weekly,  but  the  teacher 
upon  whom  the  burden  and  work  fell,  was  Roy  all  T.  Wheeler, 
then  and  for  many  years  before  and  after  a  judge,  and  chief 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Bukleson.  183 

justice  of  the  supreme  court.  Judge  Wheeler  was  a  mosi; 
conscientious  and  competent  instructor,  and  had  the  happy 
faculty  of  clear  presentation  as  a  lecturer,  his  examinations 
were  thorough  and  he  came  nearer  to  Theodore  W.  Dwight, 
the  ideal  law  professor,  than  any  other  I  ever  knew. 

Texas  was  peculiarly  fortunate  in  having  so  many  men 
of  genius  and  character,  as  citizens  and  leaders  of  the  days  of 
her  infancy.  Hemphill,  Lipscomb  and  Wheeler,  her  first 
supreme  judges  were  eminently  fitted  for  the  great  work  they 
performed  in  building  up  her  superior  and  equitable  system 
of  jurisprudence. 

Houston,  Rusk,  Roberts,  Henderson  and  other  famous 
me'n,  also  shed  light  and  lustre  upon  the  early  history  of 
Texas. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  estimate  the  value  of  the  influ- 
ence of  Wheeler,  a  young  Vermont  lawyer,  upon  the  hetero- 
geneous mass  of  men,  who  in  wild  and  exciting  times  had  by 
their  valor  freed  themselves  from  Mexican  rule,  and  had  be- 
fore them  the  task  of  resolving  this  chaotic  population,  repre- 
senting humanity  in  its  original  elements,  into  formal  and  or- 
derly government.  The  leaders  did  their  work  well,  and  well 
at  the  front  was  young  Wheeler. 

His  personality  would  have  marked  him  in  any  assem- 
blage. With  great  suavity  of  manner,  he  had  still  something 
of  the  Puritan  in  his  composition,  and  was  unfaltering  in  his 
adherence  to  principle  and  was  full  of  that  high  courage  which 
impels  men  to  stand  for  the  right  at  whatever  risk  and  cost. 
He  was  a  great  and  good  man,  to  whom  Texas  owes  a  great 
debt.  He  was  my  friend  and  it  gives  me  great  pleasure  after 
he  has  rested  for  so  many  years  under  your  soil  to  pay  this 
humble,  sincere,  but  imperfect,  tribute,  to  his  worth  and  char- 
acter." 

Theological  Department. 

I.  A.  Fortime,  W.  W.  Harris,  Pressley  O'Kief,  H.  F. 
Pahl,  J.  Pruett,  C.  H.  Schmeltzer,  M.  M.  Vanderhurst.  and 
D.  N".  Wheat,  had  been  pursuing  a  course  of  study,  and  pre- 
paring themselves  for  the  ministry,  under  the  immediate  direc- 
tion of  Dr.  Burleson  for  some  time,  but  no  department  for 
ministerial  training  had  been  provided  for. 


184  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Baptist  State  Convention,  held  in 
Waco  in  1859,  the  subject  of  a  Theological  Department  for 
the  University  was  one  of  the  subjects  that  engaged  the  atten- 
tion of  that  grave  and  learned  body.  The  result  of  that  dis- 
cussion was  a  recommendation  to  the  Board  of  Trustees  to 
investigate,  and  inquire  into  the  advisability  and  practicability 
of  opening  a  Theological  Department,  on  a  permanent  basis 
at  an  early  date. 

The  Board  took  the  matter  up  at  once  and  acted  favorably 
on  the  recommendation  of  the  Convention. 

The  plan  which  was  most  acceptable  to  the  friends  of 
ministerial  education  and  training,  was  to  secure  the  servicea 
of  two  learned  and  pious  Theologians,  to  spend  three  months 
in  the  University  during  the  sessions,  and  deliver  .courses  of 
lectures  on  Systematic  and  Pastoral  Theology,  Homiletics, 
Biblical  Interpretation  and  Church  History.  The  sessions  of 
the  Theological  Department  were  expected  to  embrace  the 
winter  months,  Avhen  the  teast  work  was  done  by  the  preachers 
of  that  day  owing  to  the  scattered  condition  of  the  churches, 
and  their  consequent  inaccessibility  during  bad  weather. 
This  would  also  enable  young  pastors  and  missionaries  to  at- 
tend the  lectures. 

It  was  not  the  intention,  so  President  Burleson  stated,  to 
establish  this  department  on  so  extensive  a  scale  as  the  South- 
ern Baptist  Theological  Seminary,  but  to  adopt  a  model  thar 
could  ultimately  be  developed  into  the  plan  of  the  Theologi- 
cal Department  of  Union  University,  ]^Tashville,  Tennessee, 
where  ministers  from  age  or  other  causes  are  prevented  from 
pursuing  a  more  extended  course.  It  was  decided  that  thia 
department,  and  these'  lectures  Avould  only  be  open  to  young 
ministers,  who  had  been  licensed  by  their  churches  to  preach 
the  gospel. 

The  desire  of  the  president  and  the  intention  of  the  Trus- 
tees was  executed  in  December,  1860,  and  this  Department 
of  Baylor  University  formally  launched;  but  did  not  assume 
any  great  proportions,  on  account  of  the  Civil  War. 


Dr.  Eufus  C.  Burlesox.  185 


CHAPTER  XXllI. 


Legal  Eelatioxs  or  Baylor  University  to  Texas  Baptist 
State  Coxvextiox — Committee  Report — Ax  Exhaus- 
tive Discussiox — Logical  Presextatiox — Coxclusioxs. 


jP^  he  Union  Association  being  tlie  mother  of  the  Texas 
cation  Society  being  the  mother  of  Baylor  Univer- 
Baptist  Education  Society,  the  Te::^as  Baptist  Edu- 
sity,  the  Texas  Baptist  Education  Society  having  been  merged 
into  the  Baptist  State  Convention,  there  was  much  discussion 
had  from  1848  to  1859,  as  to  the  moral  and  legal  relations 
sustained  by  the  University  to  the  Convention.  To  put  this 
question  at  rest,  the  Convention  at  a  meeting  held  at  Inde- 
pendence in  1858,  adopted  the  following  resolution : 

"Resolved,  That  a  committee  be  appointed  to  consider 
the  legal  relations  between  this  Convention  and  Baylor  Uni- 
versity, and  submit  a  report  upon  this  subject." 

The  committee  appointed  under  this  resolution  consisted 
of  H.  Clark,  chairman,  H.  Garrett,  E.  C.  Burleson,  W.  A. 
Montgomery  and  C.  E.  Breedlove.  The  committee  made  it? 
report  at  the  next  session  of  the  Convention,  held  in  "Waco, 
October  25th,  1859.  It  is  exhaustive,  logical  and  complete, 
and  embodies  Dr.  Burleson's  views  on  this  subject  so  clearly, 
that  while  it  covers  some  ground  already  gone  over,  notably 
the  origin  of  Baylor  University,  it  is  given  in  full.  The  re- 
port is  also  reproduced,  since  the  positions  presented  as  to  the 
relations  between  the  University  and  Convention,  have  been 
handed  down  as  expressions  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Texas 
upon  the  questions  discussed. 


186  The  Life  and  Whitings  of 

Eepoet  on  the  Legal  Relations  of  Baylor  University  to 
THE  Baptist  State  Convention  of  Texas. 

Historical. 

Union  Association,  the  first  Baptist  association  organized 
in  Texas,  was  constituted  at  Travis,  Austin  county,  Oelober 
8th,  1840.  It  embraced  three  Baptist  churches,  viz :  The 
church  at  Travis,  the  church  at  Independence  and  the  church 
La  Grange.  Connected  with  these  churches  were  three  minis- 
ters and  fifty-three  communicants. 

Its  next  session  was  held  at  Clear  Creek,  Fayette  county, 
on  the  Tth  day  of  October,  1841.  It  now  embraced  nine 
churches  and  three  hundred  and  eighty-four  communicants. 

At  this  session  a  resolution  was  adopted  recommending 
"The  formation  of  an  Educational  Society."  This  recom- 
mendation was  responded  to  by  the  formation  upon  the  spot 
of  the  "Texas  Baptist  Education  Society." 

The  object  of  this  Society  was  declared  in  the  Constitu- 
tion to  be,  "To  assist  in  procuring  an  education  for  those  young 
men  who  give  evidence  of  being  called  of  God  to  preach  the 
Gospel,  and  who  shall  have  the  approbation  of  their  respective 
churches." 

The  11th  Article  of  its  Constitution  provided,  that  "Any 
individual  of  good  moral  character  might  become  a  member 
of  the  Society  by  signing  the  Constitution;  'hut  in  no  case,' 
says  the  Article  'can  he  hecome  a  member  of  the  Executive 
Committee,  unless  he  is  in  communion  with  some  regular 
Baptist  church.^  " 

The  first  officers  of  the  Society  were,  E.  E.  B.  Baylor, 
President;  S.  P.  Andrews,  Recording  Secretary;  Wm.  M. 
Try  on,  Corresponding  Secretary;  Bro.  Collins,  Treasurer; 
and  James  Huckins,  J.  L.  Farquhar,  Gail  Borden,  Z.  IST.  Mor- 
rell,  Stephen  Williams,  Bro.  Ewing  and  J.  S.  Lester,  Man- 
agers. 

In  the  year  1845,  this  Society  procured  from  the  Con- 
gress of  Texas  a  Charter  for  a  Literary  Institution.  In  their 
petition  to  Congress  they  requested  that  the  name  and  style 
of  this  institution  of  learning  should  be  Baylor  University, 


Dr.  Eufus  C.  Bueleson.  187 

in  honor  of  Hon.  p.  E.  B.  Baylor,  the  first  President  of  the 
Society,  and  then  and  now  an  ordained  minister  of  the  Gospel, 
in  the  Baptist  church.  They  also  requested  that  a  board  of 
fifteen  persons  should  be  appointed,  to  take  the  general  super- 
vision of  the  Institution,  to  receive  in  trust  all  moneys  and 
effects  that  they  and  others  might  contribute  for  its  foundation 
and  maintenance,  and  to  be  invested  with  the  corporate  powers 
usually  bestowed  in  such  cases. 

In  order  to  secure  the  administration  of  the  trust,  in 
accordance  luith  their  views  and  wishes,  they  designated  by 
name,  which,  as  the  founders  of  the  trust,  they  had  the  legal 
right  to  do,  the  persons  who  should  constitute  this  board,  and 
twelve  of  the  fifteen  were  communicants  of  the  Baptist  church. 

In  order  to  secure  a  perpetuity  of  such  an  administration, 
viz :  An  administration  that  should  carry  out  the  views  and 
wishes  of  the  founders,  they  furthermore  requested,  that  the 
power  of  filling  vacancies  that  should  occur  in  this  board,  by 
death,  resignation,  or  otherwise,  should  be  reserved  unto,  and 
vested  in,  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Texas  Baptist  Edu- 
cation Society,  which  committee  was  composed  of  those  only 
"in  communion  with  some  regular  Baptist  Church." 

All  these  conditions,  together  ^^^th  others  of  less  import- 
ance, in  a  legal  point  of  view,  were  incorporated  in  a  Charter, 
granted  by  the  Congress  of  the  Republic  of  Texas,  and  ap- 
proved February  1,  1845.  This  Charter  was  accepted  by  the 
trustees  named  therein,  and  Baylor  University  became  au 
actual  existence,  and  the  Trustees  thereof  a  body  corporate, 
possessed  of  all  the  franchises,  powers,  privileges  and  immuni- 
ties usually  bestowed  upon  corporations  of  this  kind.  It  was 
opened  for  the  reception  of  pupils,  at  Independence,  in  May, 
1846,  and,  under  the  wise  provisions  of  its  founders,  and  the 
faithful  administration  of  its  trusts,  has  continued  in  success- 
ful operation  until  the  present  time. 

It  has  now  a  trust  fund  in  lands,  l)uildings,  endowments, 
subscriptions,  apparatus,  &c.,  of  about  sixty-five  thousand  dol- 
lars; with  fourteen  professors  and  teachers  in  both  depart- 
ments and  an  aggregate  of  about  two  hundred  and  seventy-five 
pupils. 

In  October  of  the  year  1847,  Union  Association,   the 


ISS  The  Life  and  Wkitings  of 

motlior  of  the  Educrition  Society  wliieli  founded  the  Univer- 
sity, directed  tlie  opening  of  a  correspondence  with  other 
Baptist  associations,  and  with  '"as  many  Baptist  chnrches  as 
practicable,"  to  ascertain  their  views  in  regard  to  the  formation 
of  a  Baptist  State  Convention.  This  correspondence  resulted 
in  the  assembling  of  delegates  from  twenty-three  churches, 
at  Anderson,  Grimes  county,  on  the  Stli  of  September,  1848, 
and  then  and  there  was  organized  the  present  body — the 
Baptist  State  Convention  of  Texas — seven  years  after  the  or- 
ganization of  the  Education  Society,  and  three  years  and  eight 
months  afte7^  the  incorporation  of  the  University.  Up  to  this 
time  four  vacancies  had  occurred  in  the  Board  of  Trustees, 
three  by  resignation  and  one  by  death;  which  vacancies  had 
been  filled  by  the  Education  Society  in  the  exercise  of  her  legal 
right.  But  now,  the  Education  Society,  deeming  the  Conven- 
tion a  more  suitable  depository  of  this  trust,  it  being  not  only 
exclusively  Baptist  in  character,  and  having  education  for  its 
object  in  part,  but  being  likewise  an  organization  co-extensive 
with  the  state,  and  affording  a  probability  amounting  to  cer- 
tainty, of  being  able  to  exercise  this  important  power  in  per- 
petuity, made  overtures  to  the  Convention,  at  its  second  session 
in  1849,  respecting  the  transfer  of  this  power  to  this  body. 
The  Convention  responded  by  appointing  a  Committee  of  Con- 
ference— an  understanding  was  affected — the  Education 
Society  agreed  to  surrender  her  power — the  Convention  agreed 
to  take  it.  An  pplication  was  made  to  the  Legislature  by  a 
joint  committee  for  the  necessary  change  in  the  charter,  and  an 
amendment  was  granted  at  the  session  of  '49-'50.  This 
amendment  was  accepted  de  facto  by  the  trustees,  and  became 
a  condition  of  their  corporate  existence;  since  which  time  all 
vacancies  in  their  Board  have  been  filled  by  this  body. 

Intention  of  the  Equnders. 

We  now  proceed  to  inquire  respecting  the  intention  of 
the  original  founders  of  the  Institution. 

Intention  may  be  expressed  or  implied.  For  the  ex- 
pressed intent  we  examine  the  charter,  and  find  it  to  be  the 
establishment  of  an  "institution  of  learning.''^  Eor  this  pur- 
pose all  necessary  powers  are  bestowed  upon  the  Board  of 


Dk.  Eufus  C.  Burleson,  189 

Trustees.  Tliej  are  made  capable  of  receiving  money,  lands 
and  other  valuable  effects,  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  the 
interests  of  the  University.  They  have  the  power  of  erecting 
buildings,  of  appointing  all  necessary  officers,  of  prescribing  a 
course  of  study,  of  making  laws  for  the  government  of  the 
Institution,  and,  in  short,  of  doing  whatever  may,  in  their 
judgment,  be  necessary  for  the  maintenance  of  an  institution 
of  learning.  To  this  extent  their  powers  go,  and  at  this  limit 
they  stop. 

But  this  expressed  intention  of  the  founders  of  Baylor 
University  is  not  the  only  one  that  we  have  to  consider. 
There  is  an  intent  to  be  implied  from  facts  and  circumstances 
existing  at  the  time  of  its  foundation,  and  that  have  been 
brought  to  view  in  the  historical  part  of  this  report;  and  let 
it  not  be  supposed  that  an  intent  implied  from  facts,  is  nec- 
essarily attended  with  any  less  degree  of  certainty  than  if 
expressed  in  words.  Every  jurist  knows  the  weight  that  at- 
taches to  testimony  furnished  by  facts.  It  sometimes  out- 
weights  the  testimony  of  living  witnesses.  Cases  involving 
the  lives  and  liberty  of  men  are  daily  decided  upon  a  sound 
and  discriminating  interpretation  of  the  language  of  facts. 

We  affirm,  then,  that  the  facts  which  hav^e  been  brought 
to  view,  conclusively  show  that  the  founders  of  Baylor  Univer- 
sity, not  only  intended  to  establish  an  institution  of  learning, 
but  an  institution  of  learning  under  the  supervision  and  con- 
trol of  Baptists,  and  one  which  should  remain  under  such 
supervision  and  control  so  long  as  it  maintained  a  corporate 
existence. 

Your  committee  would  call  particular  attention  to  the 
argument  upon  this  point,  more  especially  for  the  reason  that 
the  mind  of  the  denomination  has  been  unsettled,  upon  the 
ground  that  Baylor  University  is  in  no  proper  sense  a  denomi- 
national institution,  and,  therefore,  not  worthy  of  its  confi- 
dence and  support. 

A  writer  in  the  Texas  Baptist  of  April  22d,  1858,  uses 
the  following  language: 

"If  w^e  send  agents  to  collect  donations  for  Baylor  Uni- 
versity calling  it  our  College — the  Institution  of  the  denomi- 
nation-^— some  good  brother   will   give   a   large   donation   or 


190  The  Life  and  Wkitings  of 

bequest  to  the  Baylor  University.  His  heirs  will  presently 
claim  this  donation  or  bequest,  on  the  ground  that  the  deceased 
supposed  the  University  to  belong  to  the  denomination;  but 
that  the  property  of  Baylor  University  belongs  to  the  Trustees 
or  to  the  State  of  Texas,  and  that  the  denomination  has  no 
power  over  it ;  that,  therefore,  the  Trustees  have  raised  money 
on  false  pretenses,  (?)  and  consequently  the  bequest  should 
be  void  and  thirty  thousand  dollars  should  revert  to  the  lawful 
heirs." 

Notwithstanding  the  confusion  of  ideas  that  is  manifest 
in  this  extract,  it  had,  in  connection  with  other  productions 
from  the  same  pen,  no  little  influence  in  unsettling  the  mind 
of  the  denomination,  in  regard  to  the  real  condition  of  the  In- 
stitution and  its  real  relation  to  the  denomination;  a  fact, 
however,  not  surprising  when  we  reflect  that  the  subject 
treated  of  lay  beyond  the  usual  topics  of  investigation,  and 
was  one  upon  which  most  men  had  bestowed  but  little  reflec- 
tion. 

What,  then,  are  the  facts  which  authorize  us  to  infer,  a 
priori,  and  with  a  certainty  that  excludes  every  reasonable 
doubt,  that  it  was  the  intention  of  the  founders  of  Baylor 
University,  to  establish  an  institution  of  learning  that  should 
be  and  should  forever  remain  under  the  supervision  and  con- 
trol of  Baptists  ? 

First — The  founders  themselves,  were  Baptists,  acting 
together  in  an  organization,  styled  "The  Texas  Baptist  Educa- 
tion Society,"  the  object  of  which  was  declared  by  the  Con- 
stitution to  be,  the  education  of  young  men  for  the  Gospel 
ministry. 

Among  these  founders,  a  ruling  spirit,  the  head  and  right 
arm,  was  Wm.  M.  Try  on,  than  whom  never  lived  one  more 
devoted  to  the  vindication  of  those  principles  that  distinguish 
the  Baptists  as  a  denomination.  These  men,  thus  organized, 
and  for  such  an  object  resolve  to  establish  an  institution  of 
learning.  ISTow,  they  either  intended  to  establish  a  Baptist 
institution  or  they  did  not.  If  they  did  not,  one  of  two  things 
is  true.  They  either  intended  to  establish  an  institution  that 
should  be  under  the  control  of  some  other  denomination  than 
the  Baptists,  or  they  intended  to  establish  an  institution  with- 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  191 

out  any  denomination ai  or  religion?,  character.  That  Baptists 
should  attempt  to  establish  an  institution  'of  learning  to  be 
controlled  bv  any  other  denomination  than  their  own,  or  that 
men  of  piety  should  wish  to  establish  one  from  which  all  re- 
ligious influences  should  be  removed,  are  suppositions  too 
irrational  to  be  for  a  moment  entertained.  There  remains, 
then,  but  the  conclusion,  that  their  intention  was  to  establish 
a  Baptist  institution.  But  an  intention  creates  nothing — 
action  is  necessary;  if,  then,  the  acts  of  the  founders  harmonize 
with  this  supposed  intention — if  the  measure  they  adopt  are 
calculated  to  realize  it — the  character  of  their  intention  is  es- 
tablished beyond  the  possibility  of  a  doubt. 

The  resolution  being  formed  to  establish  an  institution  of 
learning,  the  Education  Society  appointed  a  committee  to 
memorialize  Congress  for  a  charter.  This  committee  consisted 
of  J.  G.  Thomas,  R  E.  B.  Baylor  and  Wm.  M.  Tryon.  It  is 
their  right,  as  founders,  to  name  those  who  shall  take  its  inter- 
ests in'  charge,  hold  its  property  and  manage  its  internal  affairs. 
They  name  fifteen  persons,  a  large  majority  of  whom  are 
Baptists.  They  do  not  stop  here.  Vacancies  must,  in  the 
nature  of  things,  occur  in  this  Board  of  Supervisors.  They 
request  Congress  to  reserve  unto  a  body,  exclusively  Baptist, 
viz  :  The  Executive  Committee  of  the  Education  Society,  the 
sole  power  of  filling  all  such  vacancies. 

Here,  then,  is  an  institution  of  learning,  brought  into  ex- 
istence by  Baptists,  placed  under  the  supervision  and  control 
of  Baptists,  with  a  provision  for  the  perpetuity  of  this  same 
supervision  and  control  unaltered  in  its  character. 

This  is  enough  to  establish  the  intentions  of  the  founders 
and  to  fix  the  denominational  character  of  the  Institution.  But 
this  is  not  all — Baylor  University  was  established  in  Texas  in 
the  infancy  of  society.  After  the  lapse  of  years  and  the  de- 
nomination had  increased  in  numbers  and  influence,  the  Bap- 
tist State  Convention  of  Texas  was  formed.  The  Education 
Society  again  manifests  the  character  of  its  intentions,  the 
steadfastness  of  its  purpose  and  the  purity  of  its  motives.  She 
desires  to  link  her  yet  tender  offspring  vnth.  a  bond  of  mutual 
dependence  and  support  still  more  closely  to  the  denomination. 
She  sees  in  this  Convention  a  fitting  depository  of  an  important 


192  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

trust.  It  is  an  organization  the  most  general  in  Its  character 
that  our  church  polity  admits  of,  and  is  co-extensive  with  the 
State  itself.  There  is  an  assurance  of  her  ability  to  exercise 
this  trust  in  perpetuity,  and  her  denominational  character  is 
a  sufficient  guarantee  that  she  will  so  administer  it  as  to  pre- 
serve the  denominational  character  of  the  Institution.  The 
Education  Society  confers  with  the  Convention — their  views 
and  wishes  harmonize — the  Legislature  is  memorialized,  and 
an  amendment  to  the  charter  is  procured,  removing  the  power 
of  filling  vacancies  from  the  Executive  Committee  of  the 
Texas  Baptist  Education  Society  and  vesting  it  forever  in  the 
Convention.  The  amendment  might  have  been  rejected  by 
the  Board  of  Trustees.  It  was  their  legal  right  to  do  so  if  they 
saw  proper;  but  they  promptly  accepted  it,  and  manifested 
their  desire,  also,  to  be  drawn  into  as  intimate  a  connection 
with  the  denomination  as  possible. 

Your  committee  then  submit,  that  Baylor  U-niversity, 
having  been  founded  by  Baptists,  with  the  intention  of  main- 
taining it  under  the  control  of  Baptists,  being  now  under  the 
control  of  Baptists,  and  having  the  power  of  filling  all  vacan- 
cies in  the  Board  of  Trustees,  vested  in  the  Baptist  State  Con- 
vention of  Texas,  is  strictly  and  essentially  a  denominational 
institution.  Your  committee  are  unable  to  conceive  of  any 
possible  conditions  that  -would  render  it  more  so.  Baptists 
planted  it,  and  Baptists  have  nurtured  it,  prayed  for  it,  labored 
for  it,  given  to  it  their  influence  and  their  means;  and  Bap- 
tists have  reaped  and  are  reaping  the  fruit  of  their  toils  and 
self-sacrificing  labors,  in  the  education  of  their  sons  and 
daughters,  in  its  high  character  as  an  institution  of  learning, 
and  in  the  bright  prospect  that  seems  opening  before  it. 

Much  of  the  discussion  that  has  arisen  respecting  the 
relations  of  Baylor  University  to  the  denomination,  has  been 
founded  in  an  entire  misapprehension  of  what  constitutes  a 
denominational  institution.  It  is  not  essential  to  a  Baptist 
institution  that  the  title  to  its  property  be  vested  in  the  de- 
nomination; this  cannot  be  done  without  incorporating  the  de- 
nomination— an  act  without  a  precedent  and  utterly  im- 
practicable. xTor  is  it  necessary  that  the  denomination  should 
have  the  power  of  directing  the  management  of  its  affairs. 


Dr.  Kufus  C.  Burleson.  193 

This  power  resides,  in  all  such  corporations,  in  its  Board  of 
Trustees,  as  an  inherent  right,  and  cannot  be  removed  even  by 
statute. 

The  denominational  character  of  an  institution  is  not  in 
any  sense  determined  by  the  tenure  by  which  its  property  is 
held.  In  all  private  eleemosynary  corporations  the  property  is 
vested  in  a  Board  of  Trustees,  who  hold  it  for  the  purposes 
specified  in  the  charter,  and  from  which  purposes  they  have  no 
power  to  divert  it — while  the  denominational  character  of  the 
institution  is  determined  by  the  denominational  character  of 
those  who  gave  it  birth,  reared  it,  nurtured  it,  control  it  and 
reap  its  benefits. 

Baylor  University  as  a  Corporation. 

Your  committee  have  thus  far  considered  Baylor  Univer- 
sity only  in  a  denominational  point  of  view,  and  they  think 
they  have  shown  that,  in  this  respect,  it  is  entitled  to  the  con- 
fidence and  worthy  of  the  continued  support  of  the  denomina- 
tion. 

We  now  proceed  to  consider  it  from  a  legal  point  of  view, 
as  a  corporation  or  body  politic,  in  order  to  ascertain  its  char- 
acter as  a  depository  of  trusts,  and  the  groimds  there  are  for 
believing  that  the  benefactions  of  its  friends  will  be  applied 
to  and  held  in  perpetuity  for  the  objects  which  the  Institution 
was  established  to  promote. 

The  nature  of  corporations,  their  powers  and  liabilities, 
will  of  course  be  examined  only  so  far  as  is  required  by  the 
objects  we  have  in  view. 

In  order  not  to  extend  this  report  to  too  great  a  length, 
we  shall  give  authorities  upon  the  most  important  points  only ; 
remarking,  however,  that  the  authority  for  any  legal  doctrine 
or  principle  we  may  advance,  will  be  furnished  to  any  one  who 
feels  an  interest  in  verifying  it. 

"A  corporation  is  a  franchise  possessed  by  one  or  more 
individuals,  who  subsist  as  a  body  politic  under  a  special 
denomination;  and  are  vested  by  the  policy  of  law,  ^vith  the 
capacity  of  perpetual  succession,  and  of  acting  in  several  re- 
spects, however  ntimerous  the  association  may  be,  as  a  single 
individual.     (II.  Kent,  p.  267.) 


194  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

"An  eleemosynary  corporation  is  a  private  charity  con- 
stituted for  the  perpetual  distribution  of  the  bounty  of  the 
founder.  In  this  class  are  included  colleges  and  academies 
established  for  the  promotion  of  learning,  and  endowed  with 
property  by  public  and  private  donations."  (II.  Kent,  p.  274.) 

A  corporation  being  an  artificial  person  possesses  no 
powers  but  such  as  are  bestowed  by  legislative  enactment, 
excepting  those  that  are  necessary  to  the  exercise  of  such  as 
are  expressed  in  the  charter.    (II,  Kent,  p.  277.) 

The  charter  of  a  corporation  is,  in  the  view  of  the  law, 
a  contract  between  the  government  and  the  persons  named 
therein;  wherein,  in  consideration  of  certain  services  proposed 
to  be  rendered  to  the  public,  the  government  grants  to  them 
certain  powers,  privileges  and  immunities;  and  upon  the  ac- 
ceptance of  the  charter  by  the  persons  proposed  to  be  in- 
corporated, it  is  an  executed  contract,  and  the  government  has 
over  it  no  further  control.  (Angell  &  Ames  on  Corp.  Sec.  31.) 
She  cannot  revoke  or  annul,  alter  or  amend  without  the  con- 
sent of  the  corporation,  unless  she  has  expressly  reserved  to 
herself  this  right  in  the  charter,  or  unless  the  Constitution  of 
the  State  confers  it.  (The  Constitution  of  Texas  does  confer 
this  right  but  not  in  reference  to  corporations  created  under  the 
government  of  the  Eepublic.  They  remain  independent  of 
any  arbitrary  legislative  control.)  In  case  of  a  failure  of  con- 
sideration, if  the  corporation  does  not  render  to  the  public  the 
services  proposed,  or  transcends  or  misuses  her  powers,  or  fails 
to  use  them  for  the  purposes  designated,  the  State  has  no  rem- 
edy, until  she  has  entered  the  courts  of  law  as  a  party  to  a  suit, 
established  the  facts  and  procured  a  judgment.  Then  and  not 
till  then  can  she  revoke  the  charter  and  can  the  powers  granted 
revert  to  the  government.     (11.  Kent,  p.  305.) 

In  the  case  of  eleemosynary  corporations,  the  founders 
of  the  trust  are  assumed  to  have  the  right  to  direct  its  dis- 
posal. The  legal  maxim,  is,  cujus  est  dare,  ejus  est  disponere. 
The  trustees  are  considered  as  the  assignees  of  this  right,  and 
to  stand  in  all  respects  in  the  place  of  the  assignors.  They  are 
therefore  bound  to  execute  the  intentions  of  the  f oimders  and 
are  responsible  for  the  failure  to  discharge  the  obligations  of 
their  trust.     As  a  necessary  consequence  they  have  the  sole 


De.  Eufus  C.  Buelesox. 


195 


DIFFERENT  PORTRAITS  OF  DE.  BURLESON. 


196  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

right  to  the  management  of  the  funds  and  revenues  of  the 
trust,  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  Courts  of  Chancery.  Story, 
in  his  Equity  Jurisprudence  (Sec.  1191)  says:  "Where  a 
charity  is  definite  in  its  object  and  lawful  in  its  creation,  and 
it  is  to  be  executed  and  regulated  by  trustees,  whether  they  are 
private  individuals  or  a  corporation,  then  the  administration 
properly  belongs  to  such  trustees.  In  all  such  cases,  however, 
if  there  be  any  abuse  or  misuse  of  the  funds  by  the  trustees,  the 
Court  of  Chancery  will  interpose  at  the  instance  of  the  At- 
torney General  or  the  parties  in  interest,  to  correct  such  abuse 
or  misuse  of  the  funds." 

Again  the  same  author  says:  (Sec.  1287)  "Courts  of 
Equity  will  not  only  hold  Trustees  responsible  for  any  misap- 
plication of  trust  property,  and  any  gross  negligence  or  willful 
departure  from  their  duty  in  the  management  of  it,  but  they 
will  go  further  and  in  cases  requiring  such  a  remedy,  they  will 
remove  the  old  Trustees,  and  substitute  new  ones.  Indeed  the 
appointment  of  new  Trustees  is  an  ordinary  remedy  enforced 
by  Courts  of  Equity,  in  all  cases  where  there  is  a  failure  of 
suitable  Trustees  to  perform  the  trust,  either  from  accident, 
or  from  the  refusal  of  the  old  Trustees  to  act;  or  from  their 
original  or  supervenient  incapacity  to  act,  or  from  any  other 
cause." 

Kent,  vol.  II.  p.  351,  says:  "It  is  well  understood  that 
the  Court  of  Chancery  has  a  jurisdiction  over  charitable-cor- 
porations for  breaches  of  trust. 

In  eleemosynary  corporations  the  visatorial  power  hith- 
erto incidentally  referred  to,  is  a  power  of  so  much  import- 
ance as  to  require  special  attention. 

This  power  implies  the  exercise  of  that  supervision  and 
control  over  the  disposition  of  the  funds  and  revenues,  and 
over  all  the  internal  affairs  of  the  corporation  that  the  found- 
ers themselves  would  employ,  were  they  in  person  administer- 
ing their  own  charity. 

This  power  as  has  been  already  said,  resides  in  the  Board 
of  Trustees.  Kent,  vol.  II.  p.  148,  says:  "Where  Governors 
or  Trustees  are  appointed  by  charter  according  to  the  will  of 
the  founder,  to  manage  a  charity,  as  is  usually  the  case  in  col- 
leo-es   the  visitorial  power  is  deemed  to  belong  to  the  Trustees 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  197 

in  their  corporate  character."  And  again :  "Assuming  then, 
as  is  almost  universally  the  fact  in  this  country,  that  the  power 
of  visitation  of  all  our  public  charitable  corporations  is  invested 
by  the  founders  and  donors  of  the  charity,  and  by  the  acts  of 
incorporation,  in  the  governors  or  trustees,  who  are  the  assig- 
nees of  the  rights  of  the  founders,  and  stand  in  their  places, 
it  follows  that  the  Trustees  of  a  college  may  exercise  their 
visitorial  powers  in  sound  discretion,  and  without  being  liable 
to  any  supervision  and  control,  so  far  as  respects  the  govern- 
ment and  discipline  of  the  institution,  and  so  far  as  they  ex- 
ercise their  powers  in  good  faith,  and  within  the  limits  of  the 
charter.  They  may  annul  and  repeal  the  by-laws  and  ordi- 
nances of  the  corporation,  remove  its  officers,  correct  abuses, 
and  generally  superintend  the  management  of  the  trust." 

We  have  now  examined  the  nature,  powers,  liabilities  and 
immunities  of  corporations  sufficiently  for  our  purpose. 

The  principles  we  have  brought  to  view  will  enable  us  to 
examine  the  charter  of  Baylor  University  with  a  view  to  deter- 
mine whether  the  corporation  it  creates,  is  a  safe  depository 
of  trusts  for  the  support  and  maintenance  of  an  institution 
of  learning. 

The  only  articles  in  the  charter  that  relate  to  the  power 
to  take,  to  hold  and  to  use  funds  in  trust,  are  the  fourth  and 
sixth — we  give  them  entire : 

Article  4. — "Be  it  further  enacted,  that  the  trustees 
aforesaid,  be,  and  they  are  hereby  constituted  a  body  politic 
and  corporate,  in  deed  and  in  law,  by  the  name  of  the  President 
and  Trustees  of  Baylor  University ;  and  by  that  name  they  and 
their  successors  shall  and  may  have  succession,  and  be  able 
and  capable  in  law  to  have  and  receive  and  enjoy  to  them  and 
their  successors,  lands,  tenements  and  hereditaments  of  any 
kinds,  in  fee  or  for  life,  or  for  years,  and  personal  property  of 
any  kind  whatever;  and  also  all  sums  of  money  which  may  be 
given,  granted  or  bequeathed  to  them  for  the  purpose  of  pro- 
moting the  interest  of  the  University.  Provided,  the  amount 
of  property  owned  by  said  corporation  shall  not  at  any  one 
time  exceed  One  Hundred  Thousand  dollars,  over  and  above 
the  buildings,  library  and  apparatus  necessary  to  the  institu- 
tion." 


198  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

By  this  article  it  will  be  seen  that  all  the  estate,  real  and 
personal,  which  the  Trustees  are  empowered  to  have  and  re- 
ceive and  enjoy,  is  to  be  had  and  received  and  enjoyed,  for 
the  purpose  of  promoting  the  interest  of  the  Uriiversity. 

Article  6. — "Be  it  further  enacted,  that  the  Trustees  of 
said  University  shall  and  may  have  a  common  seal  for  the  busi- 
ness of  themselves  and  their  successors,  with  liberty  to  change 
and  alter  the  same  from  time  to  time,  as  they  shall  think 
proper;  and  that  in  their  aforesaid  name,  they  and  their  suc- 
cessors shall  and  may  be  able  to  sue  and  be  sued,  plead  and  be 
impleaded,  answer  and  be  answered,  defend  and  be  defended 
in  all  courts  of  law  or  equity  in  this  republic;  and  to  grant, 
bargain  and  sell  or  assign  any  lands,  tenements,  goods  or  chat- 
tels that  may  belong  to  said  University ;  to  construct  all  neces- 
sary buildings  for  the  said  institution;  to  establish  a  prepar- 
atory department  and  a  female  department,  and  such  other  de- 
pendent institutions  as  they  shall  deem  necessary;  to  have  the 
management  of  the  finances,  the  privileges  of  electing  their 
own  Q-f^f^ers.  of  ap])ointing  all  necessary  committees,  and  to 
act  and  do  all  things  whatsoever  for  the  henefit  of  said  institu- 
tion, in  as  ample  a  manner  as  any  person  or  body  politic  or 
corporate  can  or  may  do  by  law." 

By  this  article  it  appears  that  when  they  grant,  bargain 
and  sell  or  assign  any  lands,  tenements,  goods  or  chattels  that 
may  belong  to  the  University,  it  must  be  done  for  the  henefit  of 
the  University. 

In  connection  with  these  powers,  and  the  limitations  and 
restrictions  with  which  they  are  inseparably  connected,  take 
the  language  of  Kent :  "It  is  well  understood  that  the  court  of 
chancery  has  a  jurisdiction  over  charitahle  corporations  for 
breaches  of  trust,"  and  determine  whether  the  founders,  pat- 
rons and  donors  of  Baylor  University  have  not  the  most  ample 
security  for  the  faithful  administration  of  their  benefactions. 

Objections  Considered  and  Answered. 

We  now  pass  to  consider  briefly  the  arguments  that  have 
tended  to  unsettle  the  mind  of  the  denomination  in  regard  to 
the  tenure  by  which  the  Trust  funds  of  Baylor  University  are 
held.     Upon  an  application  of  the  legal  principles  we  have 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Bukleson.  199 

brought  to  view,  we  believe  they  will  be  found  destitute  of 
weight  and  not  worthy  of  serious  consideration. 

It  has  been  urged  that  "the  Legislature  may  refuse  to 
renew  the  charter  of  the  corporation/'  and  the  question  has 
been  gravely  asked — "If  in  that  event  the  heirs  of  the  Trus- 
tees should  claim  the  inheritance,  who  would  contest  it." 

The  supposition  that  the  Legislature  may  refuse  to  renew 
a  charter  is  too  irrational  to  be  entertained.  Your  committee 
believe  it  would  be  the  first  case  on  record,  where  a  Legisla- 
ture, Avithout  a  cause,  and  where  all  the  conditions  of  the 
original  grant  had  been  faithfully  complied  with,  refused  to 
renew  the  charter  of  a  charitable  corporation.  Indeed  the 
writer  himself  admits  that  this,  with  several  other  cases  he 
supposes,  are  "not  at  all  likely  to  occur J^  In  a  logical  point  of 
view,  it  is  unnecessary  to  answer  objections  which  the  objector 
himself  concedes  are  not  founded  in  reason. 

^Nevertheless  in  order  that  there  may  be  no  objection  to 
this  report  on  the  ground  of  a  want  of  completeness,  your 
committee  proceed  to  reply : 

A  corporation  may  cease  to  exist — and  from  other  causes 
than  the  expiration  of  its  charter.  Upon  the  judgment  of  a 
court  of  law,  its  charter  may  be  forfeited  and  annulled.  The 
constituent  members  of  a  corporation  may  die,  and  the  power 
to  renew  may  be  lost ;  but  a  broad  distinction  exists  between  a 
corpoi-ation  and  a  trust — between  an  incorporated  board  of 
Trustees,  and  the  trust  it  administers.  A  corporation  may  die 
— a  trust  never  dies.  That  "a  trust  cannot  fail  for  ivant  of  a 
trustee/'  is  a  legal  maxim.  If  the  Trustees  of  Baylor  Univer- 
sity should  demise  to-morrow,  and  this  Convention  should  dia* 
solve  never  to  assemble  again,  or  if  the  charter  should  be  for- 
feited and  annulled,  or  expire  by  limitation,  the  law,  with  the 
same  watchful  vigilance  with  which  it  now  guards  the  ad- 
ministration of  this  trust,  would  provide  for  its  security^ap- 
point  a  new  trustee  or  trustees,  and  compel  the  continued  ad- 
ministration of  the  charity  in  accordance  with  the  intent  and 
design  of  the  founders,  patrons  and  donors. 

Again  it  has  been  argued :     "Suppose  that  the  denomi- 
nation should  wish  to  abolish  the  Law  Department  or  establish . 
a  Theological  Department,  and  that  the  Trustees  should  re- 


200  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

fuse — bj  what  process  of  law  can  you  compel  tlieir  consent." 

And  again :  "Suppose  the  trustees  should  offer  for  sale 
the  lands  of  the  Institution,  against  the  wishes  and  advice  of 
the  Convention — by  what  process  of  law  could  you  prevent 
the  sale." 

Both  these  supposed  cases  are  of  those  which  are  declared 
by  the  objector  to  be  "not  at  all  likely  to  occur."  But  for  the 
reason  already  assigned,  your  committee  reply :  The  powers 
called  in  question  here,  of  directing  the  arrangement  of  the 
internal  affairs  of  the  Institution  and  managing  its  funds,  in- 
here in  the  Board  of  Trustees  by  virtue  of  their  visatorial 
power.  They  are  supposed  to  stand  in  the  place  of  the 
founders  and  donors  and  to  be  the  assignees  of  all  their  rights 
and  privileges.  They  are  responsible  for  the  abuse  of  their 
trust,  and  not  the  Convention,  and  so  long  as  they  keep  within 
the  limits  prescribed  by  the  charter,  and  execute  in  good  faith 
the  wishes  and  intentions  of  the  founders  and  donors  of  the 
trust,  there  is  no  power  that  has  a  right  to  interpose. 

In  view  of  the  principle  that  a  founder  or  donor  has  the 
right  to  direct  the  management  of  his  benefaction,  and  that 
the  Trustees  of  the  fund  are  the  sole  assignees  of  this  right, 
your  committee  are  unable  to  perceive  upon  what  principle  of 
law  or  reason  this  Convention  can  claim  the  right  to  exercise 
the  privileges  of  founders  and  donors  in  respect  to  a  charity, 
founded  before  she  had  an  existence  and  to  the  funds  of  which 
she  never,  as  a  Convention,  has  contributed  one  dollar. 

But  we  may  fairly  meet  the  suppositions  to  which  we  are 
responding  by  another.  Suppose  that  in  obedience  to  the  com- 
mand of  this  Convention,  the  Board  of  Trustees  should  make 
such  a  disposition  of  her  trust  or  any  part  thereof  as  should  call 
for  the  interposition  of  the  Court  of  Chancery,  and,  in  answer 
to  the  summons,  should  plead  that  she  had  acted  in  obedienct? 
to  the  command  of  this  Convention.  Would  the  Court  admit 
the  plea  and  displace  the  Convention  f  This  she  must  do,  if 
the  Convention  is  the  ultimate  authority  and  has  the  legal  right 
to  control  the  Board.  But  no;  the  answer  would  be,  The  law 
recognizes  you  and  you  alone  as  responsible  for  the  administra- 
tion of  this  trust.  The  Trustees  would  be  displaced  and  others 
would  be  appointed,  who  knew  their  duties,  and  would  act  in 
obedience  to  the  laws  of  the  land. 


Dk.  Kufus  C  Burleson^.  201 

Again  the  question  is  asked :  "Suppose  you  elect  a  man 
to  fill  a  vacancy,  the  Board  may  refuse  to  admit  him  on  the 
ground  that  you  have  no  (legal)  existence,  what  recourse  has 
the  Convention  ?" 

In  answer,  let  us  make  the  case  general,  and  suppose  the 
Board  should  refuse  on  any  ground  to  admit  your  appointee — 
what  recourse  has  the  Convention.  AVe  answer  none.  Her 
power  ceases  with  the  act  of  appointment.  The  appointee, 
however,  has  a  remedy  ample  and  immediate.  He  has,  by 
reason  of  your  appointment,  become  invested  with  a  legal 
right,  in  support  of  which  he  can  invoke  the  strong  arm  of 
judicial  authority.  He  must  enter  the  Court  of  highest  ordi- 
nary jurisdiction  in  the  State,  and  make  a  statement  of  the 
facts  in  specified  form.  If  the  Court  deem  him  to  have  been 
resisted  in  a  legal  right,  a  writ  of  mandamus  will  issue ;  which 
is  a  writ  commanding  to  be  done,  that  which  of  right  ought 
to  be  done.  The  Board  must  now  admit  the  appointee  or  show 
good  cause  why  he  should  not  be  admitted.  If  the  Court 
deem  the  cause  sufficient,  there  is  no  remedy,  and  the  Con- 
vention must  appoint  again.  But  if  the  cause  is  deemed  in- 
sufficient, a  second  writ  of  peremptory  mandamus  will  issue 
directed  to  the  Board.  She  must  then  admit  him  or  brave  the 
strong  arm  of  the  law. 

The  last  point  Avhich  your  Committee  propose  to  examine, 
is,  the  validity  of  appointments  by  this  Convention,  filling 
vacancies  in  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

Upon  this  point  your  Committee  have  bestowed  that 
attention  which  its  importance  demands;  and  after  consulting 
the  highes  legal  auhority  they  could  command,  they  have  no 
alternative  but  to  report  such  appointments  as  strictly  legal 
and  valid. 

In  all  the  authorities  consulted  they  have  found  no  dis- 
senting opinion.  It  is  not  considered  essential  to  the  validity 
of  the  act,  that  the  Convention  should  be  incorporated,  as  it 
is  not  an  act  requiring  the  existence  of  corporate  powers. 

Tor  the  benefit,  however,  of  those  who  think  differently, 
we  submit  the  following  as  conclusive,  and  sufficient  to  set 
the  question  finally  and  forever  at  rest.  We  quote  from  Angell 
&  Ames  on  Corporations  (p.  73.) 


202  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

"It  is  indeed  a  principle  of  law  whicli  has  been  often  acted 
on,  that  where  rights,  privileges  and  powers  have  been  granted 
by  law  to  an  association  of  persons  by  a  collective  name,  and 
there  is  no  mode  by  which  such  rights  can  be  enjoyed,  or  such 
powers  exercised  without  acting  in  a  corporate  capacity,  such 
associations  are,  by  implication,  a  corporation,  so  far  as  to  en- 
able them  to  exercise  the  rights  and  powers  granted.  The 
assent  of  Government,  in  other  words,  to  corporate  organiza- 
tion, may  be  given  constructively  or  presumptively  and  with- 
out the  use  of  the  word  "incorporate." 

Your  Committee  further  report  that  this  appointing 
power  vested  in  the  Baptist  State  Convention  of  Texas  by 
legislative  enactment,  is  the  only  legal  relation  they  have  been 
able  to  discover  existing  between  this  Convention  and  Baylor 
University. 

Stjmmaet. 

Your  Committee  now  submit  the  following  as  a  summary 
of  the  conclusions  at  which  we  arrive,  as  the  result  of  this 
laborious  investigation. 

First — That  Baylor  University  is  strictly  a  denomina- 
tional institution. 

Second — That  the  legal  title  to  all  its  estate,  real  and 
personal,  is  vested  in  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

Third — ^That  the  Convention  in  relation  to  the  Univer- 
sity, possesses  no  visitorial  power. 

Fourth — That  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Baylor  Univer- 
sity is  under  the  strongest  legal,  as  well  as  the  highest  moral 
obligation  to  use  all  its  powers,  privileges  and  immunities,  and 
all  its  trust  funds,  lands,  buildings,  endowments  and  posessions 
of  eveiy  description,  for  the  support  and  maintenance  of  an 
institution  of  learning,  under  the  control  of  Baptists,  and  that 
the  law  provides  the  most  ample  security  for  such  an  admin- 
istration of  the  trust. 

Fifth — That  no  change  in  the  act  of  incorporation  can 
increase  the  obligations  of  the  Trustees  or  make  more  secure 
to  the  denomination,  the  tenure  by  which  the  trust  funds  of 
Baylor  University  are  held. 

Sixth — That  the  only  legal  relation  existing  between 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Bukleson.  203 

the  Convention  and  the  University  is,  the  power  which  this 
Convention  has  of  filling  vacancies  in  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

Seveistth — That  there  is  a  moral  relation  of  mutual  de- 
pendence and  support  which  makes  their  interests  identical, 
and  is  a  certain  guarantee  that  they  will  continue  to  work 
harmoniously  together  for  the  promotion  of  learning,  piety 
and  virtue,  so  Ibng  as  there  are  minds  to  be  enlightened,  and 
hearts  to  be  purified,  sanctified  and  made  meet  for  the  in- 
heritance of  the  saints  in  light. 

All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 
Signed  by  the  Committee, 

H.  CLARK,  Chairman. 
H.  GARRETT, 
R.  C.  BURLESO:Nr, 
W.  A.  MOi^^TGOMERY, 
C.  R.  BREEDLOVE. 


.,^li^-^2 


204:  The  Life  and  Writings  of 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


Chapel  Talks — Subjects  Discussed — Extract  from  a 
Student's  Letter — Good  Impressions  Made — Detec- 
tive Bird — Anecdotes  and  Incidents — A  Carriagft 
EiDE — Takes  a  Kap — Breaks  Up  a  Turkey  Supper — 
A  Primitive  Elevator — Dr.  Burleson  Pays  a  Re- 
ward FOR  the  Return  of  His  Buggy — Declines  the 
Noun  Res — Builds  a  Gymnasium — Plays  Hot  Ball. 

CHAPEL  TALKS. 


T  was  during  these  years  also  that  Dr.  Burleson  inau- 
gurated his  Chapel  Talks,  and  educated  his  cele- 
brated Detective  Bird.  The  impression  made  by 
these  talks  upon  the  mind  and  character  of  the  students,  will 
never  be  effaced,  and  the  performances  of  this  Detective  Bird 
never  cease  to  excite  wonder  in  their  minds. 

Every  morning,  the  exercises  of  the  day  were  opened  by 
reading  a  few  verses  from  some  chapter  in  the  Bible,  touching 
man's  obligation  to  God,  followed  by  a  brief  prayer.  Gener- 
ally, these  passages  were  read  by  the  Senior  and  Junior  classes- 
They  occupied  front  seats  in  the  chapel,  and  read  alternately. 
When  the  lesson  had  been  thus  read.  Dr.  Burleson  would  fol- 
low with  a  short  chapel  talk.  His  favorite  themes  were,  Man'g» 
Homogeneity,  Reciprocal  Relations,  Mutual  Dependence,. 
Community  of  Interest,  Altruism,  Duties  of  Life,  Man's  Ob- 
ligation to  the  World. 

His  responsibility  to  God,  and  his  accountability  for  not 
making  the  best  use  of  his  opportunities  in  life.  His  resources 
in  the  discussion  of  such  subjects  were  inexhaustible,  and  every 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  205 

morning  some  bright  new  thought  would  be  presented  in  his 
Chapel  talk,  that  lifted  every  young  man  in  the  school  higher, 
and  sent  him  bounding  through  the  work  of  the  day  with  new 
views  of  life,  and  higher  aspirations  and  purposes. 

Of  the  effect  produced,  and  the  enduring  impressions 
made  upon  the  lives  and  character  of  the  students  of  Baylor 
University,  one  of  the  finest  encomiums  ever  pronounced  was 
loj  Gov.  L.  S.  Ross  in  an  address  delivered  before  the  Con- 
federate Veteran  Association  in  Waco,  1S94.  He  was  Com- 
mander of  the  Association,  an  alumnus  of  Baylor  University 
and  in  his  annual  address  on  that  occasion  declared  that  Dr. 
Burleson's  Chapel  Talks  had  inspired  him  with  higher  ambi- 
tion to  serve  mankind  in  some  useful  sphere,  and  gave  him 
clearer  conceptions  of  life's  duties  tlian  any  feature  of  his 
college  course.  He  also  stated  that  what  he  was,  or  whatever 
he  had  accomplished  in  life,  was  due  to  the  impressions  thus 
made.  Similar  statements  could  be  given  as  coming  from 
other  distinguished  statesmen,  as  to  the  value  of  this  method  of 
imparting  instruction,  and  presenting  high  ideals  to-  the  young 
men  whose  training  had  been  committed  to  his  management. 

It  is  not  asserted  that  the  highest  spheres  of  usefulness 
■can  be  reached  without  a  thorough  equipment  and  education; 
but  the  opinion  is  ventured,  based  in  part  on  personal  experi- 
ence, that  scores  upon  scores  of  the  Alumni  of  Baylor  Univer- 
sity have  been  inspired  to  look  out,  and  reach  up,  to  attain  the 
highest  ideals  in  life  by  these  morning  talks. 

"Well  do  I  remember  the  kind  words  spoken  the  last  time 
I  saw  you  in  Baylor,  especially  do  I  remember  your  Chapel 
Talk  that  morning  in  which  there  was  so  much  wise  counsel, 
and  such  interest  evinced  in  the  moral,  intellectual  and  phy- 
sical well-being  of  your  students.  A  sense  of  the  keenest  ap- 
preciation will  go  with  me  through  the  remaining  years  of 
my  life." 

Thus  an  old  student  recently  wrote  from  a  distant  state. 
This  chapter  could  be  filled  wdth  extracts  from  letters  of  the 
same  kind,  showing  the  impressions  made  on  the  minds  of  stu- 
dents by  these  lectures.  These  exercises  were  not  only  sources 
of  pleasure  and  profit  as  conducted  by  Dr.  Burleson,  but  there 
was  another  respect  in  which  they  were  valuable  to  the  student 
body. 


206  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

Whenever  a  distinguished  man,  in  any  avocation  of  life 
visited  Independence,  Dr.  Burleson  would  have  him  visit  the 
University,  and  lecture  in  his  stead.  In  this  way  the  young 
men  not  only  had  the  pleasure  and  satisfaction  of  seeing  the 
leaders  of  thought,  and  controlling  spirits  in  the  affairs  of  both 
church  and  state,  but  of  hearing  them  lecture  on  the  practical 
duties  of  life. 

Whenever  a  visitor  was  introduced,  every  student  in  the 
Chapel  would  rise  to  his  feet,  make  a  graceful  bow,  and  re- 
sume his  seat. 

Another  valuable  feature  of  Dr.  Burleson's  Chapel  Talks, 
was  the  deep  impression  made  on  the  minds  of  the  students, 
as  to  the  importance  of  a  well  ordered  home,  and  the  inculca- 
tion of  a  spirit  of  filial  devotion.  'Next  to  his  God,  he  enter- 
tained the  profoundest  regard  for  the  sanctity  of  the  home, 
and  magnified  and  exalted  it  on  all  occasions. 

If  a  man  would  but  discharge  his  duty  in  the  home  circle, 
and  prove  himself  to  be  worthy  of  that  confidence  and  loyalty 
man  is  wont  to  demand  as  the  head  of  the  household,  however 
tempestuous  and  turbulent  life  might  be,  his  home  would  be 
a  haven,  and  place  of  refuge  to  which  he  could  flee,  where 
his  bark  would  glide  serenely  upon  a  sea  of  love,  instead  of 
being  rolled  and  broken  by  restless  billows.  There  are  happy 
homes,  presided  over  by  happy  wives,  where  cadence  sings  in 
unconfined,  unrestrained  joyousness  all  over  Texas,  and  other 
states,  that  have  been  made  so  in  part,  by  the  impression  made 
on  the  student's  heart,  by  a  wholesome  truth  uttered  in  some 
one  of  these  Chapel  Talks. 

Detective  Bird. 

Boys  have  been  boys  in  all  the  past  ages  of  the  world,  and 
they  will  continue  to  be  boys  in  all  ages  to  come.  Boys  will 
have  their  fun  whether  in  school  or  out  of  it.  The  boys  who 
lived  in  Texas  in  the  earlier  times,  were  just  like  the  boys 
who  live  in  Texas  now.  The  prairies  Avere  larger,  long  years 
ago  when  Baylor  University  was  young,  and  Dr.  Burleson  in 
the  prime  of  manhood;  the  streams  clearer,  the  forests  thicker, 
the  grass  +aller,  the  wild  flowers  brighter,  the  winters  were 
warmer,  and  the  summers  cooler.     In  all  nature  there  have 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  207 

come  great  changes;  but  this  has  not  changed  the  boys;  they 
are  just  the  same,  they  loved  fun  then,  they  love  it  yet.  The 
boys  in  "Baylor"  formed  no  exception  to  this  rule,  they  loved 
fun  just  as  others. 

Another  thing  about  toys,  they  are  smart,  and  when 
they  go  out  to  have  fun  they  are  cunning  and  hard  to  catch. 
Dr.  Burleson  was  well  acquainted  with  this  boyish  character- 
istic, and  while  he  was  willing  for  them  to  have  their  sport, 
he  wanted  to  know  what  was  going  on  so  he  could  keep  the 
fun  within  the  bounds  of  propriety.  When  therefore,  the 
students  would  slip  out  of  a  window  and  slide  down  a  column 
to  engage  in  some  kind  of  amusement,  he  would  slip  out  him- 
self and  try  to  find  them.  Sometimes  he  would  succeed,  and 
sometimes  he  failed. 

He  was  equal  to  the  emergency  however,  and  trained 
what  he  called  his  little  "Detective  Bird."  "When  the  young 
men  were  out  of  their  rooms,"  he  said,  "my  Detective  Bird 
comes  fluttering  to  me,  whispers  in  my  ear,  and  tells  me  where 
the  young  men  are  and  what  they  are  doing."  The  students 
were  skeptical  as  to  whether  he  really  had  a  bird  so  well 
trained  or  not,  but  of  one  thing  they  were  quite  sure,  and  that 
was,  they  could  not  elude  detection. 

Dr.  Burleson,  his  Detective  Bird  and  the  escapades  of  the 
students,  forms  the  subject  of  many  amusing  incidents. 

A  Carriage  Ride. 

When  school  was  dismissed  one  Friday  evening  during 
the  spring  term  of  1856,  Dr.  Burleson  announced  that  he 
would  drive  out  in  the  country  the  next  morning  and  spend 
the  day  with  a  friend.  Two  of  the  students  who  were  sitting 
together  in  the  Chapel,  decided  as  soon  as  they  got  out  of  the 
building,  they  would  disappoint  him  in  his  anticipated  pleas- 
ure, and  have  some  fine  sport  at  the  same  time.  The  plan 
adopted  was  to  go  to  the  bam,  and  pull  his  carriage  off  and 
hide  it  in  the  woods,  and  thus  prevent  him  from  making  the 
visit.  The  little  bird  informed  Dr.  Burleson  of  the  plan,  and 
he  concluded  he  would  have  some  fun  himself.  He  hurried 
through  supper,  went  out,  got  in  the  carriage,  and  down  be- 
tween  the   seats,    and   concealed   himself   by   unrolling   the 


208  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

curtains,  and  throwing  a  blanket  over  his  body.  In  a 
little  while  the  bojs  came,  opened  the  door,  pulled  the 
carriage  out,  and  went  off  chuckling  about  how  sadly  dis- 
appointed he  would  be  the  next  morning.  When  they  had 
gone  more  than  a  mile,  and  were  very  much  fatigued.  Dr. 
Burleson  thrust  his  head  out  at  one  side,  and  said,  "Young 
gentlemen,  I  am  very  much  obliged  for  this  nice  ride,  and 
would  suggest  that  you  stop,  and  when  you  have  rested  a 
moment,  you  can  pull  me  back  home." 

Takes  a  ISTap. 

In  the  "Octagon,"  which  Dr.  Burleson  occupied  as  a 
residence  at  Independence,  the  rooms  were  large,  and  four 
boarders  lived  in  each  room.  The  four  young  men  occupying 
one  of  these  rooms  concluded  they  would  have  a  "chicken 
supper."  The  plan  was,  for  three  of  the  young  men  to  go  out 
and  get  the  chickens,  (buy  them  of  course)  while  the  fourth 
would  remain  in  the  room,  go  to  bed,  put  out  the  light,  and 
snore  loud  enough  for  everybody  in  the  house  to  hear  him, 
so  as  to  keep  down  suspicion.  In  a  little  while,  the  young 
man  left  in  the  room  became  impatient,  rolled  out  of  bed,  and 
went  out  to  see  what  success  his  room-mates  were  having  in 
buying  the  chickens,  but  he  failed  to  find  them.  The  Detec- 
tive Bird  informed  Dr.  Burleson  of  "what  was  up,"  and  he 
went  to  the  room,  got  in  bed  and  waited.  In  a  little  while 
the  young  men  who  had  been  out  to  buy  the  chickens  re- 
turned mth  four,  fine,  fat,  frying-size  fowls,  threw  them  on 
the  table,  "struck  a  light,"  and  called  to  the  young  man  in 
bed  to  get  up,  help  clean  and  cook  them. 

The  consternation  that  prevailed  in  that  room  may  be 
imagined,  but  not  described,  when  Dr.  Burleson  rolled  out, 
and  said,  "All  right  young  gentlemen,  if  you  bought  those 
chickens,  it  will  be  better  to  wait  and  let  Mrs.  Burleson  have 
them  nicely  fried  for  breakfast,  but  if  you  "hooked  them,"  I 
would  advise  you  to  return  them  to  the  owner  at  once." 

Turkey  Supper. 

One  night  in  the  fall  of  1857,  when  turkeys  were  fat,  the 
"air  crisp,  and  the  appetite  of  students  sharp,  about  one  dozen 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  209 

of  the  young  men  in  the  University  concluded  they  would 
have  a  great  turkey  supper.  The  Male  and  Female  Depart- 
ments of  Baylor  at  Independence,  were  situated  on  opposite 
hills  one  thousand  yards  apart.  A  beautiful  brook  flowed  be- 
tween these  hills,  which  Dr.  Burleson  christened  "Jordan."' 
The  place  selected  for  the  supper  was  on  "Jordan,"  about  one 
mile  north  of  town.  An  old  colored  man  was  employed  to  buy 
the  turkeys,  and  have  them  at  the  place  designated,  at  the  ap- 
pointed time.  The  boys  assembled,  all  eager  for  the  feast. 
Some  were  cleaning,  others  were  cooking,  and  all  were  talking. 
Dr.  Burleson's  Detective  Bird  had  informed  him  of  the  plan 
of  the  boys,  and  he  concluded  to  take  a  hand  in  the  fun.  After 
the  boys  had  gone,  he  went  to  the  place,  secreted  himseK  in  a 
ravine  near  by,  and  looked  and  listened.  They  were  all  in  a 
great  glee.    One  of  the  young  men  remarked : 

"Boys,  suppose  Dr.  Burleson  were  to  slip  up  on  us,  what 
would  we  do  ?" 

"I  would  catch  him  by  the  nape  of  the  neck  and  sling 
him  into  that  pool  of  water,"  one  replied. 

Another  one  said :     "I  would  take  a  piece  of  brush  and 

fray  him  to  a  frazzle,  and  teach  him  to  mind  his  own  business." 

A  third  remarked :  "I  tell  you  what  I  would  do;  I  would  tie 

him  hand  and  foot,  take  off  his  coat  and  pants,  and  leave  him 

to  spend  the  night  on  Jordan's  stormy  banks." 

This  suggestion  the  crowd  thought  would  be  capital  pun- 
ishment for  his  interference,  and  all  roared. 

The  fourth  boy  said:  "Well,  I  tell  you  what  I  would 
do.  I  would  say.  Dr.  Burleson,  walk  up  and  eat  some  turkey 
with  us." 

At  this  juncture  Dr.  Burleson  emerged  from  his  place  of 
concealment,  and,  addressing  himself  to  the  one  who  had  last 
spoken :  "Thank  you,  sir,  as  you  seem  to  be  the  only  young 
man  here  who  has  any  politeness,  I  will  accept  your  invitation. 
Turkey  is  my  favorite  fowl." 

With  this  he  walked  up.  The  crowd  was  thrown  into  a 
state  of  panic,  and  every  one  of  them  bounded  off  into  the 
brush  like  frightened  deer.  Dr.  Burleson  left  the  old  colored 
man  who  was  assisting  the  young  men  in  preparing  the  tur- 

14 


210  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

keys  in  charge  of  the  situation,  and  as  they  did  not  return,  the 
old  man  carried  them  to  his  home  and  had  a  large  family  feast. 
Dr.  Burleson  usually  came  out  victorious  in  these  esca- 
pades with  the  students,  but  not  always.  Sometimes  he  was 
turned  down,  as  the  following  incident  shows: 

A  Primitive  Elevator. 

The  young  men  in  the  boarding  house  planned  to  play 
some  practical  jokes  on  persons  around  town  one  night,  and  the 
ubiquitous  Detective  Bird  was  again  to  the  front.  It  was  dif- 
ficult for  the  young  men  to  get  out  of  the  house  undetected; 
so  they  improvised  an  elevator.  A  rope  was  attached  to  the 
basket  used  for  soiled  clothes.  One  would  get  in,  and  two 
strong  boys,  stationed  on  the  third  gallery,  would  lower  him  to 
the  ground.  Several  were  let  down  in  this  way.  Two  were 
stationed  on  the  gallery,  and  it  was  understood,  when  the  boys 
returned  after  having  their  fun,  the  signal  for  them  to  be 
drawn  up  would  be  given  by  jerking  the  rope.  Dr.  Burleson 
went  out  of  the  back  door,  around  the  house  to  the  basket,  got 
in  and  jerked  the  rope.  Instantly  the  boys  commenced  haul- 
ing him  up.  When  about  half  way,  they  discovered  who 
it  was,  stopped  and  secured  the  upper  end  of  the  rope 
to  the  railing,  and  stepped  back  against  the  wall.  Dr.  Burle- 
son supposed  they  were  merely  resting,  but  in  a  few  minutes 
jerked  the  rope.  The  elevator  did  not  move.  He  jerked 
again  and  again,  but  the  boys  did  not  come.  He  was  allowed 
to  remain  in  this  state  of  both  mental  and  physical  suspense  for 
some  time,  when  the  boys  peeped  over  the  rail,  and  said : 

"Doctor,  we  know  who  you  are,  and  do  not  intend  to 
haul  you  up  another  inch  until  you  promise  not  to  give  any  of 
us  demerit  marks." 

Dr.  Burleson  saw  he  was  entrapped  and  replied : 

"Well,  boys,  see  here;  suppose  we  compromise  our  dif- 
ferences. I  tell  you  what  I  will  do ;  if  you  will  pull  me  either 
up,  or  let  me  down,  I  do  not  care  which,  just  so  I  get  out  of 
this  basket,  I  Avill  agree  not  to  give  you  any  demerits,  if  you 
will  promise  not  to  do  so  any  more." 

The  compromise  was  accepted,  the  Doctor  was  let  down, 
though,  he  admitted,  badly  "done  up." 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  BuRLEsoisr.  211 

Pays  a  Reward. 

When  the  boarding  students  entered  Baylor  University 
they  deposited  all  their  '^pin  money"  with  the  President,  and 
he  returend  it  as  their  necessities  required.  He  woke  up  one 
morning  during  the  spring  session  of  '58,  and  found  that  his 
buggy  had  been  put  on  top  of  the  Female  College  building. 
He  was  a  little  .nonplused,  but  resolved  to  turn  the  joke  on' the 
boys  if  possible.  He  had  learned  from  his  Detective  Bird 
who  the  boys  were  that  had  put  his  buggy  on  the  college,  and 
was,  of  course,  familiar  with  their  financial  status.  So  he 
approached  the  leader  in  the  episode,  and  said :  "Robert,  hero 
is  a  bright,  new  ten-dollar  gold  piece.-  I  will  hand  it  to  you 
if  you  will  go  over  and  bring  my  buggy  home." 

Robert  seized  the  opportunity  of  earning  $10  so  quickly 
and  easily,  went  at  once,  took  the  buggy  down,  and  pulled  it 
home.  Dr.  Burleson  went  out,  handed  Robert  the  gold  piece, 
and  told  him  it  was  his  own  money  he  had  been  working  for. 

Assists  in  Declining  a  Koun. 

Dr.  Burleson  was  very  grave  and  dignified  in  manner, 
easy  in  conversation,  never  "spun  yarns,"  or  told  "smutty 
stories,"  but  there  was  a  streak  of  original,  refined  humor  run- 
ning through  his  nature  which  at  times  he  seemed  to  be  unable 
to  suppress.     A  little  incident  illustrates  this  trait. 

In  the  Female  Department  of  the  University  at  Inde- 
pendence there  was  a  most  charming  young  lady  whose  sur- 
name was  Rem.  In  the  Male  Department  there  was  a  fine 
young  man  whose  first  name  was  Lem,  a  contraction  of 
Lemuel.  Lem  was  very  much  in  love  with  Miss  Rem,  and 
everybody  in  both  the  school  and  town  knew  it.  On  one 
occasion,  when  hearing  the  class  in  Latin  grammar,  Dr.  Bur- 
leson gave  Lem  the  noun  Res  to  decline.  He  commenced, 
res,  reis,  rem.  Before  he  could  finish.  Dr.  Burleson  inter- 
posed and  continued,  "found  in  the  accusative  and  governed 
by  Lem." 

The  class  was  convulsed  -with  laughter,  and  Dr.  Burleson 
dismissed  it,  saying,  "Young  gentlemen,  you  can  get  this 
same  lesson  for  to-morrow. 


212  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

Dr.  Burleson  always  manifested  great  interest  in  the 
exercises  and  pastime  of  his  students.  In  1858  he  had  erected, 
at  his  own  expense,  on  the  college  campus  a  well-equipped  and 
well-arranged  gymnasium,  for  those  days,  where  physical 
exercise  of  almost  any  kind  could  be  taken. 

He  was  seen  on  the  campus  every  day  among  the  boys, 
and  would  occasionally  take  part  in  the  games.  When  he 
engaged  with  the  students  in  their  outdoor  sports  he  was  the 
center  of  attraction,  very  naturally,  and  seemed  to  be  able  to 
endure  any  amount  of  punishment. 

On  one  occasion  this  writer  saw  him  step  out  on  the  cam- 
pus at  Independence,  where  a  hundred  boys  were  engaged  in 
playing  an  exciting  game  of  "hot  ball,"  and  offer  himself  as  a 
target  for  the  whole  crowd.  He  was  pelted  a  hundred  times 
with  solid  rubber  balls,  and  one  hundred  blue  spots  must  have 
been  made  on  his  body,  but  he  was  as  obdurate  and  unmoved 
as  the  sturdy  live  oak  under  which  he  stood  while  the  fun  was 
going  on.  The  sport  over,  he  saluted  the  boys,  and  bowed 
himself  from  the  grounds,  his  face  wreathed  in  smiles,  when 
he  was  unquestionably  suffering  the  greatest  pain. 


Dk.  Kufus  C.  Burleson.  213 


CHAPTER  XXV. 


Controversy  Between  President  Burleson  and  Princi- 
pal OF  the  Female  Department  —  Called  Before 
THE  Board  of  Trustees — Submitted  Their  Grievances 
IN  Writing — Each  Appears  in  His  Own  Behalf — - 
Findings  of  the  Trustees — Accepted  as  Satisfactory 
— Stringent  Resolutions  of  the  Board — High  Re- 
gard OF  Trustees  for  the  Heads  of  Both  Departments 
OF  THE  School. 


^^^  E  now  approacli  a  period  in  the  story  of  Dr.  Bur- 
S^rs^  leson's  life  wliicTi  we  would  prefer  to  avoid,  the  facts 
'  of  which,  however,  are  so  far  reaching  as  to  affect 
the  course  of  this  great  man,  the  cause  of  education  and  the 
history  of  Texas,  that  loyalty  to  the  record  and  devotion,  to 
the  truth  compels  their  recital. 

Washington  County,  from  the  earliest  settlement  of  the 
country,  while  yet  a  Mexican  province  up  to  1861,  was  the 
most  historic  of  any  in  the  State.  It  was  in  her  borders  that 
the  first  families  of  Austin's  original  three  hundred  colonists 
settled  in  1822.  It  was  one  of  the  oldest  provinces,  municipal- 
ities and  counties  formed  under  the  Mexican  Government. 

It  was  here  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  pro* 
mulgated  March  the  2d,  1836.  It  was  here  the  Republic  of 
Texas  was  organized  March  16th  of  that  year.  It  was  here 
that  the  joint  resolution  passed  by  the  American  Congress, 
providing  for  the  annexation  of  Texas  to  the  United  States, 
was  ratified  July  4th,  1845,  on  the  sixty-ninth  annivei-sary  of 
the  birth  of  the  great  Republic,  and  where  Texas,  as  a  nation, 
ceased  to  exist.     It  has  the  proud  distinction  of  containing 


214  The  Life  akd  Writings  of 

the  capital  of  the  Eepublic  three  times;  in  1836,  1842,  and  in 
1845.  The  county  was  not  only  the  center  of  population  in 
its  early  history,  but  of  "wealth,  refinement,  education  and  re- 
ligion. The  momentous  events  about  to  be  related  mark  the 
decay  and  decline  of  all  these  interests.  And  while  the  map 
of  Texas  has  not  been  changed,  the  center  and  headquarters  of 
all  these  ennobling  and  elevating  interests  have  been  shifted 
to  other  sections  of  the  State. 

As  already  seen,  Baylor  University  was  composed  of 
Male  and  Female  Departments,  taught  in  separate  buildings 
on  opposite  hills.  Dr.  Burleson  was  President  of  the  Univer- 
sity— that  is  to  say,  of  both  departments — and  Rev.  Horace 
Clark  Principal  of  the  Pemale  Department.  He  was  con- 
ceded to  be  a  man  of  pure  life,  possessed  ©f  a  high  order  of 
wisdom  and  much  learning,  a  fine  teacher  and  a  successful 
disciplinarian  and  manager;  but,  like  all  men  modestly  con- 
scious of  his  ability,  ambitious.  Some  discussion  was  indulged 
in  by  the  Trustees  and  friends  of  the  schools  as  to  the  propriety 
of  making  the  Female  Department  a  distinct  school  and 
placing  Prof.  Clark  at  its  head  as  President.  The  time  was 
not  ripe  for  this  change  in  the  genius  of  the  institution,  though 
it  was  eventually  effected.  Prof.  Clark  became  more  and 
more  self-assertive,  and  seemed  to  chafe  under  the  restraints 
of  the  subordinate  position  he  held.  Dr.  Burleson  maintained 
the  dignity  of  the  presidency,  and  insisted  on  exercising  all 
the  rights  and  authority  of  the  position,  as  defined  by  an  act  of_ 
the  Board  of  Trustees. 

Mild  clashes  and  conflicts  for  this  reason  occurred. 
These  conflicts  increased  in  frequency.  They  not  only  be- 
came more  frequent,  but  the  issues  more  sharply  defined. 
From  clearly  defined  issues,  as  times  passed,  they  became 
violent  differences.  From  violence,  the  disagreements  as- 
sumed an  unwarranted  degree  of  fierceness.  At  first  the 
differences  were  only  conflicts  of  authority,  but  soon 
they  took  on  a  personal  phase.  The  President  and  Prin- 
cipal stood  face  to  face  and  toe  to  toe,  Dr.  Burleson  claiming, 
asserting  and  maintaining  all  his  authority,  and  Prof.  Clark 
refusing  to  recede  one  hair's  breadth.  The  situation  was 
alarming,  had  its  effect  upon  the  schools,  and  spread  through- 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burlesox.  215 

out  the  community.  Mutual  friends  intervened  for  the  pur- 
pose of  effecting  a  settlement  of  the  differences  and  reconciling 
the  parties,  but.  all  these  worthy,  disinterested  efforts  were 
fruitless.  People  in  the  community,  as  well  as  members  of 
the  denomination  at  large,  began  to  take  sides  and  become 
inflamed  partisans. 

It  was  now  apparent  that  a  crisis  was  on,  the  welfare  of 
the  schools  involved,  and  that  nothing  could  be  done  except 
by  the  Board  of  Trustees  interposing  to  the  very  limit  of  its 
authority.  A  special  meeting  was,  therefore,  called,  and  the 
situation  calmly  and  exhaustivel}^  discussed.  A  committee 
was  appointed  by  the  board  to  interview  President  Burleson 
and  Prof.  Clark,  and  effect,  if  possible,  a  compromise  of  the 
differences,  and  complete  reconciliation.  The  committee 
labored  earnestly  for  several  days  to  accomplish  the  object  for 
which  it  was  appointed,  but  utterly  failed  in  its  purpose,  and  so 
stated  to  the  board  at  a  session  called  to  hear  its  report.  A 
resolution  was  passed  requiring  President  Burleson  and  Prof. 
Clark  to  reduce  their  grievances  to  writing,  and  submit  them 
to  the  board,  each  of  whom  w^ould  be  accorded  the  privilege 
of  appearing  for  himself  in  support  of  the  charges,  and  when 
the  arguments  had  been  heard,  the  charges  would  be  impar- 
tially considered,  and  both  parties  furnished  with  a  written 
copy  of  their  findings  and  conclusions  reached. 

These  charges  were  written,  as  requested,  and  filed  with 
the  board  at  a  meeting  held  on  the  29th  of  June,  1860,  and  are 
as  follows : 

Charges  by  Clark. 

To  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Baylor  University: 

First.  I  feel  grieved  with  Brother  Burleson  for  com- 
pelling me  to  arise  in  a  religious  assembly  to  reply  to  what  I, 
and  others,  conceived  to  be  a  personal  attack  upon  me. 

Second.  I  feel  grieved  with  him  in  permitting  a  disre- 
spectful demonstration  toward  me  on  the  part  of  students  of 
the  male  department. 

Third.  I  feel  aggrieved  with  him  for  permitting  to  be 
circulated  a  certain  letter  written  to  him  personally  many 
years  ago  for  the  purpose  of  inviting  a  reconciliation,  and 


216  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

which  was  used  not  in  accordance  with  its  spirit  and  tenor,  but 
in  such  a  way  as  to  place  me  in  the  attitude  of  an  aggressor. 

Fourth.  I  feel  aggrieved  with  him  for  publicly  making 
disparaging  remarks  against  the  female  department. 

Fifth.  .1  feel  aggrieved  with  him  for  not  being  willing 
to  submit  our  differences  to  the  arbitration  of  mutual  friends. 

Sixth.  I  feel  aggrieved  with  him  for  not  manifesting 
a  willingness  to  settle  them  upon  a  basis  which  I  conceive  to 
be  mutually  honorable. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

Horace  Clark. 

Burleson's  Charges. 

First.  Prof.  Clark  has  grieved  me  personally.  He  pub- 
licly, on  the  night  of  the  I7th  instant,  charged  me  with  bein^ 
the  cause  of  the  dissensions  and  party  strife  in  the  church  at 
Independence. 

Second.  He  has  grieved  me  by  reviving  a  matter  fully 
settled  by  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

Third.  In  reviving  this  matter,  that  was  thought  to  be 
settled  and  buried  forever,  he  has  revived  a  letter  casting  upon 
me  the  imputation  of  insincerity  and  hypocrisy,  and  charging 
my  family  and  friends  with  crimes  that  makes  "one  sick  at 
heart." 

Fourth.  He  has  treated  my  wife  and  myself  with  disre- 
spect, in  not  allowing  the  daughters  of  my  friends  and  breth- 
ren to  meet  a  few  select  friends  at  my  house. 

Fifth.  I  am  grieved  with  him  for  using  language  in  a 
speech  before  the  young  ladies,  during  school  hours,  calcu- 
lated to  prejudice  their  minds  against  me,  which  he  should 
either  prove,  or  withdraw  as  publicly  as  made. 

Sixth.  He  has  grieved  me  as  a  member  of  the  Faculty 
in  violating  the  solemn  promise  we  made  to  the  Board  of 
Trustees  not  to  interfere  with  the  management  of  the 
respective  departments  committed  to  our  care.  He  has  thus 
interfered  in  vindicating  and  endorsing  the  course  of  Judge 


Dk.  Eufus  C.  Bukleson.  217 

"Wheeler  in  his  resignation  as  head  of  the  law  department  of 
Baylor  University,  and  opening  a  law  school  in  Brenham. 
Respectfully  submitted, 

RuFus  C.  Burleson. 

President  Burleson  and  Prof.  Clark  read  their  charges 
before  the  board,  introduced  evidence,  and  made  arguments 
in  support  of  each  allegation.  When  they  had  concluded  the 
presentation  of  their  cases,  the  Trustees  considered  the  griev- 
ances seriatim.  Dr.  Burleson's  being  taken  up  first. 

The  record  shows  no  disposal  of  charges  1  and  2  made 
by  Dr.  Burleson,  as  consideration  commenced  with  charge  3, 
and  by  a  unanimous  vote  advised  Prof.  Clark  to  withdraw  the 
letter  altogether. 

Charge  fourth  was  explained  in  a  manner  satisfactory  to 
the  President  and  Board. 

Charge  fifth  was  sustained  so  far  as  the  fact  that  Prof. 
Clark  did  address  the  female  department  on  the  subject  of  his 
differences  with  Dr.  Burleson,  but  not  sustained  as  to  the 
prejudicial  effect  against  the  male  department. 

Charge  sixth  was  disposed  of  by  the  adoption  of  the 
following  resolution: 

Besolved,  By  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Baylor  University, 
That  we  disapprove  of  the  letter  ^vritten  by  Prof.  Clark  on 
the  subject  of  the  Law  School,  but  not  attributing  to  him  any 
design  of  reflecting  upon  the  Faculty  of  the  male  department, 
as  he  candidly  affirmed  to  us. 

Prof.  Clark's  grievances  were  then  considered  in  the  same 
"\\"ay. 

Charge  first  is  sustained,  and  the  Trustees  entered  their 
disapproval  of  President  Burleson  introducing  his  school 
troubles  in  a  religious  meeting. 

Charge  second  was  taken  up,  and,  while  it  was  sustained, 
the  Board  voted  that  they  did  not  believe  Dr.  Burleson's  con- 
duct was  intentional. 

Charge  third,  the  record  shows,  was  passed  by  the  Board 
without  action. 

Charge  fourth  was  sustained,  and  the  Board  expressed 
its  disapprobation  of  President  Burleson's  remarks  about  the 
female  department. 


218  The  Life  and  "Writings  of 

Charge  fifth  was  sustained,  and  the  Board  censured  Presi- 
dent Bnrleson  for  refusing  to  submit  his  differences  with  Prof. 
Clark  to  the  arbitration  of  mutual  friends. 

Charge  sixth  was  not  sustained  by  the  Board,  because  it 
appeared  to  be  groundless. 

Having  taken  action  on  the  grievances  submitted  by  the 
heads  of  the  two  departments  of  the  University,  the  Board 
adjourned,  and  recouA^ened  on  Sunday  morning,  July  1st, 
when  the  following  resolutions  Avere  adopted  by  a  unanimous 
vote : 

Whereas,  We  have  examined  the  above  charges  sub- 
mitted by  President  P.  C.  Burleson  and  Prof.  Horace  Clark, 
and  passed  on  the  same  according  to  their  respective  merits, 
after  taking  the  testimony  and  hearing  the  defense  in  each 
case;   now,  therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  By  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Baylor  Univer- 
sity, in  special  session  assembled,  That  Prof.  H.  Clark  be 
requested  to  withdraw  the  letter  addressed  by  him  to  Presi- 
dent Burleson,  and  that  the  withdrawal  of  said  letter  will  be 
regarded  as  an  honorable  and  satisfactory  settlement  of  all  the 
matter  between  them  growing  out  of  said  letter,  and  that  the 
original  letter  be  destroyed. 

Resolved,  Second,  That  in  examining  the  difficulties 
between  the  above  named  brethren,  while  we  have  felt  it  to 
be  our  duty  to  sustain  some  of  the  charges,  we  say  there  were 
extenuating  circumstances  in  all  the  cases,  and  none  of  them 
have  been  regarded  by  us  of  such  magnitude  as  to  involve  the 
character  or  reputation  of  either,  after  explained,  and,  there- 
fore, in  the  adjustment  we  here  propose  to  the  parties,  we  do 
not  regard  either,  in  accepting  the  settlement,  as  compro- 
mising his  honor  as  Christian  and  gentleman. 

Resolved,  Third,  That  we  have  seen  nothing  in  the  exam- 
ination of  the  above  named  difficulties  more  dangerous  and 
alarming  in  its  bearing  and  influence,  than  the  introduction 
of  these  troubles  among  the  students  of  each  department 
(while  we  have  nothing  serious  to  consider  in  what  has  already 
passed)  we  most  positively  determine,  if  for  the  future,  the 
heads  of  the  Faculty  of  either  department,  shall  aid  in,  or  give 
countenance  to,  or  shall  allow  unnoticed  or  uncorrected,  any 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Btjeleson.  219 

demonstration  of  disrespect,  of  one  of  tlie  departments  toward 
the  other,  the  Faculty  or  students,  it  will  be  regarded  by  the 
Board  as  a  high  offense,  and  will  require  the  highest  penalty 
known  to  our  charter  or  by-laws. 

Resolved,  Fourth,  As  we  have  heard  the  complaints  of 
each  of  our  brethren  and  their  defenses,  and  as  we  have  impar- 
tially, as  we  tliink,  decided  on  the  adjustment,  we  require  of 
the  parties  themselves,  or  through  some  friends,  the  better  to 
quiet  their  friends  and  the  public,  and  make  kno^vn  to  the 
world  the  honorable  adjustment  of  their  difficulties,  to  use  the 
first  public  opportunity  to  state,  that  they  agree  to,  and  will 
abide  by  the  settlement  of  these  troubles  by  the  Trustees,  and 
request  their  respective  friends  to  act  out,  and  make  the  same 
known  generally. 

Eesolved,  Fifth,  That  it  needs  no  argument  to  show  that 
the  difficulties,  as  heretofore  existing,  are  ruinous  to  our 
beloved  institution,  and  as  the  guardians  of  the  same  it  is  our 
solemn  conclusion  that  further  labor  with  the  heads  of  our 
departments  and  Faculty,  to  reconcile  their  variances,  is 
regarded  by  us  as  useless,  and  except  a  radical  change  occurs 
in  the  future,  prompt  and  extreme  means  will  be  adopted  by 
us  toward  the  parties  in  fault.  We  give  notice  of  this,  not  as 
a  threat,  or  desiring  to  be  disrespectful  to  our  President,  Prin- 
cipal or  Faculty,  but  to  let  them  know  that  our  patience  with 
their  petty  difficulties  is  exhausted,  and  for  the  future  no  com- 
promise will  be  required,  but  we  shall,  with  the  fear  of  God 
before  our  eyes,  promptly  apply  a  remedy,  though  it  should 
sever  the  ties  that  connect  us  together,  from  the  President  to 
the  last  Professor,  if  they  should  persist  in  this  conduct. 

Co-operation  and  peace  we  must  have  between  our  depart- 
ments, and  without  any  additional  or  special  law  for  future 
action,  an  infraction  of  those  two  principles  will  be  sufficient 
cause  for  prompt  action  by  this  Board. 

Resolved,  Sixth,  That  we  regard  this  adjustment  as  hon- 
orable and  reasonable  to  all  parties  concerned,  and,  therefore, 
request  the  President,  Principal  and  Professors  to  signify  to 
this  Board  their  acceptance  of  the  same  and  willingness  to 
unite  their  efforts  with  ours  for  the  promotion  of  peace,  co-op- 
eration and  the  advancement  of  the  welfare  of  the  school,  in 


220  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

building  it  up  in  all  its  departments,  to  our  mutual  gratification 
and  their  profit  and  credit. 

Resolved,  Seventh,  That  we  request  the  President  of  this 
Board,  Rev.  Hosea  Garrett,  to  give  public  notice  through  the 
"Texas  Baptist"  of  the  adjustment  of  all  our  troubles  so  soon 
as  proper  to  do  so. 

After  this  action  was  taken  on  the  charges,  and  these 
resolutions  adopted  embodying  the  future  policy  of  the  Board, 
President  Burleson,  Professor  Clark,  Prof.  R.  B.  Burleson, 
Dr.  D.  R.  Wallace,  O.  H.  Leland  and  Prof.  Willrick,  mem- 
bers of  the  Faculty  of  both  the  male  and  female  departments, 
were  sent  for,  and  responded  promptly. 

The  findings  of  the  Board  under  each  specific  head,  as 
well  as  the  preamble  and  resolutions  adopted  as  a  basis  of  the 
settlement  of  the  controversies,  were  read,  and  the  Faculty 
called  on  to  state  whether  they  accepted  or  rejected  the  conclu- 
sions and  decisions. 

All  gave  their  full  approval  to  the  decisions  of  the  Board, 
and  also  to  the  declarations  of  future  policy  contained  in  the 
resolutions. 

The  Trustees  entertained  the  highest  regard  for  President 
Burleson  and  his  brilliant  Faculty,  and  for  Prof.  Clark  and 
his  corps  of  splendid  assistants.  They  appreciated  the  fact 
that,  without  exception,  they  possessed  a  high  order  of  ability 
as  educators,  and  were  anxious  to  retain  all  of  them  in  their 
positions.  The  action  taken,  therefore,  was  cautious,  conserv- 
ative and  careful,  and  while  it  may  be  characterized  as  a  com- 
promise course,  yet  it  was  impartial  and  a  just  treatment  of 
both  men  and  measures,  persons  and  propositions. 

They,  therefore,  felt,  since  their  conclusions  met  the 
hearty  acquiescence  of  the  Faculty  in  both  departments,  that 
bickerings  and  strife  among  them  were  forever  at  an  end. 

Indeed,  this  was  the  case,  so  far  as  the  University  was 
directly  responsible  or  concerned.  They  felt  hopeful  and 
cheerful  under  the  circumstances,  and  the  prospect  for  suc- 
cess was  never  more  rosy  or  encouraging.  Harmony  and  good 
will  prevailed,  and  plans  for  future  operations  were  rapidly 


Dk.  Eufus  C.  Burleson. 


221 


formulated  by  the  Board,  in  which  President  Burleson  and  all 
the  teachers  heartily  and  earnestly  co-operated. 

These  difficulties  unfortunately,  however,  had  passed 
beyond  the  control  of  the  original  principals,  and  were  soon  to 
be  transferred  to  a  new  theater  of  action,  and  a  dreadful  day  of 
doom  and  darkness  was  impending. 


222  The  Life  and  Writings  of 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 


Controversy  Between  President  Burleson  and  Prof. 
Clark  Passes  Beyond  Their  Control — Taken  Up  by 
Friends — Permeates  the  Entire  Community" — Publi- 
cation of  a  Pamphlet  Precipitates  a  Church  Trial — 
Exciting  Scenes — A  Close  Vote — General  Houston 
Present — Meeting  Between  General  Houston  and 
Dr.  Burleson — Revival  in  the  Independence  Church 
— Dr.  Burleson's  Triumph — Letters  of  the  Faculty' 
AND  Senior  Class  Sustaining  Him — General  Houston 
Pledges  Dr.  Burleson  His  Undy^ing  Devotion — Hous- 
ton's Deposition  by  the  Texas  Legislature — Visits 
Independence  to  Confer  With  His  Friend,  Dr. 
Burleson. 


H 


m 


^ul 


ISTORY  does  not  afford  a  more  striking  example  of 
the  necessity  of  prudence  in  public  utterances  and 
conduct  than  the  unfortunate  differences  between 
President  Burleson  and  Prof.  Clark.  The  good  or  evil  effects 
of  public  expressions  does  not  end  when  the  occasion  which 
called  them  forth  passes,  but  they  live  on,  and  a  harvest  is 
reaped  by  somebody,  at  some  time.  In  the  spiritual  and  intel- 
lectual affairs  of  life,  as  well  as  the  physical,  we  "sow  the  wind 
and  reap  the  whirlwind,"  or  we  sow  fitly  spoken  words  of  gen- 
tleness and  discretion  and  reap  a  harvest  of  love,  and  make 
present  and  future  generations  the  legatee  of  beneficence. 

This  crimination  and  recrimination  had  been  going  on 
for  years,  and  both  parties  to  the  controversy  had  been  guilty 
of  some  measure  of  indiscretion  and  imprudence,  which  was 
not  naturally  a  characteristic  of  either. 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  223 

The  adjustment  made  by  the  Board  of  Trustees  was  satis- 
factory to  the  parties  directly  concerned ;  but  not  so  with  their 
friends.  The  affair  had  now  permeated  the  entire  commun- 
ity, and  eveiy  citizen  of  Independence  was  arrayed  as  a 
bitter  partisan  on  one  side  or  the  other.  Dr.  Burleson  and 
Prof.  Clark  made  diligent  efforts  to  pacify  the  community,  be 
it  said  to  their  credit,  but  all  such  were  fruitless  and  vain. 

Good  men  who  had  been  champions  of  the  cause  of  either 
Dr.  Burleson  or  Prof.  Clark,  seeing  the  evil  trend  of  affairs, 
and  the  disastrous  results  and  consequences,  unless  oil  was 
poured  on  the  troubled  waters,  abandoned  all  compromising 
and  entangling  alliances,  assumed  positions  of  neutrality,  and 
made  a  personal,  man-to-man  canvass  of  the  entire  community 
on  missions  of  peace.  The  public  mind  was  so  inflamed  that 
nothing  was  accomplished. 

Men  armed  themselves,  and  appearances  indicated  that 
the  affair  would  be  settled  vi  et  armis. 

At  this  juncture  a  pamphlet  was  published,  signed  by  A. 
E.  Lipscomb,  a  member  of  the  Burleson  following,  attacking 
the  friends  of  Prof.  Clark  with  much  vehemence. 

The  publication  of  this  pamphlet  rekindled  the  bitter- 
ness of  both  sides,  and  the  charges  made,  and  the  spirit  mani- 
fested, were  denounced  as  unchristian  by  the  Clark  foUowng, 
and  resulted  in  a  church  trial,  which  was  precipitated  by  a 
motion  to  expel  Mr.  Lipscomb  from  the  church,  made  at  a 
conference  held  soon  after  the  publication  appeared.  He  was 
cited  to  appear  at  the  bar  of  the  church  to  show  cause  why  the 
motion  should  not  prevail,  and  a  meeting  was  fixed  to  hear  his 
vindication. 

On  the  occasion  of  this  hearing,  the  friends  of  Dr.  Burle- 
son and  Prof.  Clark  were  marshalled  to  a  man,  the  first  named 
in  defense  of  Mr.  Lipscomb,  the  latter  to  support  the  motion; 
not  only  the  members  of  the  church  were  present,  but  citizens 
of  the  community  for  miles  around. 

During  the  progress  of  this  trial,  Dr.  Burleson  and  Prof. 
Clark  both  became  wrought  up,  lost  seK-control,  and  the 
pacificatory  work  of  the  Trustees,  a  month  before,  was  com- 
pletely undone. 

From  a  Christian  point  of  view,  it  was  a  most  unusual 
spectacle.     Trouble  was  expected,   and  it  is  recorded  Avith 


224  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

sincere  regret  that  men  went  to  the  church  armed.  The 
building  was  crowded  to  the  last  limit  of  its  capacity.  Rev. 
M.  Ross,  pastor  of  the  church,  acted  as  Moderator.  He  was 
an  Englishman,  a  great  preacher,  smooth  face,  sixty-four 
years  old,  with  snow-white  hair.  Through  all  the  dissension 
he  had  preserved  his  neutrality,  and  his  conduct  and  rulings 
on  this  occasion  were  impartial,  by  the  testimony  of  nearly  all 
present. 

The  conference  was  formally  opened,  and  the  motion  to 
withdraw  fellowship  from  Mr.  Lipscomb  called  up.  It  was 
the  living,  burning  issue,  and  both  sides  realized  that  their 
standing  depended  upon  its  adoption  or  rejection.  Neither 
was  confident  of  its  strength,  and  resort  to  parliamentary  tac- 
tics was  made  as  far  as  possible  to  determine  this  fact,  and 
dilatory  proceedings  were  the  order.  The  Clark  party  finally 
reached  the  conclusion  that  they  were  superior  in  voting 
strength,  but  the  margin  was  so  small  that  they  hesitated  to 
insist  on  a  vote.  The  crisis  was  now  supreme  and  the  sup- 
pressed excitement  intense.  Whatever  was  suggested  by  one 
party  was  promptly  rejected  by  the  other. 

Dr.  Burleson  believed  in  disposing  of  questions  and  issues 
directly ;  Prof.  Clark  was  a  tactician  and  parliamentarian.  He 
wanted  a  vote  taken,  and,  knowing  it  would  be  opposed  if  he 
suggested  it,  he  moved  the  postponement  of  the  matter  to  a 
future  meeting.  The  Burleson  party  construed  this  motion  as 
an  admission  of  weakness,  opposed  it  with  all  the  force  they 
could  bring  to  bear,  and  the  motion  to  postpone  was  defeated 
by  a  small  majority,  which  gave  them  much  confidence  in 
their  strength.  The  Clark  men  purposely  permitted  this 
defeat. 

The  Moderator  then  ordered  the  conference  to  proceed 
on  the  motion  to  withdraw  fellowship  from  Mr.  Lipscomb. 

The  proceedings  now  assumed  an  aspect  of  profound 
solemnity;  all  was  quiet  and  orderly,  and  it  was  conceded  that 
Lipscomb  had  achieved  a  victory. 

The  ballot  on  the  motion  to  expel  was  taken.  The  tally 
sheet  by  the  tellers  was  carefully  and  fairly  kept.  The  result 
was  handed  to  the  Moderator,  who  arose  with  much  dignity  to 
announce  the  vote.     The  silence  of  the  excited  audience  can 


Dr.  Ruffs  C.  Euhlesox.  225 

1)0  compared  to  nothing-  but  the  stillness  of  death.  Every 
eye  and  expectant  mind  was  directed  toward  the  pulpit. 

When  the  Moderator  announced  that  Mr.  Lipscomb  stood 
expelled  from  the  Independence  Church  by  a  majority  of  five 
votes,  on  a  charge  of  unchristian  conduct,  pandemonium 
reigned;  all  were  instantly  on  their  feet;  some  entering  pro- 
tests and  challenging  the  vote;  others  clapping  hands  and 
exulting  over  the  victory. 

Dr.  Burleson  was  so  confident  that  the  ballot  would  be 
favorable  to  his  contention  that  he  was  unnerved  and  lost  his 
balance  by  the  result.  He  arose  in  his  place,  walked  delib- 
erately to  the  rostnim,  thrust  his  finger  into  the  face  of  the 
Moderator,  and  said : 

"You  have  been  guilty  of  unfairness,  and  have  used  the 
power  of  your  ofiicial  position  to  adopt  this  motion,  and 
nothing  but  your  gray  hairs  protect  you  from  the  punishment 
you  so  justly  deser\^e." 

Moderator  Ross  shook  with  emotion,  but  made  no  kind 
of  reply.  He  saw  that  the  nervotis  tension  of  the  people  had 
been  wrought  to  such  a  point  that  the  sooner  they  dispersed 
the  better,  and  adjourned  the  meeting  without  the  usual 
ceremony  and  benediction. 

General  Sam  Houston,  who  was  a  member  of  the  church, 
was  present  at  this  meeting,  and  witnessed  the  proceedings 
with  surprise  and  astonishment.  Dr.  Burleson  had  baptized 
him  in  1854,  and  he  was  a  loyal  Burleson  man  in  this  long  and 
unfortunate  controversy. 

That  evening  General  Houston  was  sitting  in  the  law 
office  of  his  friend,  T.  AV.  Morriss,  Esq.,  who  was  also  a  friend 
of  Dr.  Burleson,  l)ut  was  one  of  a  very  few  in  the  community, 
and  possibly  the  only  man,  who  had  not  espoused  the  cause 
of  one  of  the  two  leaders  in  the  dispute.  General  Houston 
was  chatting  pleasantly  with  Judge  Morriss,  when  Dr.  Burle- 
son came  in,  and  offered  the  General  his  hand.  He  arose, 
crossed  his  arms  behind  him,  and  said  : 

"Brother  Burleson,  I  served  as  Governor  of  Tennessee 
when  that  State  was  new,  and  have  witnessed  some  fiery  scenes 
among  the  people  during  their  legislative  proceedings.  I 
have  spent  many  months  among  the  Cherokee  Indians,  and 

15 


226  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

have  seen  many  passionate  outbursts  when  the  council  of  these 
people  was  in  session.  I  have  been  a  member  of  the  United 
States  Congress  during  some  of  the  most  turbulent  sessions  of 
that  body  ever  held.  I  was  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  army 
of  Texas,  and  served  through  the  campaign  that  resulted  in 
the  establishment  of  the  liberty  of  the  people.  After  the 
organization  of  the  Eepublic,  I  filled  the  Presidency  for  two 
years,  and  saw  the  Congress  in  some  of  its  stormiest  sessions. 
When  Texas  went  into  the  Union  and  became  a  State,  I  was 
twice  elected  Governor,  and  witnessed  many  discourtesies  in 
debate  when  these  early  Legislatures  were  in  session. 

"But  during  all  my  public  life  I  have  never  seen  such 
improprieties  in  the  proceedings  of  any  body,  as  you  were 
guilty  of  this  morning  in  the  Baptist  Church,  when  you  shook 
your  finger  in  Bro.  Ross'  face,  charged  him  with  dishonorable 
conduct,  and  told  him  that  nothing  but  his  gray  hairs  pro- 
tected him  from  personal  violence.  You  baptized  me  in 
Eocky  Creek  in  1854,  and  in  your  company  I  have  spent 
many  happy  hours  in  social  and  spiritual  enjoyment.  For 
many  years  I  have  been  your  devoted  friend.  But,  Brother 
Burleson,  after  witnessing  your  conduct  this  morning,  you 
must  excuse  me,  but  I  cannot,  I  will  not,  take  your  hand  until 
convinced  that  you  have  sincerely  repented." 

Dr.  Burleson  was  not  prepared  for  this  rebuke,  coming 
as  it  did  from  a  man  with  whom  he  had  for  years  sustained  the 
most  cordial  and  affectionate  relations.  He  preserved  his 
equanimity,  however,  bowed  himself  out  of  the  office  and 
went  to  his  home. 

During  the  next  few  weeks  the  excitement  in  the  com- 
munity subsided  to  some  extent  and  the  good  nature  of  the 
people  was  restored. 

Rev.  James  H.  Stribbling,  a  former  student  of  Baylor 
University,  came  to  Independence  to  conduct  a  protracted 
meeting,  during  which  Dr.  Burleson  had  his  triumphs.  The 
interest  in  the  meeting  did  not  grow  as  Dr.  Stribbling,  the 
pastor.  Rev.  M.  Ross,  and  other  members  of  the  church  had 
expected  and  desired.  All  the  services  seemed  to  be  dead 
formality  and  nobody  moved.  After  it  had  progressed  for 
nearly  a  week.  Dr.  Stribbling  called  on  Dr.  Burleson  to  lead 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Buklesox.  227 

in  prayer  during  one  of  the  services.  In  extending  the 
request  for  Dr.  Burleson  to  pray,  the  preacher  used  this 
language : 

"Brethren,  this  meeting  is  not  progressing  as  I,  and  I 
trust  you  all  had  prayed.  We  are  not  right  before  God,  or 
He  would  send  us  a  blessing.  Let  us  all  get  down  on  our 
knees,  and  join  with  Brother  Burleson  in  an  earnest  prayer 
that  God  will  remove  all  obstacles  in  the  way,  and  send  us 
down  from  Heaven  such  a  blessing  as  our  souls  are  not  able 
to  contain.     Let  us  pray." 

Instantly  almost  all  the  Christians  in  the  house  knelt 
down.  All  was  quiet.  Dr.  Burleson  was  attired  in  a  black 
frock  coat,  black  trousers,  black  silk  plush  vest,  standing  collar 
and  white  stock  cravat.  He  ai'ose  from  his  place  in  the 
audience  and  said : 

"If  at  any  time  in  my  life  I  have  offended  any  creatiu'e 
of  God,  either  man  or  beast,  by  thought,  word  or  deed,  I  here 
and  now  humbly  crave  God's  forgiveness,  and  ask  their  pardon. 
Bro.  Stribbling,  you  have  asked  me  to  kneel  in  prayer.  This 
I  cannot  do.  I  feel  like  prostrating  myself  in  the  dust  of  the 
earth,  and  ask  Him  to  take  everything  away  that  hinders,  or 
in  any  way  interferes  with  the  progress  of  this  meeting." 

With  these  words  he  slowly  walked  from  his  seat  to  the 
aisle,  deliberately  threw  himself  upon  his  stomach,  supported 
his  face  with  his  hands,  and  poured  out  his  soul  to  God  for  a 
blessing  on  all  he  had  offended,  for  the  spirit  of  peace  and  love, 
and  that  everything  that  stood  in  the  way  of  the  success  of 
that  meeting  might  be  removed.  This  prayer  was  the  most 
soulful  ever  heard.  The  stone  walls  were  almost  melted.  It 
reached  the  very  Throne,  and  moved  the  Almighty  God  Him- 
self. The  windows  and  doors  of  heaven  were  thrown  wide 
open,  and  copious  showers  of  Divine  blessings  descended  upon 
that  town,  that  had  been  torn  and  tossed  on  the  waves  of  in- 
ternal strife  for  years. 

After  the  service  was  over  Dr.  Ross  and  others  gave  Dr. 
Burleson  their  hands  as  a  token  of  their  complete  reconcilia- 
tion. General  Houston  approached  him  and  remarked: 
■'Brother  Burleson,  here  is  my  hand.  Hold  it  while  life  lasts. 
Here  is  mv  heart;  it  will  love  you  with  its  last  pulsation." 


228  The  Life  axd  AVkitixgs  of 

This  was  not  Dr.  Burleson's  only  triiuuph.  Others  were 
to  follow. 

A\'asliington  was  hounded  and  pursued  during  the  closing 
years  of  the  Revolution  of  iTTii,  but  by  his  courage  and 
capacity  triumphed  over  his  enemies.  Gladstone  was  thrice 
hurled  from  the  British  Premiership,  but  lived  to  see  his  poli- 
cies and  character  vindicated  by  the  English  people.  Houston 
was  deposed  in  1861,  and  left  the  capital  overwhelmed  with 
mortification  because  of  a  variance  between  himself  and  the 
Legislature,  but  his  foresight  and  wisdom  is  now  seen  and 
admitted,  and  to-day  he  occupies  the  highest  place  in  the  esti- 
mation of  the  people  of  Texas,  and  the  warmest  place  in  their 
hearts. 

Like  these  patriots  and  heroes,  Dr.  Burleson  had  been 
discredited  by  his  church,  and  it  may  be  said  also  by  the  Board 
of  Trustees  of  Baylor  University,  l)ut  his  overtowering 
personality  and  character  enabled  him  to  overcome  much  of 
this  opposition. 

By  those  with  whom  he  had  been  most  intimately  thro^\'n 
he  was  warmly  sustained.  This  is  shown  by  the  following 
communications,  wdiich  were  placed  in  his  hands  when  he 
tendered  his  resignation  as  President  in  June,  ISGl  : 

Articles  of  AciREEMEXT. 

We,  the  President  and  Professors  of  the  Male  Depart- 
ment of  Baylor  University,  enter  into  the  following  articles  of 
agreement. 

1st.  We  pledge  ourselves  to  exert  our  utmost  ability  to 
build  up  and  sustain  a  great  literary  institution  in  Texas. 

2d.  To  secure  this  noble  end,  we  will  do  all  in  our 
power  to  promote  the  p?cuniary,  social  and  professional  interest 
and  happiness  of  each  other. 

3d.  All  questions  of  mutual  interest  or  difference  to  be 
decided  according  to  the  will  of  a  majority. 

4th.  The  basis  of  our  .co-operation  shall  be  our  present 
relations  as  professors,  until  otherwise  ordered  by  the  majority. 

5th.  It  is  distinctly  understood  that  in  all  our  inter- 
course with  each  other,  as  well  as  all  others,  we  are  to  act  on 
the  highest  principles  of  candor,  honesty  and  patriotism. 


Dr.  Eufus  C.  Burlksox.  229 

6tli.  This  agTcement  to  last  five  years,  unless  dissolved 
by  mutual  consent,  after  three  months'  notice  has  been  given. 

(Signed)     RUFUS  C.  BURLESO^^ 

RICHARD  B.  BURLESOX, 
DAVID  R.  WALLACE, 
OSCAR  H.  LELAXD, 
GEORGE  W.  WlhLRICK. 

Request  From  the  Senior  Class. 

To  the  Faculty,  Mate  Depavtment  of  Baylor  riiirersity : 

In  consequence  of  your  late  action  in  notifying  the  Trus- 
tees of  Baylor  University  that  you  would  resign  your  respect- 
ive positions  as  Professors  in  said  institution  at  the  close  of  the 
present  term,  and  in  consideration  of  the  patent  fact  that  what- 
ever of  educational  advantages  we  have  enjoyed  while  stu- 
dents of  Baylor  L'niversity  have  been  derived  from  your 
arduous  and  disinterested  labors  in  our  behalf,  and,  whereas, 
the  relations  which  have  so  pleasantly  existed  between  us,  as 
Professors  and  pupils,  should  not  be  ?evered  by  your  removal 
from  this  institution,  and  that  the  I'niversity  with  which  you 
in  future  will  be  connected  should  be  onr  Alma  ]^[ater; 
therefore, 

Resolved,  By  the  senior  class  of  Baylor  T^niversity,  That 
Ave  prefer  receiving  our  diplomas  from  you,  when  you  shall 
have  established  yourselves  in  Waco  University,  and  do  not 
wish  to  graduate  at  the  close  of  the  present  term  as  students 
of  Baylor  University. 

(Signed)  :^r.  m.  vaxderiiurst, 

WILLIS  B.  DARBY, 
BOLIXCi  ELDRIDGE, 
JOHX  C.  WATSOX, 

:mark  a.  keltox. 
james  l.  lowkrs. 

IlEXRY  F.  PAUL 

That  Dr.  Bni-k'snu's  triumph  over  General  Il()n^ton  was 
complete,    and    rliat    The    warmest    ])i'rs;inal    I'clatinns    were 


230  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

restored,  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  when  General  Houston  was 
deposed  as  Governor  of  Texas,  in  1861,  he  went  to  Indepen- 
dence expressly  to  see  Dr.  Burleson,  and  seek  his  counsel  and 
advice  as  to  the  wisest  and  best  course  for  him  to  pursue. 

These  great  Texans  discussed  the  ordinance  of  secession, 
the  secession  convention,  the  probable  resort  to  arms  that 
would  be  had  by  the  States,  and  the  result  of  the  impending 
conflict.  Together  these  brothers,  friends  and  patriots, 
kneeled  under  the  boughs  of  a  wide-spreading  live  oak,  and 
prayed  to  the  God  of  nations  for  guidance  and  direction,  for 
themselves  and  their  people.  When  they  arose  General  Hous- 
ton gave  Dr.  Burleson  a  j)arting  hand,  and  said,  with  tearful 
eyes:  "Brother  Burleson,  let  us  continue  to  pray  and  hope 
for  the  best,  but  I  fear  all  is  lost." 

It  has  been  remarked  that  the  disagreements  in  the  Fac- 
ulty of  Baylor  University  did  not  change  the  geography  of 
Texas,  but  did  perceptibly  affect  its  history.  This  is  candidly 
believed,  confidently  asserted,  and  can  be  clearly  shown. 

In  1861  there  were  twenty  Baptist  churches  in  Washing- 
ton County,  and  fully  as  many  of  other  evangelical  denomina- 
tions. The  county  ranked  among  the  first  in  wealth  and  pop- 
ulation, and  was  increasing  rapidly  in  both.  As  an  educa- 
tional center  the  county  had  neither  a  competitor  or  rival. 
Hundreds  of  Avealthy  families  had  settled  in  the  county  on 
account  of  the  religious  advantages  and  educational  facilities 
offered. 

What  is  said  of  AVashington  County  may  be  said  also  of 
Burleson,  Grimes,  Montgomery,  Waller,  Austin,  Fayette, 
Colorado  and  many  other  counties  convenient  and  adjacent. 
Baylor  University  was  the  nucleus  around  which  the  people 
in  these  counties  rallied,  and  it  was  the  strong,  cohesive  force 
that  held  them  together.  The  resignation  of  Dr.  Burleson 
and  Faculty  in  June,  1861,  marks  the  decline  and  death  of 
Baylor  University  at  Independence,  which  marks  in  turn  the 
decline  of  South  Texas,  which  meant,  in  the  light  of  late  de- 
velopments, the  growth  and  increase,  in  spiritual  and  material 
affairs  of  ISTorth  and  Central  Texas,  especially  the  latter. 

Thousands  of  families  moved  from  the  twenty  counties 
around  the  school  at  Independence,  and  settled  at  convenient 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burlesox.  231 

distances  from  the  University  at  Waco.  As  a  result  the 
Baptist,  and  American  population  within  a  radius  of  one 
hundred  miles  of  Waco,  has  octupled  in  forty  years,  while  the 
same  classes  of  society  in  Washington  county  has  decreased  in 
the  same  proportion,  and  in  some  other  counties  contiguous 
have  passed  out  almost  altogether.  Washington  county  has 
now  twenty  Lutheran  churches  with  the  numerical  strength 
and  moral  influence  of  Lutheranism  increasing  every  year. 

We  make  no  sort  of  pretension  to  ability  in  reading 
heavenly  omens,  nor  to  power  to  unravel  signs,  and  apply  them 
to  purely  mundane  affairs.  It  is  not  even  assumed  in  these 
ages  of  the  world,  that  God  uses  displays  of  His  might  in  the 
phenomena  of  nature  to  show  His  approval,  or  disapproval  of 
human  conduct.  Paul  and  Peter,  however,  saw  signs,  had  vis- 
ions, and  described  celestial  wonders  from  terrestial  positions. 
Ancient  Babylon,  Jerusalem,  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  received 
warnings  of  their  destruction  and  doom  from  an  angry  God, 
failing  to  heed  which  they  were  removed  from  the  earth,  and 
in  the  case  of  some  the  destruction  is  so  complete  that  their 
precise  location  can  not  be  determined. 

During  the  years  that  the  favored  town  of  Independence 
was  passing  through  this  unseemly  tumult,  there  was  a  most 
remarkable  display  of  heavenly  phenomena. 

A  great  comet  came  out  of  the  northern  heavens.  It 
had  a  resplendant  appendage,  estimated  by  astronomers  to 
be  one  million  miles  long.  It  curved  with  indescribable  grace 
and  presented  the  form  of  a  cavalryman's  saber  with  the  hilt 
hanging  west.  It  whirled  and  described  an  immense  circle 
around  the  sun,  and  disappeared,  after  remaining  visible  for 
weeks,  in  the  same  direction  from  which  it  came,  and  most 
remarkable  to  say,  pushing  its  tail  in  front. 

The  following  year,  (1860),  there  was  a  grand  auroral 
display  in  the  northern  heavens.  At  first  a  faint  reddish 
tinge  diffused  itself  over  that  portion  of  the  sky.  The  col- 
oring became  more  distinct,  until  the  heavens  looked  as  if 
they  had  received  a  coating  of  blood.  Through  this  mass,  a 
long  silvery  prominence  shot  up,  from  the  base  to  its  zenith. 


(1)    We  are  iridebt«fl  to  .Judge  T.  W.  Morriss  for  these  facts,  who,  with  other  per- 
sons now  living  vouch  for  their  trutlifnlness. 


232  The  Life  a^'d  Writings  of 

The  redness  extended  to  the  northeast,  sprayed  and  streaked 
with  silvery  streams,  shooting  to  the  uppermost  limit  in  many 
places.  Then  the  whole  brilliant  phenomena  would  descend 
like  a  great  gorgeous  portiere  to  the  very  edge  of  the  horizon. 
Kemaining  for  only  a  moment,  it  would  suddenly  start  and 
shoot  upward  with  the  velocity  of  lightning.  Instantly  the 
flaming  red  spectacle  would  become  bisected,  one  half  rolling 
literally  to  the  east,  the  other  sweeping  and  swooping  west- 
ward. 

Reuniting,  the  entire  auroral  nuiss  would  swing  and  whirl 
from  east  to  west,  like  the  pendulum  of  a  great  clock.  The 
colors  were  constantly  and  continually  changing,  from  light 
to  deepest  crimson,  now  threaded  with  somber  streams  of 
silver. 

Xow  it  settled,  became  steady,  and  finally  disappeared 
like  a  dissolving  A'iew,  from  human  sight. 

We  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  maintaining,  that  the 
great  comet,  shaped  so  like  a  warrior's  saber,  was  the  sword 
of  Damocles  hung  by  the  Almighty  One,  over  the  town  of 
Inde])endence  as  a  warning  that  the  strife  among  the  people 
must  cease,  but  it  looks  that  way;  and  more,  it  looks  like  the 
hair  by  which  the  sword  of  Damocles  was  suspended  was  cut, 
and  it  descended  with  destructive  avenging  might. 

AVe  do  not  assume,  nor  attempt  to  maintain,  that  the 
auroral  display,  when  it  ])arted,  was  intended  to  represent  the 
sundered  condition  of  the  town,  church  and  University,  and 
when  it  became  reunited  to  teach  the  beauty  of  hannony  and 
reunion  of  discordant  elements;  nor  do  we  say  when  it  dis- 
appeared it  was  typical  of  the  destruction  that  would  follow 
unless  peace,  and  unity  of  spirit  prevailed;  though  it  looks 
that  way.  ]^o  deductions  are  drawn,  and  no  applications  are 
made.      AVe  merelv  recite  the  facts. 


Dr.  Kufus  C.  BiKLEsox.  233 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 


Resigns  the  Peesidexcy  of  Baylor  University  at  Inde- 
pendence —  Letter  to  the  Board  of  Trustees  — 
Exalted  Spirit  Manifested  hy  Dr.  Burleson  in  Retir- 
ing FROii  THE  School — Summary  of  Ten  Years'  Work 
at  Independence. 


1^  HE  controversies  in  the  school  and  church  at  Inde- 
^^7%'  pendence  resulted  as  was  to  be  expected  in  Doctor 
'  Burleson  tendering  his  resignation  as  President  of 
Baylor  University.  This  has  already  been  referred  to;  ^wdth 
a  view  of  presenting  his  resignation  formally  he  addressed  the 
following  letter  to  the  President  of  the  Board.  In  the  face, 
and  in  the  very  atmosphere  where,  for  nearly  ten  years  Dr. 
Burleson  had  encountered  so  many  obstacles  in  his  efforts  to 
build  a  I^niversity  to  which  the  Baptists  of  Texas  could  point 
with  pride,  the  letter  breathes  a  spirit  of  nobleness  and  Chris- 
tian forbearance,  worthy  of  preservation  in  the  holiest  archives 
of  earth : 

Baylor  University,  Independence,  Texas, 
May  15th,  1861. 
Ber.  Ilosea  Garrett,  President  Board  of  Trustees,  Cliappelt 

HUl,  Texas : 

Dear  Brother  :  There  are  a  great  many  items  of  busi- 
ness to  be  settled  between  your  J^oard  and  our  Eaculty  prepar- 
atory to  our  final  separation.  Please  inform  us  whether  we 
shall  confer  with  the  whole  Board,  or  a  sjiecial  committee. 
Also  let  us  know  whether  a  formal  presentation  of  our  resigna- 
tions at  this  time  will  facilitate  vour  business. 


234:  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

We  are  anxious  to  co-operate  with  you  and  the  Board  in 
securing  an  amiable  dissolution  of  the  intimate  relations  which 
have  so  long  existed,  and  in  whatever  way  we  can  promote  the 
great  interest  of  education  under  Baptist  auspices  in  Texas. 

We  need  not  disguise  the  fact  that  in  our  present  and 
future  relations  great  magnanimity  of  soul,  and  Christian  for- 
bearance and  firnmess  will  be  required  to  prevent  alienations, 
and  recriminations,  which  will  only  wound  Christ  in  the  house 
of  His  friends. 

I  shall  avoid  no  sacrifice  to  prevent  this  result. 

We  earnestly  desire  peace  and  fraternity  and  co-opera- 
tion in  promoting  the  great  interest  of  our  dear  Bedeemer's 
cause  in  Texas. 

For  yourself  and  the  majority  of  the  Board  we  have  the 
deepest  affection  and  kindest  remembrance;  and  for  those 
from  whom  we  have  differed  we  entertain  no  unkind  feeling, 
and  wish  the  mantle  of  love  to  be  thrown  over  all  our  differ- 
ences. 

Yours  ever  and  affectionately, 

EHFUS  C.  BUBLESOK 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  held  at  Independence  June 
28th,  1861,  the  resignations  of  President  Burleson  and  other 
members  of  the  Faculty  were  formally  presented  and  accepted, 
and  his  connection  with  the  University  at  that  place  ended. 

A  resume  of  the  result  of  his  ten  years'  work  is  given. 
In  some  instances  the  reports  and  data  from  which  this  infor- 
mation is  compiled  are  meagre  and  hence  the  figures  may  not 
be  exact,  but  may  be  taken  as  reliable  approximations.  Again, 
since  Dr.  Burleson's  immediate  control  extended  only  over  the 
Male  Department  of  Baylor  University,  the  figures  and  facts 
for  this  Department  only  are  given. 

1st.  The  only  buildings  on  the  campus  in  1851,  was  a 
two  story  stone  structure  40x60  feet.  In  1861,  a  two  story 
stone  building  40x80  had  been  added  and  the  first  story  of  the 
main  University  building  56x112  finished. 

Three  wooden  buildings  16x32  feet  for  recitation  rooms 
had  been  also  added  to  the  college  buildings  proper,  making 
twelve  large  rooms,  one  chapel,  and  one  ample  hall.     A  three 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  235 

storj  boarding  house  Avas  completed  with  25  rooms,  with  a 
two  storj  annex  with  8  rooms,  a  total  of  33. 

2nd.  In  1851  there  was  not  the  semblance  of  a  library, 
and  no  chemical  and  scientific  apparatus.  In  1861  the  library 
contained  2500  volumes,  and  there  was  a  supply  of  apparatus 
amply  sufficient  for  chemical  and  philosophical  experiments 
and  demonstrations. 

3rd.  The  school  opened  September  Ist,  1851,  with  27 
students  in  the  Male  Department,  and  25  in  the  Female.  In 
1861  there  were  280  students  in  Male  Department  and  200 
in  the  Female. 

4th.  In  1851  the  receipts  including  $336.00  interest  on 
endowment  notes,  were  approximately  $2,000.00.  In  1861, 
President  Burleson  reported  the  receipts  to  the  Trustees  to  be 
$7,467.79. 

5th.  In  1851,  Baylor  University  was  an  unknown 
school,  an  uncertain  educational  enterprise,  trembling  in  the 
throes  of  doubt;  In  1861,  it  was  known  in  every  state  in  the 
Union,  and  catalogued  by  the  London  Times  among  the  lead- 
ing institutions  of  learning  in  America. 

It  is  not  claimed  that  Dr.  Burleson  is  entitled  to  all  the 
credit  for  this  marvelous  growth  and  development  of  Baylor 
University.  The  Board  of  Trustees  during  this  period  of  the 
school's  history  was  composed  of: 

Rev.  Hosea  Garrett,  ISTelson  Kavanaugh,  Esqr. ;  Hon. 
Albert  G.  Haynes,  Judge  R.  E.  B.  Baylor,  Gov.  A.  C.  Horton, 
E.  G.  Mays,  Esqr.;  J.  L.  Farquhar,  Esqr.;  Col.  R.  B.  Jarman, 
T.  J.  Jackson,  Esqr.;  Dr.  G.  W.  Graves,  Rev.  J.  W.  D. 
Creath,  Rev.  J.  G.  Thomas,  Col.  Aaron  Shannon,  Col.  J.  S. 
Lester,  Gen.  J.  W.  Barnes,  Judge  Abner  S.  Lipscomb,  Dr. 
George  W.  Baines. 

And  while  there  were  honest  differences  between  the 
Trustees  and  President  as  to  methods,  they  rendered  him  val- 
uable aid. 

It  is,  however,  asserted  that  he  is  entitled  to  the  honor  in 
the  same  sense  that  a  General  who  commands  an  army  is  en- 
titled to  the  credit  of  achieving  a  brilliant  victoiy  in  battle. 


230  The  Life  and  Writings  of 


CHAPTER  XXVlll. 


UxioN  ^VssociatjOn  Mothkk  of  thk  ^'owextion — Apvoinis 
A  Central  Committee — Meeting  (Jalled — Convention 
Organized  September  8th,  1848  at  Anderson — List 
OF  Churches  and  Delegates — Dr.  B.  L.  Graves  First 
President — Ritfus  C.  Burleson  First  Corresponding 
Secretary — Other  Officers — C^onstitution — Report 
OF  Committee  on  Establishing  a  Paper — Advise  thal' 
Px^PER  BE  Established,  but  Convention  to  Assume  no 
Financial  Responsibility — Character  and  Work  of 
Convention,  and  its  Influence  on  the  People  of 
Texas. 


I       II F  Union  Baptist  Association  is  not  only  ilio  niotliei' 

^^=-      of    the    Texas    Baptist    Education    Society,    JJas'lor 

^"^^1      Fniversity,  Baylor  Female  College  and  nearly  one 

liundrcd  Baptist  associations  in  the  State,  but  it  has  also  the 

distinction  of  being  the  mother  of  the  Ba])tist  Ceneral  Con- 

A'ention  of  Texas. 

It  ]ias  been  said  that  the  Ba])tist  ])i()neers  of  the  State 
were  impulsive,  deliberated  in  a  whirl,  and  reached  conclu- 
sions hastily.  They  had  no  time  to  dally  or  delay,  they  were 
pressed  by  the  exigencies  of  the  times,  and  acted  with  prompt- 
ness and  courage,  but  not  in  baste.  Every  important  step  and 
enter]irise  was  carefully,  cautiously  and  conservatively  con- 
sidered. They  inaugurated  many  enterprises  to  meet  transient 
conditions,  a  temporary  want;  these  have  all  perished  with  the 
necessity  which  called  them  forth. 

When,  however,  they  planned  for  the  future,  they  acted 
with  caution,  displayed  unmatched  Avisdom,  and  laid  founda- 


Dr.  Rufus  C  Burlesox.  237 

tions  unaffected  by  the  blasts  of  nearly  three-quarters  of  a 
century.  Surely  these  early  builders  for  God,  in  the  trackless 
Texas  forests,  were  in  the  mind  of  John,  the  Divine,  when  he 
wrote,  "Yea  saith  the  Spirit,  that  they  may  rest  from  their 
labors;  and  their  works  do  follow  them." 

But  let  the  original  M.  S.  record  of  the  Union  Baptist 
Association  itself  be  consulted,  to  see  whether  they  acted  has 
tily,  or  without  due  deliberation  in  the  matter  of  organizing 
the  Baptist  State  Convention,  which  was,  and  is  beyond  ques- 
tion, the  most  potent  factor  for  good  of  any  religious  organiza- 
tion in  the  state. 

\t  a  meeting  of  the  association  held  in  Houston,  com- 
mencing September  the  30th,  and  ending  October  the  4th, 
1847,  the  following  resolution  was  introduced  by  R.  S.  Blount 
and  adopted :  ''Resolved,  That  the  corresponding  secretary 
be,  and  is  hereby  instructed  to  correspond  with  the  several 
associations  in  the  State,  and  with  as  many  of  the  churches 
as  it  is  convenient,  in  order  to  ascertain  their  vieivs  and  wishes 
in  regard  to  the  formation  of  a  Baptist  State  Convention." 

"Resolved,  That  this  association  appoint  a  central  com- 
mittee of  correspondence  composed  of  TT.  L.  Graves,  H.  Gar- 
rett, Richard  Ellis,  P.  B.  CJhandler,  W.  M.  Tryon,  J.  W.  D. 
Creath,  A.  G.  Haynes,  J.  L.  Farquhar  and  J.  G.  Thomas, 
whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  receive  from  the  corresponding  secre- 
tary, the  information  that  he  may  obtain,  and  in  the  event  that 
a  majority  of  the  churches  so  corresponded  with,  shall  be  in 
favor  of  forming  a  convention,  then  it  shall  be  the  duty  of 
the  said  central  committee,  to  appoint  a  place  and  time  of 
meeting,  and  unite  with  the  churches  favorable  thereto,  to 
send  delegates  to  the  said  ])lace  of  meeting,  in  order  to  organize 
a  state  convention." 

Dr.  Henry  L.  Graves,  the  corresponding  secretary,  com- 
municated mtli  the  associations  and  churches  then  existing  in 
the  state,  which  correspondence  he  arranged  in  businesslike 
form,  and  delivered  to  the  central  committee. 

The  record  does  not  state  where  or  when,  but  the  central 
committee  met,  Avcnt  over  the  letters  carefully,  in  which  the 
associations  and  churches  had  expressed  themselves  on  the 
subject,  and  decided  that  the  time  had  come  in  the  history 
of  Texas  Baptists  for  the  formation  of  a  l)ody  le-i>;  circum- 


238  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

scribed  in  its  operations  than  associations,  and  to  organize  a 
convention  with  state  wide  jurisdiction.  The  Antioch  Church 
at  Anderson,  Grimes  county,  was  selected  by  the  committee  as 
the  most  central  and  suitable  place  for  holding  the  meeting, 
and  September  8th,  1848,  the  most  desirable  time. 

The  action  of  the  central  committee  was  communicated 
by  the  corresponding  secretary  to  the  associations  and  churches, 
by  private  letters  and  publication  in  the  very  few  papers  in  the 
State. 

At  the  time  designated,  September  8th,  1848,  and  at  th& 
place  specified,  Anderson,  Grimes  county,  the  delegates  from 
the  churches  assembled,  and  at  9  o'clock  proceeded  to  organize 
the  Baptist  State  Convention. 

Judged  by  results,  the  work  of  that  autumn  morning  is 
the  most  memorable  in  the  brilliant  history  of  Texas  Baptists, 
and  those  who  took  part  in  it,  are  worthy  of  undying  glory  in 
this  world,  and  immortality  in  the  next.  There  are  few  persons 
or  places,  in  all  the  geographical  limits  of  Texas  that  have 
not  been  plainly,  palpably,  perceptibly  and  powerfully  effected 
by  it;  and  in  future  ages,  where  is  the  person  or  place  in  all 
Texas,  that  will  not  be  moved  to  higher  plains  of  social,  re- 
ligious and  civil  excellence,  and  living,  under  the  influence  of 
this  stalwart  ecclesiastical  body,  whether  they  be  Baptist,  or 
even  Christians  of  any  distinction,  or  not. 

In  its  vigorous  existence  for  more  than  a  half  century 
in  Texas,  its  influence  has  permeated  the  pulpit,  moved  min- 
isters, cultivated  Christianity,  made  homes  happier,  politics 
purer,  society  less  sordid,  and  commerce  cleaner. 

So  far  as  can  be  now  determined,  at  the  time  the  con- 
vention was  formed,  there  were  less  than  a  half  dozen  asso- 
ciations in  Texas,  and  only  thirty-four  churches,  with  an 
aggregate  membership  of  about  950.  Of  these  twenty- three 
churches  sent  delegates.  The  associations  were  not  repre- 
sented; unless  Z.  IST.  Morrell  and  Z.  Werley  who  accepted 
seats  in  the  convention  as  visitors,  represented  associations. 

Eev.  Z.  IST.  Morrell  by  invitation  from  the  central  com- 
mittee, preached  the  introductory  sermon  from  the  text,  ''Of 
the  increase  of  His  government  and  peace,  there  shall  be  no 
end." 


Dr.  Kufus  C.  Burleson.  239 

After  the  sermon  the  delegates  assembled  in  mass  meet- 
ing; Judge  K.  E.  B.  Baylor  was  elected  to  preside,  and  Kev. 
J.  G.  Thomas,  chosen  secretary.  The  delegates  present  were 
requested  to  place  their  credentials  on  the  secretary's  table, 
and  Reverends  James  Huckins  and  J.  W.  D.  Creath  appointed 
by  the  chairman  to  read  them,  and  the  secretary  to  enroll  the 
names. 

The  following  churches  were  found  to  be  represented  by 
the  delegates  whose  names  are  given : 

iKDEPElSrDENCE. 

H.  L.  Graves,  E.  E.  B.  Baylor,  James  Huckins,  J.  H. 
Stribling  and  A.  G.  Haynes. 

WASHINGTOJf. 

B.  B.  Baxter,  J.  L.  Earquhar  and  J.  G.  Heard. 

Dove  Church. 
H.  Ryan,  W.  A.  Chance,  E.  J.  Chance,  W.  G.  Rowland 
and  J.  G.  Thomas. 

Providence. — (Washington  County) . 
Hosea  Garrett,  J.  M.  Hill,  J.  W.  Brooks,  W.  Jackson  and 
J.  D.  Smith. 

Houston. 

Rufus  C.  Burleson,  R.  S.  Blount,  E.  B.  Noble,  D.  S. 
Terry,  J.  IST.  Joiner  and  H.  Bowles. 

Rocky  Creek. 
A.  M.  Tandy,  M.  B.  Bennett  and  B.  Stribling. 

Plum  Grove. 
Wra.  Scallorn,  G.  W.  Tuttle  and  J.  Price. 

Post  Oak  Grove. 
J.  W.  D.  Creath,  A.  McRae,  J.  King  and  N.  H.  Davis. 

Antioch. — (Anderson). 

A.  Buffington,  0.  H.  P.  Hill,  A.  G.  Perry,  J.  W.  Barnes 
and  J.  M.  Camp. 

Concord. 

B.  E.  Ellis  and  J.  L.  Ellis. 


240  The  Life  A^'D  AVhitixos  of 

Xew  Yeaes  Creek. — ( I^)rpiiliani). 

D.  Fisher,  J.  Allcorn,  J.  Clark,  J.  Brown  and  AV.  G. 
Veazev. 

Matagorda. 

'Noah  Hill,  A.  C.  Horton,  ^X.  Baxter  and  J.  Teaman. 

Beth  AX  Y. 
R.    Andrews,   B.    B.    Jarman,    S.    S.   Hosea   and   S.    E. 
Wright. 

Gonzales. 

E.  Ellis,  B,.  AVeeks,  J.  L.  Johnson  and  J.  Mnllin. 

Austin. 
R.  H.  Taliaferro. 

CUERO. 

J.  Stephens,  f).  B.  T3illard  and  X.  IJurgett. 

Beadi. 
T.  Davis,  ^y.  Stone,  C.  S.  Gorhet. 

Mount  Gilead. 
E.  D.  Heck,  AV.  F.  Darby,  G.  M.  Bnchanan,  AY.  AY. 
Buster. 

Galveston. — (First  Church). 
J.  F.  Hillyer,  Gail  Borden  and  D.  B.  Morrill. 

Hamilton. 
Jesse  AA^'itt,  J.  Goodwin  and  S.  Sanders. 

AYharton. 
Eli  Mercer. 

-La  Grange, 
P.  B.  Chandler,  J.  S.  Lester. 

Fkovidence. — (Burleson  County). 
Eepresented  only  by  letter. 

The  provisional  organization  of  the  Convention,  was  con- 
tinued until  the  adoption  of  the  constitution. 

Hosea  Garrett,  Eufus  C.  Burleson,  James  Huckins,  H, 
L.  Graves,  J.  AY.  D.  Creath,  Eichard  Ellis,  P.  B.  Chandler, 
E.  S.  Blount,  A.  (\  Horton,  J.  G.  Thomas,  to  which  the  chair- 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burlesox.  241 

man,  R.  E.  B,  Baylor,  was  added  by  motion,  were  appointed  to 
draft  a  constitution. 

E.  H.  Taliaferro,  Xoali  Hill  and  A.  G.  Haynes  were  ap- 
pointed on  a  committee  to  prepare  rules  of  order. 

Saturday,  the  9th,  at  9  o'clock  the  committee  on  constitu- 
tion of  which  Rufus  C.  Burleson  was  a  member,  submitted  its 
report  to  the  convention,  which  was  adopted  without  amend- 
ment or  change,  as  was  also  the  report  of  the  committee  on 
rules  of  order.  .  It  is  related  that  both  these  committees 
worked  until  nearly  daylight,  to  have  their  repoiis  ready  to 
present  to  the  convention  at  the  opening  of  the  morning  ses- 
sion of  the  second  day. 

Report  of  Committee  ox  Constitution. 

1.  This  body  shall  be  called  the  Baptist  State  Conven- 
tion of  Texas. 

2.  The  objects  of  the  Convention  shall  be  Missionary 
and  Educational,  the  promotion  of  harmony  of  feeling  and 
concert  of  action  in  our  denomination,  and  the  organization  of 
a  system  of  operative  measures,  to  promote  the  interest  gen- 
erally of  tlie  Redeemer's  Kingdom  within  this  State. 

3.  The  convention  shall  be  composed  only,  of  members 
of  Baptist  Churches  in  good  standing. 

4.  Any  member  of  a  Baptist  Church  may  be  a  member 
of  the  convention,  upon  the  payment  of  $5.00,  and  will  be 
entitled  to  life  membership,  upon  the  payment  of  $25.00  at 
one  time.  Any  association,  church  or  society,  shall  be  en- 
titled to  one  rej)resentative  in  the  convention,  for  every  $5.00 
contributed  to  its  funds;  and  any  church  belonging  to  an  asso- 
ciation shall  be  entitled  to  one  representative  without  a  con- 
tribution. 

5.  All  donations  to  the  convention  shall  be  sacredly 
appropriated  in  accordance  with  the  wish  of  the  donor. 

6.  The  officers  of  the  convention  shall  be  a  president, 
three  vice-presidents,  a  corresponding  secretary,  a  recording 
secretary  and  a  treasurer;  who  shall  be  annually  elected  by  bal- 
lot, but  shall  hold  their  office  until  others  are  elected,  which 
officers  shall  be  ex-offieio  members  of  the  Board  of  Director?. 

7.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  President  to  ])residc  over 
the  deliberations  of  the  convention,  and  Board  of  Directoi*s, 

16 


242  The  Life  aa'd  Weitings  of 

and  discharge  such  other  duties  as  are  generally  incumbent 
upon  this  officer  in  deliberative  assemblies.  He  shall  appoint 
the  committees  in  all  cases,  except  when  the  convention  shall 
otherwise  determine. 

In  the  absence  of  the  President  one  of  the  Vice-Presi- 
dents shall  preside,  and  the  one  entitled  to  the  office  shall  be 
determined  by  seniority  of  age. 

8.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Corresponding  Secretary 
to  conduct  all  the  correspondence  of  the  convention,  and 
Board  of  Directors.  He  shall  make  an  annual  report  in  writing 
of  the  same,  embodying  therein,  such  matter  or  information 
as  he  may  deem  important. 

9.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Recording  Secretary  to 
keep  in  a  book  suitable  for  the  purpose,  a  correct  record  of  the 
proceedings  of  the  convention,  and  Board  of  Directors,  and  to 
file  and  keep  such  papers  as  are  important  to  be  preserved. 

10.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Treasurer  to  take  charge 
of  all  moneys,  specialties  and  property  belonging  to  the  con- 
vention, and  to  make  such  disposition  of  the  same,  as  he  shall 
be  directed  by  the  convention  or  Board  of  Directors.  He 
shall  not  make  any  disposition  of  money  or  property,  without 
an  order  signed  by  the  presiding  officer  and  Recording  Secre- 
tary. He  shall  make  an  annual  statement  in  writing,  to  the 
convention,  of  his  official  acts,  and  of  his  receipts  and  disburse- 
ments. 

11.  The  convention  shall  annually  elect  by  ballot  a 
Board  of  Directors,  of  not  less  than  twenty  members,  whose 
duty  it  shall  be  to  act  in  the  recess  of  the  convention,  and 
whose  powers  shall  be  the  same  as  those  of  the  convention; 
they  shall  not  do  anything  inconsistent  with  the  constitution, 
nor  contrary  to  the  objects  and  intentions  of  the  convention. 
It  shall  be  their  duty  to  meet  once  in  every  four  months,  and 
oftener  if  they  deem  it  necessary.  They  shall  keep  a  record  of 
their  proceedings,  and  make  an  annual  report  of  the  same  in 
writing  to  the  convention.  They  shall  make  their  own  By- 
Laws.  Eight  members  shall  constitute  a  quorum  to  do  busi- 
ness. Five  additional  members  of  the  Board  of  Directors, 
shall  be  nominated  at  the  same  meeting  by  the  President,  sub- 
ject to  approval  by  the  convention.     Any  life  member  of  the 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  BuRLESOi!*r.  243 

convention  may  be  an  Iionorarj  member  of  the  Board  of 
Directors. 

The  Board  of  Directors  shall  have  the  exclusive  power  of 
appointing  agents  and  missionaries,  and  ordering  the  disburse- 
ment of  money  in  the  recess  of  the  convention.  They  may  call 
a  meeting  of  the  convention. 

12.  The  convention  shall  never  possess  a  single  attribute 
of  power  or  authority  over  any  church  or  association.  It  ab- 
solutely and  forever  disclaims  any  right  of  this  kind,  and 
hereby  avowing  that  cardinal  principle,  that  every  church  is 
sovereign  and  independent. 

13.  The  election  of  officers  shall  take  place  immediately 
after  the  convention  is  organized,  and  the  Recording  Secre- 
tary shall  have  ascertained  the  names  and  number  of  members 
present.  The  highest  number  of  votes  shall  constitute  a  choice 
in  all  elections,  except  for  President  and  Treasurer,  in  which 
elections  a  majority  shall  be  necessary. 

14.  'No  officer  of  the  convention  shall  receive  any  com- 
pensation for  his  services. 

15.  Visiting  brethren  may  be  invited  to  seats  in  the  con- 
vention, and  participate  in  its  deliberations,  but  shall  not  be 
allowed  to  vote. 

16.  The  annual  sessions  of  the  convention  shall  be  held 
on  Friday  before  the  second  Sabbath  in  May. 

17.  This  constitution  may  be  altered  or  amended  at  an 
annual  session,  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds  of  the  members 
present. 

The  constitution  was  considered  seriatim,  and  adopted 
as  the  organic  law  of  the  body.  And  just  as  the  constitution 
of  the  Republic  of  Texas  adopted  in  1836  has,  with  slight 
elaborations  and  enlargements,  been  re-affirmed,  by  every 
constitutional  convention  held  since,  so  this  first  constitution 
of  the  Baptist  State  Convention,  has  been  substantially  re- 
adopted  by  that  body  from  that  time  until  now. 

Dr.  Henry  L.  Graves,  who  it  will  be  remembered  was  the 
first  President  of  Baylor  University,  was  elected  President. 
Dr.  Graves  was  a  man  of  commanding  personal  appearance, 
deliberate  and  dignified  in  manner,  a  fine  parliamentarian,  and 
as  a  presiding  officer  has  had  few  equals.  He  filled  the  posi- 
tion until  1851,  when  he  was  succeeded  in  office  by  Judge  R. 


244  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

E.  B.  Baylor.  J.  W.  D.  Creatli,  Rosea  Garrett  and  James 
Huckins  were  Vice-Presidents;  Eiifiis  C.  Burleson,  Corres- 
ponding Seeretarv;  J.  G.  Thomas,  Eecording  Secretary,  and 
J.  W.  Barnes,  Treasurer. 

The  President  appointed  committees  on  Education, 
Printing  and  Papers,  Missions,  Finance,  Bibles  and  Colored 
Population,  all  of  whom  made  interesting  reports,  that  could 
be  very  properly  inserted  in  this  connection  if  this  was  a 
history  of  the  convention ;  but  since  it  is  only  intended  to  show 
Dr.  Burleson's  connection  with  it,  only  his  acts  are  noticed. 
The  committee  on  Printing  consisted  of  J,  W.  Barnes,  R.  C. 
Burleson,  J.  F.  Hillyer,  Gail  Borden,  K.  S.  Blount  and  B.  I\ 
Ellis.  In  their  report  the  committee  discussed  the  value  of 
the  press  with  so  much  wisdom,  that  it  is  reproduced  entire. 
It  shows  that  the  Baptist  Fathers  of  Texas,  were  not  only  im- 
pressed with  the  importance  of  Missions  and  Education,  but 
also  every  adjunct  and  accessor)^  tending  to  promote  the 
growth  of  the  denomination,  and  development  of  the  state. 

Committee  Eepoet. 

"It  is  a  fact  known  to  all  of  you,  brethren,  that  among 
the  individuals  composing  our  churches,  there  are  persons 
from  almost  every  state  in  the  Union.  It  is  a  fact  also  known 
to  you,  that  these  brethren,  owing  to  the  sparseness  of  our 
population,  are  scattered  in  every  direction  over  our  extensive 
territory;  and  it  is  also  well  known,  that  we  have  brought  with 
us  impressions  upon  our  minds,  durably  made,  of  the  customs 
and  practices  of  those  Avith  whom  we  were  formerly  associated. 

"There  is  in  this  scattered  mass  an  exceedingly  valuable 
material.  It  is  a  very  desirable,  and  highly  important  object, 
to  bring  together  and  concentrate  this  material,  so  as  to  raise 
a  superstructure  that  will  be  at  once  beautiful  and  useful. 
This  object,  we  firmly  believe  can  be  accomplished,  but  the 
mode  or  plan  of  effecting  it,  presents  itself  with  great  force  to 
our  prayerful  consideration.  With  a  view  of  accomplishing 
this  object  your  committee  Avoiild  suggest,  as  one  of  the  most 
efficient  means,  the  issuing,  and  widely  circulating,  a  paper 
devoted  to  the  views  and  interest  of  our  denomination.  We 
believe  it  to  be  the  most  efficient  means  of  producing  concert 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burlesox.  245 

of  feeling-  and  action,  and  creating'  nnison  in  onr  future  pro- 
gress and  benevolent  effort. 

''But  if  these  reasons  are  insufficient,  we  Avould  urge  its 
utility  for  the  reason,  that  our  brethren  need  and  desire,  more 
religious  matter  in  the  form  of  newspapers  than  they  now 
possess,  or  can  obtain  without  great  inconvenience  and  ex- 
pense. A  paper  "would  be  a  valuable  auxiliary  to  the  conven- 
tion, and  will  also  promote  the  interest  of  our  Baylor  Insti- 
tute. We  believe  it  will  be  made  a  medium  of  communication 
between  our  ministers  and  missionaries  throug'hout  the  State. 
Through  it  we  can  all  learn  of  the  progress  and  prosperity  of 
our  churches  and  associations;  and  what  is,  if  possible,  still 
more  important,  it  will  be  the  means  through  which  our 
brethren  can  disseminate  the  great  principles  of  our  denomi- 
nation; and  the  better  to  disseminate  these  great  truths,  your 
committee  are  of  the  opinion,  that  if  four  or  five  of  our  tal- 
ented ministers  in  different  parts  of  the  State  were  appointed 
by  this  convention,  or  w'ould  voluntarily  prepare  for  publica- 
tion in  this  paper,  suitable  articles  upon  our  Doctrines  and 
Practices,  that  great  good  would  result  from  it. 

"These  are  only  in  part  the  reasons  that  might  be  urged, 
and  which  readily  suggest  themselves  to  your  minds,  why  it 
is  desirable,  if  possible,  to  have  a  paper  for  our  denomination 
in  this  State. 

"'As  regards  the  practicability  of  the  measure,  your  com- 
mittee have  not  failed  to  possess  themselves  of  such  informa- 
tion as  is  highly  important  to  the  object  contemplated.  It  is 
not  considered  necessary  in  a  condensed  report  of  this  kind, 
to  enter  into  details  and  minutiae,  but  they  are  fully  con- 
vinced, that  if  500  paying  subscribers  can  be  obtained,  a 
paper  can  go  into  successful  operation. 

"'Your  committee  would  suggest,  that  it  is  not  contem- 
plated, so  to  connect  the  paper  with  this  convention,  as  to  incur 
any  pecuniary  responsibility  whatever,  on  the  part  of  this 
body,  but  that  it  shall  be  managed  entirely  by  individual  en- 
terprise. At  the  same  time  they  are  satisfied,  that  in  order  to 
insure  success,  the  hearty  co-operation  of  the  friends  and 
brethren  of  the  convention  are  indispensable;  and  with  that 
co-operation,  our  movement  is  onward.  We  must  appeal  to 
Him  who  guides  and  governs,  for  blessings  upon  this  effort." 


246  The  Life  axd  "Weitixgs  of 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 


Dk.  Burleson's  Appearance  in  the  State  Convention, 
September  8th,  1848,  Marks  His  Entrance  Into  Pub- 
lic Life  in  Texas — Report  of  Committee  on  Educa- 
tion— First  Baptist  Paper  in  Texas — Mr.  Burleson 
Invites  the  Convention  to  Hold  Second  Session  in 
Houston — Convention  Met  May  11th,  1849 — Re- 
elected Corresponding  Secretary — Mr.  Burleson's 
Report  AS  Corresponding  Secretary — List  of  Baptist 
Preachers  in  Texas  in  1849 — Conditions  in  1849  and 
1901  Compared — Early'  Texas  Heroes  and  Heroines 
— Their  Sacrifices  Make  Present  Conditions  Pos- 
sible. 


W 


ITH  ten  thousand  miles  of  railroad  in  Texas,  upon 
which  hundreds  of  passenger  trains  move  to  ever}'' 
point  of  the  compass  every  hour;  with  one  thousand 
daily  and  weekly  newspapers,  circulating  in  every  community ; 
with  the  State  a  perfect  interlacement  of  telegraph  and  tele- 
phone wires;  with  the  most  perfect  postal  facilities  the  world 
ever  saw,  postage  at  a  trifle,  and  stationery  at  a  song,  it  would 
not  be  a  difficult  matter  to  introduce  a  man  to  the  three  mil- 
lion people  of  Texas  in  a  day.  In  1848,  when  Dr.  Burleson 
came  to  Texas,  it  was  a  vastly  different  proposition.  Acquaint- 
ances were  formed,  and  distinction  achieved,  almost  entirely 
through  the  slow  process  of  personal  contact.  Dr.  Burleson 
had  been  in  the  State  since  January  the  5th,  had  confined  him- 
self to  pastoral  work  in  Houston,  and  while  he  had  made  some 
reputation,  he  was  very  little  known  personally.     His  appear- 


Dr.  Rdfus  C.  Burleson.  2-i7 

ance  in  the  convention  marks  liis  entrance  into  public  life  in 
Texas;  and  when  he  arose  on  the  floor  of  the  convention  to 
discuss  the  report  on  education,  the  delegates  present  looked 
inquiringly  at  each  other  and  many  of  them  asked : 

"What  distinguished  looking  young  brother  is  that?" 

The  report  of  the  committee,  in  which  was  so  strongly 
set  forth  the  necessity  of  a  Baptist  paper  in  the  State,  waa 
adopted,  and  the  following  resolution,  introduced  by  Gen.  J. 
W.  Barnes,  passed: 

"Resolved,  That,  concurring  in  the  views  of  the  forego- 
ing report,  we  recommend  our  brethren  to  use  their  best 
efforts  in  sustaining  a  paper  to  be  devoted  to  the  interest  of 
our  denomination  in  Texas." 

ISTotmthstanding  the  fact  that  Texas  Baptists  thus  early 
saw  the  importance  of  establishing  a  newspaper  in  the  State, 
as  a  means  of  communication  and  stimulating  denominational 
growth ;  and  notmthstanding  the  report  of  the  committee,  and 
subsequently  the  passage  of  the  Barnes  resolution,  expressive 
of  the  sentiment  of  the  convention  on  this  subject,  it  was  not 
until  1855  that  the  paper  was  started.  In  January  of  that 
year,  seven  years  after  the  convention  had  ta.ken  action.  Dr. 
G.  W.  Baines,  one  of  the  profoundest  men  in  the  denomina- 
tion, established  the  "Texas  Baptist"  at  Anderson.  Rev.  J. 
B.  Stiteler,  W.  H.  Stokes  and  R.  H.  Taliaferro  were  asso- 
ciated with  Dr.  Baines  in  the  editorial  management  of  the 
paper,  which  was  conducted  with  marked  ability  until  publica- 
tion was  suspended  as  a  result  of  the  war  of  1861. 

Rev.  James  Huckins,  Gov.  A,  C.  Horton  and  Hon.  Rich- 
ard Ellis  composed  the  Committee  on  Education.  The  first- 
named  was  a  leading  spirit  in  projecting  Baylor  University, 
and  his  efforts  to  build  it  up  had  been  ceaseless,  as  we  have 
seen,  and  unremitting.  Through  his  influence  the  Union 
Association  had  exercised  fostering  care  over  it.  The  new 
made  friend  of  the  school,  found  in  Dr.  Burleson,  was  no 
less  ardent  than  the  veteran  Huckins,  so  he  warmly  supported 
the  following  report  made  by  the  committee : 

"Whereas,  The  tendency  of  sound  learning  is  to  increase 
moral  power,  and  hence  the  future  prosperity  and  influence 
of  the  Baptist  denomination  in  Texas  will  greatly  depend 
upon  their  efforts  to  advance  the  cause  of  education  in  their 


248  Thk  Life  a^b  AVkitixgs  or 

own  families,  and  in  tlie  community  generally;  now,  there- 
fore, be  it 

''Resolved,  By  the  Baptist  State  Convention,  That  we 
regard  the  efforts  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Baylor  Univer- 
sity to  build  up  and  endow,  and  furnish  that  institution,  so 
that  it  shall  Ije  able  to  give  a  thorough  and  polished  educa- 
tion, as  a  subject  deeply  interesting  to  every  Baptist,  and  that 
we  commend  the  institution  to  thoir  ]H-ayers,  their  affections 
and  to  their  liberal  support. 

^■Resolved,  That  in  view  of  the  increased  and  still  increas- 
ing demand  for  a  holy  and  learned  ministry  in  this  country, 
and  confiding  in  the  success  of  the  prayer  of  faith,  in  securing 
this  l)lessing;  and  believing  that  the  church  contains  within 
itself  all  those  gifts,  which,  if  dra^rn  out  and  cultivated,  would 
be  equal  to  its  demands,  we  do  solemnly  and  earnestly  recom- 
mend to  our  ministers  and  brethren  generally  that  while  they 
obey  the  injunction,  'Pray  ye  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  to  send 
forth  more  laborers,'  that  they  take  up  at  least  one  collection 
yearly  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  those  young  men  in  procuring 
a  suitable  education  who  shall  give  evidence  of  being  called 
of  God  to  preach  the  gospel." 

On  the  3d  day  of  September,  1848,  at  a  regular  confer- 
ence meeting  of  the  church  in  Houston  the  following  reso- 
lution was  passed : 

Resolved,  By  the  members  of  this  church.  That  we  do 
invite  the  Baptist  State  Convention  to  hold  its  next  meeting 
at  this  place." 

This  invitation  was  presented  by  R.  C.  Burleson  and  the 
other  delegates  from  the  Houston  Church  to  the  convention 
at  Anderson,  and  accepted.  Pastor  Burleson  and  his  church 
and  congregation  have  the  honor  of  entertaining  the  conven- 
tion in  its  second  annual  session.  Xot  only  the  members  of 
the  Baptist  Church,  but  all  Houston  was  gratified,  and  the 
pastors  of  the  Methodist  and  Presbyterian  Churches  opened 
their  doors  and  volunteered  every  assistance  in  their  power 
to  render. 

The  convention  met  in  Houston  on  Friday,  the  11th  of 
May  and  continued  in  session  until  the  14th, 

Rev.  James  Huckins  preached  the  convention  sermon. 


Di;.  KiFus  C.  BuRLESox.  249 

J.  W.  D.  Creatli  Avas  elected  President,  and  K.  S.  Blount, 
a  member  of  the  Houston  Church,  Recording  Secretary. 

The  Corresponding  Secretary,  R.  C.  Burleson,  reported 
the  proceedings  of  the  Board  of  Directors  during  the  year  as 
follows : 

"It  is  deeply  regretted  that  there  is  so  little  of  interest  in 
our  proceedings  to  lay  before  your  body. 

"On  the  12th  of  September,  1848,  immediately  after  the 
close  of  the  convention  at  Fanthorpe  (Anderson),  the  Board 
held  its  first  meeting,  in  accordance  with  the  instructions  of 
the  convention,  and  appointed  a  committee,  composed  of 
myself,  R.  S.  Blount  and  Xelson  Kavanaugh,  to  select  a  col- 
porteur, for  the  distribution  of  Bibles  and  religious  books  in 
Texas.  The  chairman  of  the  committee  has  corresponded 
with  four  different  brethren,  with  reference  to  engaging  them 
in  this  important  work,  but  no  one  has  yet  been  obtained. 

The  second  meeting  of  the  Board  was  held  at  Indepen- 
dence on  the  30th  of  September,  same  year.  At  this  meeting 
$150  was  appropriated  for  home  missions,  provided  a  minis- 
ter could  be  obtained.  But  no  one  has  yet  been  found  to 
engage  as  missionary  of  the  Board. 

"The  amount  of  money  for  Foreign  ^Missions  was  for- 
warded to  the  Board  at  Richmond,  Virginia,  $11.50  to  be 
devoted  to  Chinese  Missions,  and  $11.50  to  African  Missions. 
The  headquarters  of  the  Board  was  located  at  Independence. 

"The  Board  ordered  $175  of  the  funds  for  educational 
purposes  to  be  paid  by  the  Treasurer  of  the  convention  to  the 
Treasurer  of  the  Education  Society.  The  meeting  in  March 
was  an  entire  failure,  and  there  has  been  no  meeting  of  the 
Board  since. 

"RUFUS  C.  BURLESOX, 

"Corresponding  Secretary." 

As  chairman  of  the  committee  appointed  at  the  first  ses- 
sion of  the  convention  to  collect  data  as  to  the  number  of  Bap- 
tists in  Texas  at  that  time,  Mr.  Burleson  made  a  partial  report 
of  his  efforts  to  gather  reliable  statistics,  in  which  he  gave  a 
list  of  the  preachers : 

Reverends  J.  F.  Hillyer,  Richard  Ellis,  J.  J.  AVells, 
Xoah  Hill,  P.  B.  Chandler,  A.  S.  :\rercer,  Tarne-^  T.  Powell, 
J.  X.  Joiner,  W.  H.  Vardeman,  Hosea  Garrett.  H.  L.  Graves, 


250  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

E.  E.  B.  Baylor,  David  Fisher,  James  H.  Stribling,  D.  B. 
Morrill,  LutLer  Seaward,  B.  B.  Baxter,  A.  Buffington,  J.  "W". 
D.  Creath,  J.  Pearee,  Z.  ^.  Morrell,  X.  T.  Byars,  James 
Huckins,  E.  H.  Taliaferro,  A.  E.  Clemmons,  William  Pickett, 
Jesse  Witt,  J.  M.  Perry  and  E.  C.  Burleson.  Total,  29.  Of 
the  whole  number  twenty  were  tilling  regular  pastorates.  The 
number  of  churches  Avas  in  excess  of  the  number  of  preachers, 
and  for  this  reason,  while  nine  ministers  Avere  not  in  the  pasto- 
rate, many  others  had  several  charges. 

Judge  Baylor  was  a  lawyer,  in  almost  constant  discharge 
of  his  duties  on  the  bench,  and  only  preached  as  he  had  oppor*- 
tunity.  Eev.  Hosea  Garrett  was  not  fond  of  the  pastorate, 
but  very  active  and  useful  in  every  other  department  of 
Christian  work.  Dr.  Henry  T^.  Graves  was  giving  his  whole 
attention  to  the  interest  of  Baylor  University.  Luther  Sea- 
ward was  giving  his  entire  time  to  missionary  work.  Eev. 
"N.  T.  Byars  was  also  devoting  his  entire  time  to  missionary 
work. 

The  number  of  churchless  preachers  was  thus,  therefore, 
reduced  to  four,  who,  it  seems,  were  more  interested  in  farm- 
ing than  in  preaching  the  gospel. 

As  this  list  of  twenty-nine  ministers,  reported  by  Corre- 
sponding Secretary  Burleson  as  being  in  Texas  on  the  12th  day 
of  September,  1849,  is  scanned,  let  the  reader  bear  in  mind 
that  on  the  fifty-second  anniversary  of  that  report,  September 
the  12th,  1901,  there  are  about  four  thousand,  and  the  ratio 
of  Baptist  growth  in  the  State  during  the  past  fifty-three 
years  will  be  readily  grasped.  A  still  clearer  grasp  of  the 
marvelous  numerical  increase  among  Baptists  in  Texas  will  be 
had  if  it  is  recalled  that  when  the  Baptist  General  Convention 
of  Texas  met  in  Fort  Worth,  IsTovember  the  8th,  1901,  just 
fifty-three  years  and  two  months  after  it  was  organized,  there 
were  three  times  as  many  delegates  and  visitors  in  attendance 
upon  that  body  as  there  were  members  of  the  denomination  in 
the  entire  State  in  1848.  The  increase  during  the  last  haK 
century  will  be  more  clearly  grasped  still  if  it  be  understood 
that  if  all  the  Baptists  in  Texas  at  the  time  Mr.  Burleson 
made  the  report  had  been  gathered  into  one  congregation,  it 
would  just  about  equal  the  present  membership  of  the  First 
Baptist  Church  of  Dallas  or  Waco. 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  251 

In  1850,  at  a  session  of  the  convention,  held  in  Hunts- 
ville,  Secretary  Burleson  presented  an  interesting  report  of 
the  work  of  the  convention  for  the  year,  which  is  summarized 
as  follows: 

"The  increased  interest  and  prosperity  of  the  work  is 
chiefly  owing,  under  God,  to  the  arduous  and  efficient  labors 
of  our  agent.  Elder  J.  W.  D.  Creath  was  appointed  to  this 
important  work  at  our  second  meeting,  June  15th,  1851. 
His  duty  was  to  collect  funds  and  awaken  a  general  interest 
for  the  convention,  to  organize  new  churches  in  destitute 
places,  and  aid  them  in  securing  and  supporting  pastors.  He 
was  released  from  his  churches,  on  the  earnest  solicitation  of 
the  Board  of  Directors,  and  entered  on  his  labors  August  2 2d, 
1851.  Since  that  time  he  has  traveled  3,000  miles,  delivered 
ninety-three  lectures  and  exhortations,  preached  137  sermons, 
visited  240  families,  attended  sixteen  prayer-meetings, 
ordained  one  preacher  and  four  deacons,  organized  one  Sab- 
bath school,  raised  in  cash  $843.37.  His  expenses,  $34. 
Your  Board  is  deeply  impressed  with  the  importance  of  con- 
tinuing Brother  Creath  as  missionary  agent,  and  urge  his 
reappointment  immediately." 

"Rev.  'N.  T.  Byars  was  appointed  missionary  in  1849, 
to  labor  in  the  county  of  jSTavarro,  for  three  months.  He 
preached  twenty  sermons,  constituted  one  church,  baptized 
three  persons,  traveled  500  miles,  and  received  $25  from  the 
Board  as  compensation  for  his  services." 

''Rev.  Luther  Seaward  was  appointed  in  October,  1849, 
to  labor  principally  in  Burleson  County.  He  has  traveled- 
700  miles,  preached  nineteen  sermons,  constituted  one  church, 
visited  nine  families,  and  received  $100  for  his  labor." 

"Rev.  David  Lewis  was  appointed  in  October,  1850,  as 
missionary  to  the  counties  of  Houston  and  Anderson.  He 
has  traveled  645  miles,  preached  162  sermons,  delivered  seven 
lectures,  organized  one  church,  baptized  five  persons,  ordained 
one  deacon,  visited  ninety-seven  families,  fourteen  confer- 
ences, sixteen  prayer-meetings,  and  delivered  seven  Sunday- 
school  addresses." 

"Rev.  A.  Ledbetter  commenced  his  labors  as  missionary 
January  1st,   1851,  in  Dallas,  Ellis,  Xavarro  and  Tarrant 


252  The  Life  a>'d  AVritixgs  of 

counties.  He  lias  preached  tliirty-nine  sermons,  baptized  two 
persons,  received  five  by  letter,  and  traveled  700  miles." 

^'Rev.  iSToali  Hill,  missionary  to  the  colored  people,  com- 
menced his  labors  April  1st,  1851,  among  the  slave  popula- 
tion of  Wharton,  Matagorda  and  Brazoria  counties.  Your 
Board  deeply  feel  the  importance  of  this  mission,  and  no  man 
is  better  suited  to  it  than  Brother  Hill.  He  has  traveled  567 
miles,  visited  sixteen  families,  delivered  four  lectures,  nine- 
teen sermons,  six  exhortations,  and  baptized  thirteen  slaves. 
Brother  Hill  received  $100  from  this  Board,  $200  from  the 
Board  at  Marion,  Alabama,  and  the  remainder  of  his  support 
is  made  up  by  the  churches  at  Wharton  and  Cedar  Lake." 

The  regular  quarterly  meetings  of  the  Board  have  been 
well  attended  and  exceedingly  harmonious.'" 

DlSTRIBUTIOX  OF  BiBLES  AXD  ReLIGIOUS  BoOKS. 

^'This  important  subject,  so  earnestly  commended  to 
your  body  at  the  last  session  of  the  convention,  has  received 
prayerful  attention.  At  the  second  meeting  of  the  Board,  a 
committee,  consisting  of  R.  H.  Taliaferro,  i^elson  Kavanaugh, 
J.  P.  Cole  and  James  Davis  of  Houston,  was  appointed.  This 
committee,  after  most  vigorous  efforts,  have  not  been  able 
to  secure,  without  the  cash,  books  on  such  terms  as  would  jus- 
tify them  in  commencing  the  colporteur  system.  We  recom- 
mend that  a  fund  of  $150  be  raised  immediately,  to  com- 
mence a  depository." 

"The  Virginia  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  at  a  recent 

meeting,  donated  $500  to  aid  Texas  in  circulating  the  Bible, 

and  if  we  could  raise  $150,  we  could  commence  this  glorious 

work  at  once.     We  have  not  been  able  until  this  time  to  secure 

a  colporteur,  fully  prepared  and  qualified  for  this  work,  but 

are  now  happy  to  state  that  our  beloved  brother,  Richard 

Ellis,  has  signified  his  %villingne3s  to  enter  upon  this  work  just 

as  soon  as  the  books  can  be  procured." 

\ 

l^EAV  Fields. 

"Communications  have  been  received,  which  clearly 
show  the  great  importance  of  the  convention  sending  mis- 
sionaries immediately  to  labor  in  and  around  Richmond,  Fort 


Dr.  Eufus  C.  Blrlesox.  253 

Bend  county,  and  Cameron,  the  county  seat  of  Milam  county, 
and  also  Austin,  the  capital  of  the  State.  There  are  some 
influential  Baptists  living  near  these  places,  each  of  which 
presents  a  wide  field  of  usefulness,  and  should  be  occupied  by 
pious,  intellectual  and  energetic  preachers." 

"Letters  have  been  received  from  Brother  Baggerly  of 
Austin  and  Brother  Wombwell  of  Brownsville  concerning 
their  fields  of  labor.  Brother  AV^ombwell  states  that  in  his 
missionary  labors  he  is  sustained  by  the  Domestic  Board  of 
the  Southern  Baptist  Convention,  and  a  school  Tuider  his 
charge ;  that  there  is  in  Brownsville  no  church,  there  not  being 
a  sufficient  number  of  members  to  compose  one,  nor  a  house 
of  worship  belonging  to  our  denomination;  that  his  time  is 
employed  in  studying  the  Spanish  language,  and  in  making 
the  necessary  arrangements  li^or  a  regidai-  and  Systematic 
organization,  and  so  far  as  possible  in  all  the  work  of  an 
evangelist." 

"Brother  Baggerly  presents  Austin  as  a  proper  field  to 
be  occupied  by  the  convention,  and  asks  that  a  suitable  man  be 
secured  and  sent  into  it,  which  request  should  be,  if  possible, 
favorably  responded  to.  He  likewise  requests  the  convention 
to  appoint  a  body  of  visitors  to  attend  the  examination  of  the 
school  under  his  charge,  wliich  the  Board  has  deemed  proper 
to  decline  as  business  that  does  not  legitimately  come  before 
the  convention." 

The  Treasurer's  repoi-t  at  this  session  of  the  convention 
showed  the  source  of  every  contribution,  and  Imw  the  money 
had  been  applied. 

The  Finance  Committee  reported  and  paid  over  to  tht> 
Treasurer  $823.67,  with  an  itemized  statement,  of  whom,  ami 
for  what  purpose,  all  collections  were  received. 

Some  reference  has  been  made  and  some  com])arisons 
instituted,  showing  how  the  Baptists  of  Texas  had  increased 
numerically  during  the  past  fifty-three  years,  and  how  thr- 
work  of  the  convention  had  enlarged.  This  enlargement  i-^ 
noticeable  in  all  lines  of  work,  and  a.  comparison  between  the 
report  of  Corresponding  Secretary  Burleson,  made  at  the 
fourth  session  of  the  convention,  in  1S51,  and  the  report  of 
Dr.  J.  B.  Gambrill,  Corresponding  Secretary^  made  at  the 
session  of  the  convention  lioM  in  Foi't  Worth,  Xovember  the 


254  The  Life  and  Wkitings  of 

8th,  1901,  exactly  fifty  years  and  two  months  afterwards, 
shows  the  immense  strides  made  in  the  financial  operations  of 
the  convention,  and  will  produce  a  feeling  of  joyful  surprise 
and  gladness  from  those  who  are  unacquainted  with  the  opera- 
tions of  that  body  when  it  was  an  infant  on  the  borders  of 
civilization.  The  total  receipts  of  the  convention  in  1851, 
from  all  sources,  was  $823.67,  and  five  missionaries  were 
employed.     At  Fort  Worth,  Dr.  Gambrill  says  in  his  report : 

"The  results  recorded  for  1900-1  are  far  beyond  any- 
thing known  in  our  history.  The  Education  Commission  was 
able  to  mark  the  triumphant  completion  of  the  first  part  of  its 
herculean  task,  viz:  The  liquidation  of  all  indebtedness  on 
the  correlated  schools,  and  the  addition  of  important  equip- 
ments, not  as  originally  planned,  but  far  beyond.  The  entire 
amount  raised  for  debt  paying  and  equipment  is  about  $400,- 
000.  During  the  last  year  the  commission  raised  in  cash 
$250,000.  The  debts,  which  imperiled  all  our  schools 
except  one  or  two,  will  be  known  no  more  forever. 

'^The  operations  of  the  Mission  Board  were  on  a  large 
scale.  More  than  $50,000  in  cash  was  paid  out  by  the  Board 
on  State  missions;  203  missionaries  were  employed.  All  obli- 
gations were  met  and  a  balance  left  in  the  treasury.  Two 
thousand  nine  hundred  and  ninety-four  people  were  baptized, 
eighty-three  churches  constituted,  and  6,062  brought  into 
church  relations.  Forty-two  meeting  houses  were  built  and 
'eight  others  assisted  in  building.  The  entire  financial  opera- 
tion of  the  Board,  in  all  branches  of  its  work,  for  all  purposes, 
and  in  all  ways,  amounted  to  $140,000  in  round  numbers. 
That  the  work  of  the  Commission  and  State  Board  could  have 
each  succeeded  on  such  a  tremendous  scale,  on  the  same  field, 
at  the  same  time,  during  a  year  of  State-wide  crop  failure, 
surely  ought  to  awaken  thought." 

From  1812,  the  year  from  which  the  operations  of  Bap- 
tists in  Texas  should  date,  until  1851,  when  Dr.  Burleson 
made  his  report,  about  twenty  houses  of  worship  had  been 
built. 

Dr.  Gambrell's  report  shows  forty-two,  just  double  this 
number,  and  two  over,  erected  in  one  year. 

Dr.  Burleson's  report  shows  twenty-nine  Baptist  preach- 
ers in  Texas  in  1849. 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Bukleson.  255 

Dr.  Gambrell's  report  shows  nearly  seven  times  that 
number  employed  solely  as  missionaries. 

There  were,  approximately,  950  Baptists  in  Texas  in 
1848.  Dr.  Gambrell's  report  shows  6,062,  or  nearly  seven 
times  that  number,  were  added  to  the  various  churches  in  the 
State  in  1901. 

The  last  and  most  striking  comparison  is,  in  one  respect, 
a  deduction;  in  the  other  exact  figures  are  given. 

There  was  a  time  in  the  history  of  the  world  when  nearly 
all  the  good  Baptists  lived  in  caves  and  among  the  mountains. 
They  had  no  property,  because  not  permitted  to  work.  These 
good  Baptists  never  came  out  of  these  caves,  nor  down  from 
these  mountains,  except  to  be  blown  up  or  butchered  for  loy- 
alty to  their  convictions.  They  have  recovered  from  these 
slight  reverses  now,  however,  and  are  well  toward  the  front  in 
matters  of  business.  This  being  the  case,  it  is  presumed  that 
Baptists  were  as  well-to-do  in  the  early  times  in  Texas  as  other 
people.  The  people  at  that  time  owned  some  land,  but  this 
possessed  very  little  value.  Xearly  all  were  poor;  a  fortune 
of  $5,000  was  colossal  wealth.  The  average  fortune  was  not 
far  from  $1,000. 

It  is  assumed  that  250  of  the  950  Baptists  in  Texas  in 
1848  were  slaves,  and,  of  course,  owned  no  property,  thu3 
reducing  the  number  of  white  Baptists  to  YOO.  ISTow,  sup- 
pose they  had  been  called  on  to  raise  $400,000  ?  If  they  had 
contributed  $500  each,  which  would  have  been  perhaps  one- 
half  of  all  the  property  they  possessed,  they  would  have 
needed,  $50,000  to  finish  the  amount. 

The  text  for  the  first  conventional  sermon  ever  preached, 
as  stated,  was:  "0/  the  increase  of  His  Government  and 
Peace  there  should  he  no  end."  On  that  occasion  Rev.  Z.  N. 
Morrell  predicted  and  drew  a  ^vord  picture  of  present  condi- 
tions. As  the  colossal  growth,  indicated  by  these  comparisons, 
is  contemplated,  and  the  soul  swells  with  ineffable  joy,  our 
hearts  should  turn  upward  and  our  faces  backward,  while  we 
praise  Him  for  sending  Heroes  and  Heroines  to  Texas, 
through  whose  sacrifices  and  self-forgetting  the  present  condi- 
tion of  the  denomination  was  made  possible. 


256  The  Life  axd  AVritixgs  of 


CHAPTER  XXX. 


In  1852  CoNVENTioiv  Meets  in  Marshall,  1853  in  Hunts- 
viLLE — At  Both  Meetings  Dr.  Burleson  Renews  His 
Efforts  for  the  Establishment  of  a  Paper — His 
Report  as  Corresponding  Secretary — Reviews  the 
Year's  Work — Baylor  University — jVIeetings  of  the 
Board  of  Directors — J.  W.  D.  Creath,  His  Consecra- 
tion AND  Character — His  Saddle  Horse,  John  the 
Baptist — Dr.  Burleson's  Report  for  1853 — Work 
Encouraging  Along  All  Lines  — Special  Committee 
Appointed  to  Visit  Baylor  TJniversity'^ — President 
Burleson  and  Prof.  Clark  Made  Honorary"  Mem- 
bers OF  THE  Convention. 


A  T  MARSHALL  in  1852  Mr.  Burleson  renewed  his 
<  efforts  to  induce  the  convention  to  establish  a  Baptist 
^^^J  paper.  In  his  new  relation  to  the  denomination  as 
college  President  he  felt  more  sensibly  the  pressing  importance 
of  this  medium  of  presenting  the  progress  of  missions  and  edu- 
cation to  the  people.  He  believed  in  taking  his  constituents 
into  his  confidence.  If  the  enterprises  entrusted  to  his  direc- 
tion and  management  were  prosperous,  he  wanted  some  means 
other  than  the  laborious  task  of  writing  personal  letters, 
through  which  to  apprise  the  people.  If  these  enterprises  lan- 
guished, he  wanted  the  friends  to  know  the  truth,  as  the  best 
means  of  inducing  them  to  redouble  their  efforts.  The  con- 
vention Avas  not  ready  to  guarantee  success  in  the  matter,  nor 
to  assume  any  financial  responsibility,  and  the  effort  failed. 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  257 

His  report  as  Corresponding  Secretary  presented  to  the 
convention  at  Marshall  was  the  most  voluminous  document 
yet  considered  by  that  body,  and  a  paper  of  much  interest  at 
the  same  time.  It  showed  the  swelling  tide  of  Baptist  progress 
in  missions,  and  included  also  the  progress  in  education,  a  fea- 
ture not  embodied  in  any  report  up  to  this  time. 
Dear  Brethren : 

"Another  year  has  passed  away,  and  our  acts,  labors  of 
love,  and  shortcomings  are  all  registered  in  the  great  book  of 
God's  remembrance,  to  be  unrolled  before  an  assembled  uni- 
verse in  that  last  day." 

"Reviewing  carefully  the  labors  and  progress  of  our  con- 
vention since  1851,  we  find  some  things  to  regret,  but  many 
others  for  which  to  be  devoutly  grateful  to  God.  One  of  our 
most  faithful  missionaries,  Rev.  H.  P.  Mays,  has  fallen  at  his 
post.  God  has  abundantly  blessed  the  toils  of  some  of  our  mis- 
sionaries in  the  conversion  of  many  souls." 

"The  quarterly  as  well,  as  the  called  meetings  of  the  Board 
have  been  well  attended,  and  characterized  by  the  spirit  of 
harmony,  love  and  zeal.  Our  efforts  have  been  impeded  con- 
siderably by  the  pecuniary  embarrassments  of  the  State,  yet 
all  the  great  objects  of  the  convention  have  been  moving  on 
steadily,  and  gaining  a  deeper  and  stronger  hold  on  the  affec- 
tions of  our  churches  and  brethren." 

Here  follows  a  very  careful  resume  of  the  work  of  J.  W. 
D.  Creath,  A.  Bufiington,  IToah  Hill,  A.  Ledbetter,  David 
Lewis  and  David  Fisher,  the  .six  missionaries  employed  by  the 
convention  during  that  year. 

Appropriations  Made  to  Associations. 

To  Trinity  River  Association $100 

To  Elm  Fork  Association 100 

To  Red  River  Association 100 

To  Cherokee  Association 100 

"We  have  learned  that  these  associations  have  already 
obtained  missionaries,  who  are  engaged  successfully." 

*  *  •«•  *  *  -X-  *  -X-  * 

n 


258  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

Important  and  Destitute  Fields. 

"San  Antonio  and  Seguin  present  a  fine  opportunity  for 
a  Baptist  minister  of  deep  piety  and  good  intellect.  The 
former  is  said  to  have  a  population  of  not  less  than  6,000,  and 
the  latter  of  about  1,000  or  1,500;  they  are  about  thirty  miles 
apart.  The  citizens  of  these  places  and  vicinity  are  intelli- 
gent and  liberal,  and  it  is  believed  if  the  right  kind  of  a  man 
was  located  there,  almost  his  entire  salary  could  be  raised  on 
the  field,  even  for  the  first  year.  But  an  ordinary  man  need 
not  be  sent.     It  will  be  time  and  labor  lost." 

"Bastrop,  on  the  Colorado,  presents  another  field  Vhite 
to  the  harvest.'  It  has  about  1,000  inhabitants,  and  the  vicin- 
ity is  densely  settled  with  an  enterprising  population.  There 
are  several  infiuential  Baptists  on  the  field,  who  made  liberal 
offers  to  a  minister  of  our  church.  Rev.  R.  H.  Taliaferro  of 
Austin  devotes  a  portion  of  his  time  to  this  interesting  field, 
but  the  growing  importance  of  this  section  of  the  State 
demands  a  pious  and  energetic  man,  devoted  entirely  to  Bas- 
trop and  vicinity.  The  villages  and  country  on  the  coast, 
between  the  Brazos  and  Colorado  rivers,  are  becoming  daily 
more  important.  In  all  this  wide,  fertile  and  populous  region 
we  have  but  one  preacher." 

"The  counties  in  I^orthern  Texas,  bordering  on  Bed 
river,  is  another  equally  destitute  and  important  field.  Thero 
are  several  small  churches  here  that  say  they  will  support  a 
minister  if  one  can  be  found.     But  vihcre  is  the  manf^ 

The  counties  of  Limestone  and  Freestone,  left  destitute 
by  the  death  of  our  zealous  and  devoted  Mays,  ought  to  be 
supplied  immediately.  The  interesting  little  churches  he 
organized  are  now  as  sheep  without  a  shepherd." 

"Brownsville,  on  the  Bio  Grande,  has  been  abandoned 
by  Brother  J.  H.  TVombwell,  missionary  of  the  Southern 
Board.  "We  are  fully  convinced  this  point  might  become  a 
place  of  great  influence,  on  the  Mexican  and  American  popu- 
lation, if  we  could  locate  a  man  there  of  deep  devotion,  untir- 
ing energy  and  superior  ability.  But  no  other  will  do. 
Brethren,  while  the  Macedonian  cry  sounds  in  our  ear  from  so 
many  important  places,  how  can  we,  how  dare  we,  stand  idle  ? 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  259 

Something  has  been  done,  we  grant,  but  our  hearts  are  sad 
when  we  see  so  much  undone." 


Baylor  Ukiversity. 

"We  are  happy  to  report  this  institution  in  a  flourishing 
condition.  It  now  has  an  able  Faculty,  and  during  the  pres- 
ent scholastic  year  has  enrolled  one  hundred  and  sixty-five 
students.  The  endo^vment  of  the  Presidency  has  been  raised 
to  nearly  ten  thousand  dollars.  We  have  abundant  reason  lo 
believe  that  this  institution  will  become  an  ornament  to  Texas, 
and  a  rich  blessing  to  our  denomination.  In  accordance  with 
the  recent  changes  made  by  the  Legislature  in  its  charter,  your 
Board  has  elected  two  Trustees — ^Rev.  G.  W.  Baines,  to  fill 
the  place  of  James  Hines,  resigned,  and  J.  W.  Barnes,  to  fiU 
the  place  of  Orin  B.  Drake." 

We  return  to  Corresponding  Secretary  Burleson's  report 
for  this  year  to  introduce  a  statement  of  the  results  of  the 
work  of  one  missionary  in  the  employment  of  the  convention. 

"At  the  first  meeting  of  the  Board,  held  on  the  19th  of 
June,  Elder  J.  W.  D.  Creath  was  appointed  our  missionary 
agent,  at  a  salary  of  $400  a  year  and  traveling  expenses,  whose 
duties  should  be  as  formerly,  travel  through  the  State,  organ- 
ize new  churches,  do  the  work  of  an  evangelist,  awaken  a 
deeper  interest  among  the  brethren  for  Home  Missions,  minis- 
terial education  and  all  the  great  objects  of  this  convention. 
The  members  of  your  Board  are  more  and  more  convinced  of 
the  desirability  of  having  Brother  Creath  to  give  his  undivided 
time  to  this  agency.  We  deeply  regretted  that  circumstances 
seemed  to  render  it  impossible  to  secure  his  whole  time.  At  a 
meeting  held  in  December  last,  at  Independence,  at  his  re- 
quest, he  was  released  for  one-third  of  his  time,  to  serve  the 
Huntsville  Church  as  pastor.  Since  which  he  has  devoted  but 
two-thirds  of  his  time  to  our  agency,  the  church  at  Huntsville 
and  the  Board  bearing  proportional  parts  of  his  salary. 
Though  this  arrangement  has  somewhat  diminished  Brother 
Creath's  usefulness  as  our  agent,  yet  he  has  rendered  the  con- 
vention valuable  ser^'ices,  as  the  following  report  shows  be- 
vond  doubt." 


260  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

Eeport — "I  have  traveled  from  Jime  17th,  1851,  to  June 
22d,  1852,  3,280  miles,  preached  121  sermons,  visited  246 
families,  aided  in  ordaining  two  ministers,  six  deacons,  consti- 
tuted two  churches  and  witnessed  the  conversion  of  more  than 
forty  persons.  I  have  raised  $850  in  cash  and  subscriptions, 
including  the  balance  of  unpaid  subscription  of  $960.  Tor 
the  endowment  of  the  Presidency  of  Baylor  University  I  have 
raised  $320,  and  collected  for  this  institution  $221." 

What  a  showing  for  only  two-thirds  of  the  time  of  this 
sublimely  consecrated  man  of  God,  and  what  a  lesson  it  should 
teach  the  modern  preacher,  who  demands  much  larger  pay 
for  much  less  and  much  easier  work. 

During  the  years  Brother  Creath  represented  the  conven- 
tion as  missionary  and  financial  agent  he  traveled  perhaps 
50,000  miles.  He  never  used  a  vehicle  of  any  kind,  but  rode  a 
medium  size,  jet  black  horse  that  he  called  "John  the  Baptist." 
This  horse  had  no  fancy  gaits,  but  moved  along  at  the  rate  of 
four  miles  an  hour,  in  what  the  old  Texans  called  a  "plain, 
flat-footed  walk,"  When  he  visited  a  town  or  community,  he 
paid  no  kind  of  attention  to  the  social  amenities  of  life  until 
the  "King's  business"  was  attended  to.  The  object  of  his 
visit  disposed  of,  no  man  was  more  agreeable  in  the  family 
circle.  He  did  not  dress  as  a  minister,  but  wore  a  business 
suit  of  dark  gray  cloth,  broad  brim  black  slouch  hat,  deerskin 
gauntlets,  and  cloth  leggings,  tightly  laced  and  fastened  just 
above  the  knee. 

Before  entering  a  town  he  decided  where  he  would  stop, 
and  on  reaching  the  place  he  rode  to  the  front  gate,  dis- 
mounted, tied  "John  the  Baptist,"  and  if  no  person  was  in 
sight  he  threw  his  blanket  and  saddle  bags  across  the  fence,  and 
hastened  away  to  find  the  man  with  whom  he  had  business. 
Often  it  would  be  midnight  before  he  returned,  but  "John  the 
Baptist"  was  as  well  known  as  his  master,  and  suffered  no 
neglect  in  his  absence. 

Scores  of  times  has  this  author,  as  a  little  bareheaded  and 
barefooted  boy,  been  called  from  his  grapevine  swing  in  the 
side  yard,  when  this  old  weather-beaten  missionary  halted  in 
front  of  his  sainted  parents'  residence  at  Independence,  and 
listened  to  these  words : 


Dr.  Eufus  C.  Burleson.  261 

"Well,  my  little  man,  it  makes  no  difference  where  I 
sleep,  or  what  I  have  to  eat,  so  your  mother  gives  me  molasses 
to  put  in  my  buttermilk,  but  John  the  Baptist  takes  me  around 
to  attend  to  the  King's  business,  and  I  want  him  to  have  some 
water;  then  put  him  in  a  warm  stall  and  give  him  plenty  of 
corn  and  fodder." 

This  request  was  always  obeyed,  but  entirely  unnecessary, 
for  if  there  was  one  grain  of  corn  or  one  blade  of  fodder  on 
the  place  "John  the  Baptist"  would  be  as  sure  to  get  it  as  his 
master  to  get  the  molasses  for  his  buttermilk. 

The  operations  of  the  convention  for  1853  are  very 
succinctly  stated  by  Secretary  Burleson,  from  which  the  fol- 
lowing extracts  are  made : 

"It  has  been  the  fixed  purpose  of  the  Board  to  avoid  pecu- 
niary embarrassments,  feeling  that  debt  would  be  a  fearful 
calamity  to  our  cause;  hence  we  have  confined  our  efforts 
entirely  within  our  means,  and  have  accomplished  less  mis- 
sionary labor  than  was  accomplished  last  year. 

At  our  first  meeting,  held  in  Marshall  immediately  on  the 
adjournment  of  the  last  convention,  our  indefatigable  agent. 
Rev.  J.  "W.  D.  Creath,  was  appointed  General  Missionary 
Agent.  He  accepted,  on  condition  that  he  be  allowed  to 
devote  one-third  of  his  time  to  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Hunts- 
ville  Church,  which  was  granted,  provided  the  church  would 
pay  one-third  of  his  salary,  which  the  church  consented  to  do. 

"Brother  Creath  has  preached  102  sermons,  delivered 
thirty-three  exhortations,  traveled  2,000  miles,  attended 
twenty-five  prayer-meetings,  visited  230  families,  ordained 
one  minister,  one  deacon,  raised  for  convention  in  subscrip- 
tion $1,000  cash,  and  aided  twenty-five  churches  in  procuring 
pastors. 

''Elder  A.  Buffington  was  reappointed  missionary  to  the 
colored  population  in  Anderson  and  its  vicinity.  He  has 
labored  during  the  whole  year  and  has  accomplished  good.  He 
has  been  greatly  impeded  in  his  labors  for  want  of  a  house  of 
worship.  He  has  baptized  five  sei^vants,  and  is  still  willing 
to  labor  gratuitously  in  this  important  part  of  our  missionary 
work. 

"Elder  A.  Ledbetter  was  appointed  missionary  in  the 
boimds  of  the  Trinity  River  Association  at  a  salary  of  $100 


262  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

per  year  from  this  Board.  He  lias  traveled  1,632  miles,  vis- 
ited thirty-five  families,  organized  one  Sunday-school,  received 
fifteen  members  by  letter,  one  by  baptism,  preached  eighty-five 
sermons  and  delivered  eighteen  exhortations. 

"Elder  David  Fisher  was  reappointed  at  the  meeting  in 
Marshall  for  the  country  lying  on  the  Brazos  and  Little  river. 
He  has  traveled  1,600  miles,  preached  ninety-eight  sermons, 
delivered  twenty-eight  exhortations,  attended  twenty-four 
prayer-meetings,  visited  125  families,  baptized  thirty-two 
persons,  and  received  by  letter  sixteen. 

"The  above  embraces  only  about  one-half  of  the  mis- 
sionary work  done  under  the  auspices  of  your  convention.  The 
following  appropriations  were  made :  To  the  Colorado  Asso- 
ciation, $100.00;  Eed  Eiver  Association,  $100.00;  Soda  Lake 
Association,  $100.00;  Elm  Fork  Association,  $50.00;  Chero- 
kee Association,  $50.00. 

"These  bodies,  we  learn,  have  employed  missionaries, 
who  have  rendered  important  service  in  the  bounds  of  their 
respective  associations,  yet  no  report  has  been  made  to  your- 
Board  of  their  operations. 

"We  would  again  urge  upon  the  convention  the  impor- 
tance of  a  resolution  passed  last  year,  that  no  money  be  paid 
out  of  the  funds  in  the  treasury  of  this  convention  until  the 
full  report  of  the  labor  performed  has  been  received.  Such  a 
regulation  will  be  indispensable  in  making  out  a  complete  his- 
tory of  the  missionary  labor  performed  under  the  auspices 
of  this  body. 


On  the  Disteibution  of  Religious  Books. 

"Your  Board  has  exerted  its  utmost  effort  to  employ, 
some  suitable  agent  for  colporteur  to  distribute  Bibles  and 
Baptist  books  throughout  Texas.  We  regard  this  work  as 
being  of  much  importance,  and  would  suggest  that  tliis  con- 
vention would  continue  its  efforts  in  this  direction  until  our 
denominational  books  are  scattered  over  the  wide  State.  We 
rejoice  to  be  able  to  state  that  by  the  personal  efforts  of  our 
general  agent  about  $800  worth  of  our  best  publications  have 
been  circulated. 


De.  Rufus  C.  Buklesojs^.  263 

Destitute  Fields. 

"There  are  over  one  hundred  destitute  places  without 
Baptist  preaching  and  earnestly  crying  to  us  for  the  bread 
of  life.  Seguin,  Xew  Braunfels,  San  Antonio  and  Browns- 
ville and  the  counties  in  I^orthern  Texas  bordering  on  Red 
River,  and  Southeastern  Texas  are  destitute,  and  should  be 
supplied  as  soon  as  possible.  Your  Board  would  earnestly 
recommend  that  not  less  than  $2,000  be  raised  especially  for 
Home  Missions,  and  that  four  evangelists,  two  for  Eastern  and 
two  for  Western  Texas,  be  appointed,  whose  duties  it  shall  be 
to  devote  their  whole  time  to  holding  protracted  meetings, 
organizing  churches,  and  aiding  them  when  organized  to  pro- 
cure regular  pastors.  In  concluding  our  report,  we  can  but 
express  our  heartfelt  gratitude  for  the  bright  prospects  around 
us.     Everything  gives  signs  of  a  glorious  future. 

"Our  beloved  institution,  Baylor  University,  was  never 
in  so  flourishing  a  condition.  Several  talented  and  pious 
young  men  in  our  State  are  preparing  for  the  ministry." 

At  this  session  of  the  convention  a  special  committee  was 
appointed,  of  which  the  Rev.  James  H.  Stribling  was  chair- 
man, to  report  more  in  detail  as  to  the  condition  and  needs  of 
Baylor  University.  Dr.  Burleson  discTissed  the  report  of  this 
committee,  and  took  occasion  to  impress  upon  the  minds  of 
the  delegates  present  the  supreme  importance  of  its  success. 

He  referred  to  the  fact  that  while  the  university  at  that 
time  had  a  Faculty  of  eight  efficient  teachers,  and  was  going 
on  from  victory  to  Aactory,  it  was  no  time  for  its  friends  io 
abate  their  efforts  in  its  behalf.  He  also  referred  to  the  fact 
that  while  a  fund  of  $10,000  had  been  raised  for  Presidential 
endownment,  and  $8,000  in  sight  for  the  endowment  of  the 
chair  of  ISTatural  Sciences,  it  was  no  time  to  stop,  but  to  press 
on,  until  the  institution  became  the  pride  of  every  Texan,  as 
well  as  the  glory  of  Baptist  liberality,  patriotism  and  wisdom. 

A  resolution  was  passed  by  the  convention  making  Presi- 
dent Burleson  and  Rev.  Horace  Clark,  Principal  of  the  Female 
Department,  honorary  members  of  the  Convention,  and  enti- 
tled to  attend  its  meetings  and  enjoy  all  its  privileges.  The 
same  resolution  provided  for  the  appointment  of  a  committee 
by  the  convention  to  visit  the  institution  at  Independence,  and 
report  its  condition  at  the  next  session. 


264  The  Life  and  Writings  of 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 


Meeting  of  the  State  Convention  in  1854 — Baptist  Af- 
fairs Reach  the  High  Water  JVLark — Baylor  Univer- 
sity Reported  by  the  Committee  and  Trustees  to  Be 
IN  A  Flourishing  Condition — ^Bounding  Report  of  Rev. 
Isaac  Parks  on  Ministerial  Education — Annual  Re- 
port OF  Corresponding  Secretary  Burleson — Last 
Official  Report  to  the  Convention — Tenders  His 
Resignation  to  Devote  Himself  to  the  Interest  of 
the  School — Recommends  Rev,  J.  B.  Stiteler  as  His 
Successor — Rev.  C.  H.  Stiteler  Elected. 


'X^   HE  Baptist  State  Convention  met  in  Palestine  June 

^^—       17th,  1854.    Rev.  James  Huckins  was  elected  Presi- 

^^^1      dent,  J.  W.  D.   Creath,  J.  M.  Maxej  and  S.   G. 

O'Brien,   Vice-Presidents.      Dr.    G.   W.   Baines,   Recording 

Secretary,  Rufus  C.  Burleson,  Corresponding  Secretary,  and 

General  James  W.  Barnes,  Treasurer. 

Judging  from  the  proceedings  which  have  been  freely 
consulted,  Baptist  affairs  in  Texas  over  which  the  convention 
exercised  jurisdiction  had  reached  the  high  water  mark.  All 
the  committees  were  prepared  with  reports  upon  the  various 
phases  of  the  work  with  which  they  were  expected  to  deal. 
The  report  of  S.  G.  O'Brien,  G.  W.  Baines  and  J.  W.  D. 
Creath,  on  Foreign  Missions,  Rev.  H.  Garrett  on  Home  Mis- 
sions, John  O.  Walker  on  Conditions  of  the  Colored  Popula- 
tion, S.  G.  O'Brien  on  Books  and  Periodicals,  J.  W,  D.  Creath 
on  the  Constitution,  D.  B.  Morrill  on  the  State  of  Religion 
generally  in  Texas.    H.  Garrett  on  Condition  of  Baylor  IJni- 


Dr.  Kufus  C.  Burleson.  265 

versity,  J.  V.  Wright  on  Temperance,  J.  V.  Wright  on  Sab- 
bath Schools,  Isaac  Parks  on  Education,  Rufus  C.  Burleson, 
Proceedings  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  were  all  highly  inter- 
esting documents  and  worthy  of  their  great  authors,  and  the 
great  cause  of  Christianity. 

However,  only  those  that  touch  the  career  of  Dr.  Bur- 
leson, \\t:11  be  noticed. 

Report  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Baylor  University. 

"In  compliance  with  the  request  of  your  body,  I  lay  be- 
fore you  as  nearly  as  possible  the  condition  of  Baylor  Univer- 
sity. This  institution  was  founded  chiefly  by  the  instrument- 
ality of  the  lamented  Wm.  M,  Tryon,  and  was  charted  by  the 
Republic  of  Texas  in  1845.  And  though  it  has  had  the  many 
difficulties  of  a  new  and  thinly  settled  country  to  contend  with, 
yet  the  progress  of  the  school  has  met  the  expectations  of  its 
most  sanguine  friends.  Our  institution  is  almost  the  only  one 
in  the  state  that  has  not  been  subject  to  great  fluctuations,  and 
changes  of  prosperity  and  adversity.  Its  progress  has  been 
gradual,  permanent  and  upward. 

"This  fact  has  been  owing  under  God,  to  the  harmonious 
action  and  feeling  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  the  liberality  of 
Texans,  the  energy  and  zeal  of  its  Teachers  and  Professors. 
The  institution  has  now  two  buildings  about  three-quarters 
of  a  mile  apart,  one  for  the  male,  the  other  for  the  female 
departments.  The  Presidency  and  chair  of  natural  science 
have  received  a  partial  endowment  of  about  ten  thousand  dol- 
lars each,  the  interest  of  which,  at  8  per  cent.,  supports  in  part 
Rufus  C.  Burleson,  the  President,  and  J.  B.  Stiteler,  Pro- 
fessor of  natural  science.  The  other  Professors  in  the  male 
department  are  sustained  entirely  by  the  receipts  from  tui- 
tion." 

"The  Female  Department  is  under  the  direction  of  ReY. 
H.  Clark,  and  is  in  a  flourishing  condition.  The  number  of 
students  in  both  Departments,  is  between  one  hundred  and 
eighty,  or  one  hundred  and  ninety,  and  it  is  confidently  be- 
lieved that  this  number  will  be  incl-eased  to  two  hundred  and 
f ortv  before  the  vear  closes. 


266  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

"This  large  patronage,  with  the  interest  accruing  from 
the  endowment,  enables  the  Trustees  to  employ  four  able 
teachers  in  the  Male  Department  and  four  in  the  Female, 
The  institution  is  supplied  with  new  and  superior  apparatus, 
and  a  well  selected  library;  and  the  Hon.  Sam  Houston  has 
tendered  to  the  institution,  the  free  use  of  his  large  and  well 
selected  library,  which  affords  good  facilities  for  students. 

''The  property  of  the  institution  is  estimated  to  be  worth 
about  $40,000,  a  part  of  which  consists  in  lands  of  increasing 
value.  There  are  three  young  preachers  in  the  institution, 
preparing  for  the  full  work  of  the  Gospel  Ministry,  Tuition 
is  free  to  all  the  children  of  Ministers  of  the  Gospel.     *     *     ^ 

H,  GAEKETT, 
President  Board  Trustees, 

Rev.  H.  Garrett  was  a  very  conservative  and  successful 
business  man,  and  distinguished  for  his  coolness,  good  sense 
and  fine  judgment.  His  favorable  report  on  the  condition 
and  prospects  of  Baylor  University  enthused  the  committee 
appointed  on  Ministerial  Education,  who  presented  to  the 
convention  the  following  bounding  report: 

Brethren: — The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the 
subject  of  Ministerial  Education  and  Baylor  University,  have 
had  the  same  under  consideration  and  have  instructed  me  to 
make  the  following  report : 

We  congratulate  our  brethren  upon  the  interest  they  are 
taking  in  this  important  subject.  This  subject  is  engaging  the 
prayerful  attention  of  Baptists  throughout  our  entire  country. 
Our  hearts  are  made  to  rejoice  on  account  of  the  multiplied 
facilities  afforded  our  pious  young  brethren  for  intellectual 
training,  Avho  have  the  ministry  in  view.  Brethren,  while 
we  feel  gTateful  to  God  for  the  prosperity  which  has  attended 
our  efforts  in  this  department  of  Christian  enterprise,  let  us 
ever  remember  that  an  unsanctified  ministry  is  one  of  the 
greatest  curses  to  the  church  and  the  world.  It  is  not  merely 
developed  intellect  that  the  age  requires.  We  want  men  of 
educated  hearts — men  who  have  been  thoroughly  taught  in  the 
heaven-inspiring  doctrine  of  experimental  religion — men  who 
feel  "Woe  is  me  if  I  preach  not  the  gospel."  Let  such  be 
sought  out,  and  let  them  have  such  advantages  of  improvement 


Dk.  Eufus  C.  Burleson.  267 

as  circumstaiices  will  justify,  and  God  will  bless  us  in  our  ris- 
ing ministry.  We  are  liappy  to  inform  the  Convention  that 
we  have  three  or  four  such  young  brethren  now  at  Baylor  Uni- 
versity, whom  tlie  love  of  Christ  constraining,  are  studying  in 
order  that  "^.hey  may  be  efficient  ambassadors  of  Christ. 

But  the  Committees  are  profoundly  impressed  with  the 
conviction  that  we  ought  to  look  to  the  matured  ranks  of  so- 
ciety for  men  already  educated,  pursuing  various  vocations  in 
life.  How  many  pious  men  have  we  in  the  different  walks  of 
life,  who  have  had  the  benefits  of  education.  They  are  pious, 
and  may  we  not  approach  many  such  and  say  the  Master  hath 
need  of  thee  to  preach  the  gospel.  We  may  thus  awaken  a 
series  of  holy  reflections  and  pious  meditation,  that  will  cause 
some,  at  least,  to  leave  the  learned  professions  and  follow 
Christ  in  the  preaching  of  the  gospel.  May  the  Lord  of  the 
harvest  send  forth  from  all  the  ranks  of  society,  holy  men, 
godly  men,  to  preach  Jesus  to  the  perishing  multitudes  of 
earth. 

The  Committee  refer  the  Convention  to  the  report  of  the 
President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Baylor  University,  as 
to  the  conditions  and  prospects  of  that  institution.  We  bless 
God  that  Baptists  in  this  great  confederacy  of  States,  are  doing 
so  much  in  the  cause  of  education.  The  follomng  statistics 
will  give  some  idea  what  the  great  Baptist  family  are  doing 
in  this  work. 

It  is  estimated  that  within  the  last  six  years,  one  million 
five  hundred  thousand  dollars  have  been  subscribed  towards 
the  endowment  of  Baptist  Colleges  and  Seminaries  in  this  wide 
land.  The  whole  number  of  instructors  is  154;  students  over 
2,500.  They  have  graduated  over  4,000  students  in  all,  and 
their  libraries  contain  more  than  120,000  volumes.  May  we 
not  bless  God  and  take  courage  ? 

ISAAC  PAEKS,  Chairman. 

The  annual  report  of  Corresponding  Secretary,  Rufus  C. 
Burleson,  was  then,  and  still  remains  the  most  interesting 
feature  of  the  proceedings  of  the  convention,  as  it  presents 
more  in  detail,  the  work  of  the  year,  and  hence  gives  a  clearer 
insight  into  the  trials,  troubles  and  triumphs  of  those  who  were 
in  the  saddle. 


268  The  Life  ant)  Writings  ov 

This  was  to  be  His  last  report  as  Corresponding  Secretary 
of  the  convention,  and  was  very  elaborate  and  complete. 

Since  many  subjects  were  covered  by  Rev.  H.  Garrett, 
President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Baylor  University,  in 
his  report,  and  Rev.  Isaac  Parks  in  his  report  as  Chairman  of 
the  Committee  on  Ministeral  Education,  the  paper  of  Dr.  Bur- 
leson is  abridged  to  avoid  repetition. 

'^Brother  Creath  has  rendered  valuable  services  to  the 
convention  during  the  past  year,  by  correspondence  and  other 
gratuitous  labors,  yet  we  feel  it  is  of  vital  importance  to  have 
an  efficient  agent,  whose  whole  time  and  undivided  energies 
can  be  devoted  to  the  interests  of  this  Convention. 

Repoets  of  Missionaries. 

In  accordance  with  instructions  of  the  last  convention, 
your  board  made  every  effort  to  procure  evangelists  for  East- 
ern and  Western  Texas,  whose  duty  should  be  to  visit  the 
destitute  neighborhoods,  villages  and  cities,  preach  and  hold 
protracted  meetings,  organize  churches,  and  assist  them  in 
procuring  pastors.  After  considerable  consultation  and  the 
most  diligent  efforts,  we  were  unable  to  secure  two  evangelists 
for  Eastern  Texas.  Elder  A.  W.  Elledge,  of  Hallettsville, 
and  Rev.  R.  H.  Taliaferro,  of  Austin,  consented  to  become 
Evangelists  for  West  Texas,  provided  ministers  could  be  se- 
cured to  fill  their  pulpits.  They  entered  on  the  work  under 
some  embarrassments,  and  labored  together  for  two  months. 
They  traveled  together  650  miles,  constituted  one  church, 
ordained  one  minister  of  the  Gospel,  preached  fifty-five  ser- 
mons, delivered  twenty-eight  exhortations,  visited  eighty  fami- 
lies, and  baptized  six  persons. 

Brother  Elledge  while  laboring  separately,  has  preached 
sixteen  sermons,  delivered  ten  exhortations,  visited  twenty 
families,  and  witnessed  the  conversion  and  baptism  of  seven- 
teen persons  and  labored  twenty  days  during  the  month. 

Brother  Taliaferro  has  labored  separately  for  two  months, 
but  from  some  cause  no  definite  report  has  been  received  by 
the  Corresponding  Secretary.  We  regret  exceedingly  that 
these  brethren  were  compelled  either  from  domestic  cares  or 
church  relations,  to  discontinue  their  labors  as  evangelists  for 


Dk.  Kufus  C.  Buklesox.  269 

we  are  more  deeply  convinced  than  ever  of  the  vast  importance 
of  sending  out  evangelists,  two  and  two  together,  to  visit 
and  labor  in  destitute  places.  We  may  state  that  our  plan  of 
evangelizing  failed  entirely  for  want  of  men,  as  the  most  ample 
means  could  have  been  secured  for  their  support. 

Elder  David  Fisher  was  reappointed  as  Missionary  for  the 
important  counties  lying  on  the  Brazos  and  Little  Kiver?,  with 
a  salary  of  $200  a  year  from  this  Board  and  $200  from  the 
Southern  Board  at  Marion,  Ala.  He  has  traveled  2412 
miles,  preached  151  sermons,  delivered  172  exhortations,  at- 
tended thirty-seven  prayer  meetings,  visited  650  persons  and 
families,  baptized  thirty-three  converts,  received  thirty-three 
into  the  fellowship  of  the  church  by  letter,  organized  one 
church  and  ordained  one  minister. 

Elder  A.  Buffington  was  reappointed  to  labor  gratuit- 
ously among  the  colored  population  in  Grimes  county,  but  no 
report  of  his  labors  has  been  received  by  your  Board. 

Elder  Benjamin  Clark  was  appointed  at  the  first  meeting 
of  the  Board  at  Huntsville,  as  missionary  for  Robertson 
county,  also  to  act  as  colporteur  for  the  circulation  of  the 
Bible  and  religious  books,  on  a  salary  of  $100  per  year  from 
this  board.  He  has  rendered  very  efficient  service.  He  has 
traveled  1,523  miles,  preached  seventy-five  sermons,  delivered 
seventeen  exhortations,  attended  eleven  prayer  meetings, 
baptized  four  persons,  received  twenty-four  into  the  churches 
by  letter,  aided  in  ordaining  three  deacons,  constituted  two 
churches  and  visited  fifty-one  families. 

Elder  James  Huckins,  was  appointed  missionary  for  Gal- 
veston and  vicinity,  to  receive  $100  from  this  board,  and  the 
remainder  of  the  salary  to  be  made  up  by  the  Church  at  Gal- 
veston and  the  Southern  Board.  He  has  supplied  the  Church 
and  colored  congregation  of  that  city,  and  for  the  last  eight 
months  has  filled  regular  appointments  in  the  vicinity  of  Sau 
Jacinto,  where  there  are  some  fifteen  scattered  Baptists.  He 
has  preached  128  sermons,  attended  1-44  prayer  meetings, 
baptized  fifteen  persons,  made  602  religious  visits,  traveled  900 
miles,  and  reports  the  Church  in  Galveston  as  being  in  better 
condition  than  ever  before,  and  the  one  at  San  Jacinto  as  one 
of  great  destitution  but  of  considerable  promise,  and  an  in^ 


270  The  Life  ^vkd  Writings  of 

teresting  state  of  religion  in  the  colored  congregation  at  Gal- 
veston. 

For  the  Bethlehem  Association,  $100  was  appropriated  to 
aid  in  sustaining  a  missionary.  They  have  secured  the  ser- 
vices of  Brother  E.  A.  Phelps  who  has  labored  forty-nine  days, 
preached  forty-six  sermons,  visited  sixty  families,  delivered 
seven  exhortations,  traveled  1,447  miles  and  reports  the  pros- 
pect as  encouraging  at  several  points. 

Baylor  University. 

Your  Board  rejoices  to  be  able  to  state,  that  this  institu- 
tion is  still  in  a  flourishing  condition,  increasing  in  public  con- 
fidence, and  its  facilities  for  imparting  thorough  instruction  in 
every  department  of  education.  Your  Board  would  suggest 
that  your  body  appoint  a  committee  of  five  to  visit  the  insti- 
tution, examine  carefully  into  its  whole  condition  and  report 
at  our  next  meeting. 

Important  and  Destitute  Fields. 

Your  Board  rejoices  to  learn  that  some  of  the  destitute 
places  mentioned  in  our  last  report  are  now  supplied  vnth. 
pious  and  efficient  ministers.  But  the  destitution  is  still  great; 
Brownsville,  San  Antonio,  Indianola,  Port  Lavaca  and  Rich- 
mond are  still  without  Baptist  preaching.  There  are  a  few 
Baptists  in  each  of  these  places,  and  if  they  could  be  supplied 
with  a  faithful  ministry,  doubtless  efficient  churches  might  bo 
established  in  each  of  these  towns.  There  is  also  vast  desti- 
tution and  loud  calls  for  Baptist  Ministers  in  the  counties 
lying  on  Bed  River.  Your  Board  is  often  sad  to  behold  this 
universal  destitution  without  the  means  to  supply  it. 

Distribution  of  Religious  Books. 

Your  Board  is  glad  to  report  that  they  have  been  able  at 
last  to  employ  an  efficient  colporteur  to  distribute  denomina- 
tional books.  We  have  employed  Brother  John  Clabaugh  for 
this  important  work,  on  a  salary  of  $250  a  ;^ear.  He  has  al- 
ready sold  about  $300  worth  of  our  best  publications,  and 
will  doubtless  be  able  to  sell  $1,200  or  $1,500  worth  during  the 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Bueleson.  2Y1 

year.  A  small  per  cent  on  the  books  sold  will  more  than  pay 
his  salary.  We  are  glad  to  learn  that  there  is  a  strong  and  al- 
most universal  desire  for  religious  works  especially  books  of  a 
devotional  character." 

After  the  convention  had  received,  discussed  and  dis- 
posed of  the  report  of  Corresponding  Secretary  Burleson,  he 
placed  the  following  communication  on  the  Recording  Secre- 
tary's table,  which  was  heard  with  sincere  regrets.  The  force 
of  his  reasons  for  tendering  his  resignation,  was  appreciated 
by  the  delegates,  as  it  was  understood  that  the  growing  con- 
dition of  Baylor  University  rendered  its  demands  on  his  time 
as  President,  more  exacting. 

To  the  Baptist  State  Convention : 

Dear  Brethren  : — For  six  years  you  have  honored  me 
with  the  office  of  Corresponding  Secretary.  The  duties  of  this 
office  I  have  discharged  to  the  best  of  my  ability.  But  my  in- 
creasing labors  and  responsibility  in  another  department  of 
Christian  effort,  renders  it  impracticable  for  me  to  serve  you 
longer  as  Corresponding  Secretary.  And  as  I  desire  the  labors 
and  honors  of  the  convention  should  be  equally  divided  among 
all  the  brethren,  allow  me  to  resign  the  office,  and  suggest  that 
Brother  J.  B.  Stiteler  be  elected  to  this  responsible  position. 
Ever  and  devotedly  yours, 

RUFTJS  C.  BURLESOK 


272  The  Life  and  Writings  of 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 


Importance  of  the  Office  of  Corresponding  Secretary — 
All  Work  Done  Largely  Under  His  Advice — ]VIr. 
Burleson  Having  no  Precedents,  Blazed  His  Own 
Way,  Made  His  Own  Path — Attends  Meeting  of  the 
Union  Association — ^Writes  the  Circular  Letter — 
Preaches  the  Introductory  Sermon — Delivers  the 
Semi-Centennial  Address  at  Sealy  in  1890 — Eeturn 
to  Convention — ^Report  of  Committee  on  Education — 
Indian  Missions  —  Pioneers  Thoroughly  Saturated 
WITH  THE  Spirit — Committee  Appointed  to  Open  Cor- 
respondence   WITH    THE    Board    of    ]\iANAGERS    OF    THE 

American  Indian  Mission  Association. 

HEN"  tlie  convention  was  organized  the  Corresponding- 
Secretary  was  tlie  most  responsible  officer  in  that 
body,  and  as  already  observed,  remains  so  up  to  this 
time.  The  Board  of  Directors  appoint  the  missionaries  and 
agents  of  the  convention,  and  exercise  general  supervisory 
control  of  all  its  enterprises  and  operations;  but  it  is  no  super- 
lation  of  the  duties  of  this  official  to  say,  that  they  do  so  largely 
upon  his  recommendation,  and  his  judgment  on  all  matters,  is 
largely  deferred  to.  He  devotes  his  entire  time  to  a  close  study 
of  the  situation,  is  conversant  with  wants  of  the  field,  in  close, 
and  almost  constant  touch  with  the  missionaries  and  agents. 
The  members  of  the  Board  being  fully  apprised  of  this  fact, 
look  to  him  for  counsel,  and  act  on  his  advice. 

Mr.  Burleson  filled  this  position  from  the  date  of  the 
organization  of  the  convention,  September  the  8th,  1848,  until 
June  the  l7th,  1854.     The  duties  of  the  position  were  by  no 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  2Y3 

means  so  extensive  then  as  now,  but  possibly  more  arduous  and 
difficult  to  discharge.  Texas  was  a  new  country,  the  popula- 
tion a  heterogeneous  mass,  the  convention  a  new  proposition 
in  religious  work,  and  Mr.  Burleson  comparatively  a  young 
man.  There  were  no  established  rules  to  guide  him,  and  no 
successful  plans  to  follow.  He  was  thus  forced  to  rely  largely 
upon  his  own  resourceful  nature;  to  blaze  the  way,  make  a 
path,  ordain  rules,  originate  plans,  and  devise  means.  "His 
original  cast  of  mind,  relied  on  the  f  imdamental  principles  of 
truth.  Anxious  not  requiring  proof,  causes  clearly  effective, 
effects  undoubtedly  linked  to  causes,  principles  took  possession 
of  his  mind,  and  were  more  potent  in  reaching  conclusions,  and 
inducing  conclusions  in  others,  than  a  whole  library  of  prece- 
dents and  authorities,"  even  if  they  had  been  at  his  command. 
Mr.  Burleson  was  equal  to  the  demands  made  upon  liis 
resources.  The  situation  and  conditions  were  carefully  studied 
and  mastered.  He  was  familiar  with  every  portion  of  the 
field,  and  advanced  mth  the  steadiness  and  courage  of  a  vet- 
eran. Plans  were  adopted,  rules  formulated,  and  precedents 
established  that  have  been  valuable  in  all  the  after  history  of 
this  great  body. 

With  the  acceptance  of  his  resignation  as  Corresponding 
Secretary,  his  official  connection  with  the  convention  for  a 
time  was  eventuated.  But  his  interest  in  its  work  was  by  no 
means  abated.  He  continued  to  attend  the  meetings,  and 
participated  actively  in  its  deliberations.  liTot  only  was  he 
interested  in  the  work  of  the  convention,  but  felt  a  deep  con- 
cern for  the  success  of  all  Christian  effort  being  put  forth  at 
that  time  in  the  State.  And  after'  assisting  in  forming  the 
convention,  he  attended  the  meeting  of  the  Union  Associa- 
tion held  at  Independence  September  28th,  1848,  sixteen  days 
after  the  first  session  of  the  convention  adjourned.  Here  he 
took  hold  of  the  work  without  hesitancy,  and  in  addition  to 
being  placed  on  several  committees,  was  appointed  to  write  the 
Circular  Letter  of  the  Association  for  the  session  of  1849,  at 
Huntsville. 

At  this  meeting  he  was  also  honored  by  being  chosen  to 
preach  the  introductory  sermon  of  the  Association,  to  be  held 
with  the  Pro^ddence  Church,  near  Chappell  Hill,  October  the 
3d,  1850.    Through  all  the  succeeding  years  of  the  history  of 


274  The  Life  and  Wbitikgs  of 

this  pioneer  body,  the  name  of  Eufus  C.  Burleson,  appears 
regularly  and  conspicuously  in  the  record  of  its  proceedings. 
And  he  had  the  pleasure,  and  honor  of  delivering  the  address, 
on  the  occasion  of  the  celebration  of  the  seini-centennial  an- 
niversary of  this  Old  Mother  Body,  at  Sealy,  August  17th, 
1890. 

Dr.  Burleson's  address  on  that  occasion  was  so  replete 
with  denominational  history,  and  contains  so  many  references 
to  important  civic  events,  that  copious  extracts  are  made  from 
it,  feeling  that  all  will  be  interested  in  its  perusal, 

"We  have  assembled  on  this  hold  Sabbath  evening  to  re- 
view and  commemorate  the  blessings  of  God,  on  this  vener- 
able Association,  for  the  last  half  century. 

"Let  us  in  the  begiuning  of  this  service,  keep  in  mind 
two  great  facts :  1st.  ISTo  society,  no  association,  no  nation, 
ever  became  really  great  without  commemorative  days.  Who 
can  estimate  the  value  of  the  anniversary  of  the  battle  of  San 
Jacinto  to  Texas  or  the  4th  of  July  to  the  American  people." 
Rome  and  England  in  part  attained  their  great  power  by  com- 
memorating great  events  in  their  history. 

The  most  solemn  service  of  God's  ancient  Israel,  were 
days  and  feasts  commemorating  the  glorious  events  of  the  past, 
and  filling  the  Jewish  heart  with  praises  to  God.  The  two 
great  ordinances  in  Christ's  Church,  to  be  kept  until  He 
comes  again,  are  to  commemorate  the  dying,  bleeding  love  of 
our  dear  Redeemer." 

"But  let  us  never  forget  the  second  great  truth,  that  the 
true  end  of  all  anniversaries,  and  especially  of  this  semi-cen- 
tennial service,  is  to  fill  the  heart  with  glowing  love  to  God, 
and  to  inspire  all  hearts  with  a  burning  desire  to  carry  forward 
with  grander  success,  the  work  begun  by  our  Fathers,  fifty 
years  ago.  The  end  of  this  service  will  not  be  attained,  unless 
we  go  from  this  house  praying,  ^nearer  my  God  to  Thee,  nearer 
to  Thee.' 

It  is  a  pleasing  and  thrilling  coincidence,  that  the  fiftieth 
anniversary  of  the  organization  of  Union  Association,  is  held 
in  a  place,  surrounded  by  some  of  the  most  glorious  events  in 
Texas  history.  Five  miles  east  of  this  place  is  San  Felipe,  the 
first  town  ever  built  by  Anglo-Americans  on  Texas  soil.  There 
the  first  Masonic  Lodge  in  Texas  was  organized.     There  the 


De.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  275 

first  Sabbath  School  in  Texas  was  founded  in  1827  by  our 
sainted  brother  and  Baptist  deacon,  Thomas  J.  Pilgrim.  There 
the  first  Texas  newspaper,  "The  Star  and  Telegraph,"  was 
established  by  Gail  Borden,  for  many  years  deacon  of  the 
First  Baptist  Church  in  Galveston,  and  discoverer  of  Con- 
densed Milk,  a  great  blessing  to  the  human  family.  There, 
too,  assembled  in  December,  1835,  the  general  consultation 
that  inaugurated  Texas  Independence  from  Mexican  misrule. 
San  Felipe  was  the  capital  of  Texas  till  burned  to  ashes  by 
Santa  Anna,  the  bloody  invader,  in  1836.  Ten  miles  north 
of  this  place  once  stood  the  humble  but  hospitable  home  of 
Moses  Shipman,  in  which  Elder  Joseph  Bayes,  a  Baptist, 
preached,  in  1825,  the  first  gospel  sermon  in  Texas.  In  that 
same  house,  two  years  later,  1827,  our  beloved  and  venerable 
Sister  James  AUcorn  was  converted  under  the  preaching  of 
Rev.  Thos.  Hanks,  a  Baptist.  This  was  the  first  public  pro- 
fession ever  known  in  Texas.  This  beloved  sister,  after  spend- 
ing sixty-three  years  in  the  service  of  God  and  of  Texas,  died 
just  one  week  ago,  and  went  home  to  heaven.  Twenty  miles 
north  once  stood  the  town  of  Travis  where  this  Association,  the 
mother  of  all  our  Associations,  and  the  mother  of  all  great 
Baptist  enterprises  in  Texas,  was  organized  in  1840.  It  was 
small  in  numbers,  but  mighty  in  faith  and  noble  deeds.  There 
were  present  only  three  preachers:  Elders  R.  E.  B.  Baylor, 
Thos.  W.  Cox  and  J.  J.  Davis,  and  three  churches  represented. 
Independence,  LaGrange  and  Travis.  Our  grand  old  pioneer, 
Elder  Z.  IST.  Morrell,  would  have  been  present  as  a  member 
from  Plum  Grove,  Fayette  county,  but  he  was  prostrate  on  a 
bed  of  sickness  by  over-exertion  in  fighting  and  chasing  In- 
dians and  Mexicans  away  from  the  families  of  Texas.  It  is 
not  to  be  wondered  that  this  infant  Association,  born  amid 
such  stirring  events  and  surroundings,  should,  like  the  infant 
Hercules,  begin  even  in  the  cradle  to  strangle  the  venomous 
beasts  of  heresy  and  resolve  to  send  the  gospel  into  every 
neighborhood  in  Texas.  Though  surrounded  by  hostile  In- 
dians and  Mexicans  and  in  deep  poverty,  they  sent  out  Brother 
A.  Bufiington  to  preach  the  gospel  between  the  Brazos  and 
Trinity,  and  Rev.  N".  T.  Byars  and  Richard  Ellis  to  preach 
the  gospel  in  all  the  region  west  of  the  Colorado.  But  they 
found  that  they  were  utterly  unable  to  supply  the  vast  throng 


276  'J'he  Life  and  Writings  of 

of  immigrants  and  the  widely  scattered  settlements  over  this 
vast  empire  State.  And,  remembering  that  an  appeal  sent  out 
in  1837  by  Brethren  Jas.  E.  Jenkins,  A.  Buffington  and  H.  K 
Cartmell  had  touched  the  great  heart  of  Jesse  Mercer,  ox 
Georgia,  and  induced  him  to  donate  $2,500  to  begin  a  Texas 
mission,  and  this  money  enabled  the  Home  Mission  Board  of 
New  York  to  send  "Wm.  M.  Tryon,  Jas.  Huckins,  B.  B.  Bax- 
ter and  B.  H.  Taliaferro  to  Texas.  This  second  appeal  was 
made  to  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention,  organized  at  Au- 
gusta, Ga.,  in  1845.  That  Convention  of  Southern  Baptists 
responded  warmly  to  this  appeal,  and  sent,  in.  1847,  what  Z. 
N.  Morrell,  in  his  great  book,  ^'Flowers  and  Fruits,"  calls  "a 
whole  ship-load  of  preachers."  Of  that  number  were  Elders 
P.  B.  Chandler,  Noah  Hill,  Jesse  Witt,  J.  W.  D.  Creath,  J.  F. 
Hilyer  and  Henry  L.  Graves,  as  Missionary  President  of  Bay- 
lor University.  Eufus  C.  Burleson  belonged  to  the  same 
cargo,  but  he  came  seven  months  later.  The  Southern  Baptist 
Convention,  in  their  great  zeal  for  Texas,  also  agreed  to  sup- 
port Elders  Z.  N.  Morrell,  N.  T.  Byars,  Kichard  Ellis,  Wm. 
M.  Tryon,  Jas.  Huckins,  E.  H.  Taliaferro,  Wm.  Pickett,  Jas. 
H.  Stribling  and  D.  B.  Morrill,  already  laboring  successfully 
in  Texas. 


"The  Southern  Baptist  convention  in  its  ardent  zeal  to 
supply  the  great  destitution  in  this  Empire  State,  has  gen- 
erously donated  more  than  $100,000,  and  has  placed  all 
Texas  under  an  everlasting  debt  of  love  and  gratitude,  which 
she  can  only  repay,  by  earnestly  co-operating  in  its  efforts  to 
evangelize  the  world." 

But  the  heroic  and  far-seeing  fathers  of  this  Association, 
in  their  profound  wisdom,  saw,  and  deeply  felt  the  necessity 
for  Christian  education,  for  the  pious  training  of  the  Sons  and 
Daughters  of  Texas,  and  especially  for  educating  the  rising 
young  preachers  of  the  State.  They  therefore  resolved,  at  the 
second  annual  session,  to  found  a  Texas  Baptist  education 
society,  that  led  to  a  great  Baptist  University,  that  will  stand 
as  a  Gibraltar  to  Baptist  faith,  as  long  as  the  flowers  bloom  on 
our  vast  prairies,  or  the  waves  of  the  gulf  dash  on  our  shores. 
In  all  the  struggles  of  our  Martyr  Church  for  1,800  years  no 


De.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  2Y7 

grander  sight  was  ever  displayed.  Six  hundred  Baptists,  sur- 
rounded by  8,000,000  angry  Mexicans  on  the  west  and  60,000 
hostile  Indians  on  the  north,  resolving  to  found  a  great  Uni- 
versity. And  as  our  heroic  fathers  believed  more  in  the  Book 
of  Acts,  than  in  the  Book  of  Resolutions,  they  procured  a 
charter,  and  located  Baylor  University  on  the  beautiful  live 
oak  hills  of  Independence.  This  town  was  then  the  most 
central  and  accessible  place  in  all  the  settled  portion  of  the 
State. 

Baylor  University  thus  located,  poured  forth  a  stream  of 
learning,  piety  and  patriotism  for  forty  years.  They  were 
educated  in  it,  many  of  the  grandest  men  and  noblest  women 
Texas  ever  saw. 

"In  the  early  days  and  struggles  of  Texas  Baptists,  this 
dear  old  Association  not  only  led  in  organizing  the  great  en- 
terprises of  missions,  education,  journalism.  Sabbath  Schools 
and  col  portage,  but  was  a  generous  contributor  in  every  good 
work.  The  records  of  the  old  State  Convention  will  show 
clearly  that  for  the  first  seven  years  of  the  State  Conven- 
tion the  members  of  the  Union  Association  contributed  from 
one-half  to  three-fourths  of  all  the  money  given  for  missions 
and  ministerial  education.  When  we  review  the  history  of  thia 
Association  for  the  last  fifty  years,  we  can  but  exclaim :  "What 
hath  God  wrought?"  And  with  joyous  hearts  we  ought  to-day 
to  erect  an  Ebenezer  and  shout:  "Hitherto  hath  the  Lord 
helped  us."  Fifty  years  ago  there  was  one  little  Association 
and  three  churches  and  three  preachers.  To-day  there  are  over 
one  hundred  Associations  with  thirteen  hundred  churches  and 
fourteen  hundred  ministers  and  two  hundred  thousand  church 
members." 

"A  grand  factor  in  the  wonderful  success  of  Texas  has 
been  Christian  education.  In  this  great  work,  Texas  Baptist? 
have  excelled,  and  continue  to  excel,  all  other  denominationa, 
and  the  State  herself,  vnth  her  millions  of  money.  The  won- 
derful success  of  Texas  Baptists  demonstrates  the  fact  that  the 
men  who  educate  the  youth  of  the  State  control  the  State. 

In  conclusion,  dear  brethren,  after  reviewing  the  last 
fiftv  years,  let  us  thank  God  and  take  courage  and  resolve,  by 


278  .    The  Life  and  Writings  of 

God's  help,  that  ibe  next  fifty  years  shall  be  more  glorious 
than  the  last  fifty.  If  our  brethren,  with  only  three  littlt 
churches  and  three  preachers  and  ninety-two  members,  sur- 
rounded by  8,000,000  hostile  Mexicans  and  60,000  Indians, 
increased  two-thousand-fold  in  fifty  years,  what  may  we  not 
do  by  1940  ?  Can  we  not  establish  a  Baptist  Church  and  Sab- 
bath School  in  every  neighborhood  of  Texas  and  girdle  this 
entire  planet  with  Texas  Baptist  missionaries? 

Let  us,  to-day,  banish  every  root  of  bitterness  and  all 
strife  far  away  from  us;  let  us,  in  honor,  prefer  one  another; 
let  us  stand  firmly  on  the  old  landmarks  established  by  Christ 
and  His  apostles;  let  us  resolve  to  ever  preach  "Jesus  only, 
Jesus  only,"  then,  when  our  children  shall  assemble,  per- 
chance on  this  very  spot,  to  celebrate  the  100th  anniversary 
of  this  dear  old  Association,  our  beloved  Texas  will  be  the 
greatest,  wisest,  holiest  State  between  the  oceans,  and,  filled 
mth  millennial  light  and  glory  and  Baptist  Churches,  shall 
shine  as  the  stars  of  heaven.  For  which  let  us  ever  pray,  and 
toil,  and  sacrifice  our  time,  our  means,  and,  if  need  be,  our 
lives." 

Returning  to  the  eighth  annual  session  of  the  State  Con- 
vention held  at  Independence  in  1855,  two  reports  are  re- 
produced, in  which  Dr.  Burleson  was  much  interested.  Like 
all  his  published  documents,  they  afford  an  insight  into  the 
events  of  the  times,  and  development  of  denominational  char- 
acter. 

Report  of  Committee  on  Education. 

"Your  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  subject  of 
education,  beg  leave  to  report  as  follows :  That  while  they 
hope  and  pray  that  the  time  may  never  come,  that  mental 
cultivation,  either  in  the  ministry  or  laity,  shall  take  the  place 
of  holiness  of  heart,  the  real  in-dwelling  of  the  Holy  Ghost; 
that  while  they  should  regard  such  a  state  of  things  as  fatal 
to  the  salvation  of  the  soul,  and  to  every  interest  dear  to  the 
heart  of  the  Redeemer,  still,  they  are  impressed  with  the  neces- 
sity of  our  presenting  to  the  world  a  highly  intelligent  laity, 
and  a  ministry  profoundly  learned.  The  age  is  advancing, 
and  the  church  and  the  ministry  must  be  advancing,  in  order 
to  meet  the  necessities  of  the  age. 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  279 

The  Gospel  must  be  carried  to  every  nation,  kingdom, 
tribe  and  people.  To  comprehend  this  work,  and  to  do  it,  we 
must  have  education,  deep  thorough,  and  extensive.  Infidelity 
is,  in  every  new  age,  assuming  some  new  shape — is  attaching 
itself  to  some  new  branch  of  learning.  To  wrest  its  weapons 
from  its  mighty  hands,  and  to  turn  them  with  potency  against 
itseK,  we  must  have  learning.  And  more;  we,  as  a  denomina- 
tion, have  the  truth — we  are  the  only  denomination  that  has 
the  whole  truth,  so  far  as  the  ordinances  of  church  organization 
are  concerned;  hence,  we  have  the  religious  world  against  us. 
!N'ow,  to  silence  this  opposition — to  give  to  the  world  the  pure 
word  and  a  pure  gospel — ^we  must  have  learning.  Hence  we 
regard  the  Baptist  denomination  as  under  solemn  obligations 
to  give  to  the  world,  and  all  coming  generations,  to  present  to 
the  world  a  pious  laity  and  a  holy  ministry,  armed  with  all  the 
graces  of  the  spirit,  and  at  the  same  time  furnished  with  all  that 
science  and  learning  can  do  towards  aiding  him  in  his  great 
work.  Hence,  we  would  recommend  to  all  our  churches,  that 
they  foster,  with  pious  solicitude  and  generous  sacrifice,  our 
own  beloved  University;  that  they  sustain  our  paper,  and  that 
they  furnish  themselves  and  their  families,  well  selected  lib- 
raries ;  that  they,  by  every  lawful  means,  encourage  a  taste  for 
reading,  and  that  they  seek  to  form  habits  of  thought  among 
the  children — -the  rising  generation. 

J.  M.  MAXCY, 

R.  c.  burleso:n^ 

J.  V.  WEIGHT, 

Committee. 

!N^o  people  were  ever  more  thoroughly  saturated  with  the 
spirit  of  Missions  than  the  early  Texas  Baptists.  There  was 
not  a  people  of  any  tongue  or  tribe  in  the  state,  to  whom 
their  attention  wa?  not  turned,  and  to  whom  they  did  not  offer 
the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  Much  of  their  time  had  been  em- 
ployed in  standing  guard  over  their  families,  and  crops,  to 
prevent  the  first  named  from  being  butchered  by  the  Indians, 
and  their  crops  being  wasted.  They  often  followed  the  plow 
with  their  trusty  rifles  swinging  to  one  handle,  to  prevent 
themselves  from  being  ruthlessly  slaughtered.  Neither  was  it 
an  uncommon  occurrence  for  them  to  carrv  their  guns  to  the 


280  TiTE  Life  and  Writings  of 

church  and  worship  God  with  a  Bible,  or  Hymn  Book  in  one 
hand,  and  their  rifles  in  the  other. 

JSTot withstanding,  they  were  as  eager  to  give^the  Gospel  to 
the  Indians,  as  if  they  had  been  the  recipients  of  naught  save 
love  at  their  hands.  The  solicitude  for  the  salvation,  and 
spiritual  welfare  of  these  people,  is  indicated  by  the  following 
report : 

Report  of  Special  Committee  on  Indian  Missions. 

"Your  committee  was  appointed  to  report  on  the  condi- 
tion of  those  Indians,  especially,  near  Fort  Belknap,  who  are 
under  the  supervision  of  the  government  of  the  United  States. 
There  are  portions  of  seventeen  different  tribes  of  Indians, 
settled  near  Fort  Belknap,  who  are  now  under  the  supervision 
of  agents  appointed  by  the  Executive  of  the  United  States. 
They  are  provided  with  bread  and  beef  by  our  government, 
and  are  being  taught  agricultural  and  other  industrial  pur- 
suits. 

"The  crop  of  com  made  by  the  Indians  this  year  was 
good,  considering  the  great  drouth.  This  gives  promise  of 
what  they  may  do  in  future.  But  the  government  takes  no 
oversight  of  their  religious  interest.  E"or  should  it.  This 
duty  is  binding  on  Christians,  as  such.-  Owing  to  our  proxi- 
mity to  them,  it  is  our  duty  under  God,  to  do  what  we  can  for 
their  religious  condition,  and  respectfully  call  the  attention  of 
the  Indian  Mission  Board  to  this  subject.  We  recommend 
that  the  Committee  or  Board  appoint  some  brother,  whose  duty 
it  shall  be  to  visit  those  tribes,  with  the  permission  of  the 
agent,  and  ascertain  the  propriety  of  establishing  a  Mission 
among  them,  and  the  probability  of  finding  interpreters,  such 
as  will  enable  a  minister  of  Christ  to  commence  early  preach- 
ing to  them,  and  to  report  the  result  of  his  visit  to  the  com- 
mittee or  board. 

RUFUS  C.  BUELESON", 

Chairman  of  the  Committee." 

The  above  report  was  the  subject  of  an  interesting  dis- 
cussion by  the  delegates  present.  Dr.  Burleson  introduced  the 
following  resolution,  which  was  adopted: 

Resolved  further,  That  the  Board  of  Managers  be  re- 
quested to  open  a  correspondence  with  the  American  Indian 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson. 


281 


Mission  Association  on  the  importance  on  establishing  an  In- 
dian Mission  in  the  limits  of  Texas,  and  that  this  convention 
pledges  its  hearty  co-operation  in  supporting  the  same. 

General  James  W.  Barnes  the  Treasurer,  submitted  his 
annual  report  which  covered  every  item  of  disbursement  dur- 
ing the  year,  and  the  source  from  which  all  money  had  been 
received.  The  finances  had  kept  pace  with  the  advance  along 
all  other  lines.  The  report  showed  $2,141.84  had  been  re- 
ceived, $1,972.09  had  been  paid  out,  leaving  a  balance  of 
$169.Y5  in  cash  in  the  treasurv. 


.^iSi^C5^ 


<^''^-v     ^^>* 


282  The  Life  and  Writings  of 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 


Convention  Ready  to  Place  Any  Honor  at  Dr.  Burleson's 
Command — Elected  Vice-President  in  1856 — A  Jubi- 
lee Session — Last  Paragraph  in  the  Proceedings — • 
H.  Clark  and  P.  B.  Chandler  the  only  Known  Sur- 
vivors OF  These  Early  Conventions  —  Convention 
Adjourned  to  Meet  in  Caldwell,  but  Place  Changed 

TO  HUNTSVILLE  ON  AcCOUNT  OF  SeVEEE  DrOUGHT CON- 
VENTION OF  1857 — General  Houston  a  Delegate  and 
Offers  Report  on  Indian  Missions — Romantic  Chap- 
ter IN  Gen.  Houston's  Life — Lives  with  the  Indians 
— Conversant  with  Indian  Character,  and  Competent 
TO  Discuss  Indian  Missions — Dr.  Burleson's  Report 
AND  Resolution  on  Indian  Missions — Dr.  H.  F.  Buck- 
NER,  AND  His  Consecrated  Co-Laborers. 


^1 ""'  HE  convention  was  ready  to  place  any  honor  at  Mr. 
-— —  Burleson's  command  he  might  desire,  but  owing  to 
^^^J  onerous  and  growing  school  duties  he  could  not  ac- 
cept an  office  that  involved  any  considerable  work.  When, 
however,  it  came  to  the  election  of  officers,  at  the  session  held 
in  Anderson,  October  26th,  1856,  he  was  made  one  of  the  Vice- 
Presidents. 

It  was  here  the  convention  had  been  organized  eight  years 
before,  and  this  was  made  something  of  a  jubilar  occasion. 
Mr.  Burleson  led  off,  and  many  others  followed  in  eloquent 
addresses,  in  which  the  onward  and  upward  tendency  of  Bap- 
tist affairs  in  Texas,  was  amplified. 


Dr.  Kufus  C.  Bukleson.  283 

Turning  to  the  old  M.  S.  record  of  the  proceedings  of 
this  session,  the  following  closing  paragraph  is  copied,  to  show 
how  the  spirits  of  these  early  saints  flowed,  on  that  noted 
occasion : 

"After  singing  a  parting  hymn,  and  giving  each  other  the 
parting  hand,  and  a  fervent  prayer  by  Rev.  Henry  L.  Graves, 
the  convention  adjourned  to  meet  at  Caldwell,  Burleson 
county,  on  Saturday  before  the  fourth  Sabbath  in  October, 
1857." 

''And  thus  ended  one  of  the  most  pleasant  and  harmonious 
sessions  of  this  body.  A  spirit  of  brotherly  love  eminently 
characterized  all  its  discussions,  and  an  ardent  desire  to  pro- 
mote the  Kedeemer's  Kingdom,  seemed  to  pervade  every  ac- 
tion. So  may  it  ever  be;  and  when  our  work,  brethren,  shall 
be  done,  may  it  be  well  done,  and  well  approved  by  our  Di- 
vine Lord  and  Master." 

HORACE  CLARK, 
Recording  Secretary. 

The  man  who  forty-five  years  ago,  penned  the  above,  is 
still  alive,  83  years  old,  and  awaits  with  complacency  the  com- 
mand of  that  Divine  Lord,  to  whom  he  referred  to  come  up, 
and  enjoy  unending  rest  as  the  reward  of  a  well  spent  life. 
There  may  be  more,  but  the  only  other  man  now  living,  De- 
cember 20th,  1901,  the  day  on  which  this  chapter  is  written, 
who  participated  in  these  early  conventions,  is  that  noble  old 
Roman,  P.  B.  Chandler,  now  85  years  old. 

Ah !  but  these  old  sanctified  spirits,  and  saintly  souls,  who 
then  lived  in  the  brush,  read  their  Bibles  by  torchlights,  rode 
hundreds  of  miles  to  these  meetings  on  horseback,  staked  their 
horses  and  slept  under  trees  en  route,  raised  their  children  on 
sheep  skins,  lived  on  bread  and  the  promises  of  God,  gave  to 
missions,  and  sold  rawhides  to  raise  the  money,  and  worshiped 
God  on  puncheon  floors,  may  have  been,  and  doubtless  were 
deprived  of  many  of  the  luxuries,  and  even  comforts  which  the 
people  enjoy  to-day,  but  their  souls  were  mellow  with  the 
Love  of  God,  and  they  so  lived,  that  they  could  reach  out, 
day  or  night,  and  catch  His  Divine  hand. 

As  noticed  the  convention  adjourned  at  Anderson  to  meet 
in  Caldwell,  but  a  foot  note  to  the  proceedings  says,  "in  con- 


284  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

sequence  of  a  severe  drought  prevailing  in  Burleson  county, 
the  place  for  holding  the  session  of  the  convention  in  1857, 
was  changed  to  Huntsville,  Walker  county."  The  convention 
therefore  met  in  Huntsville  October  24th,  1857,  and  remained 
in  session  four  days. 

Mr.  Burleson  presented  the  report  of  the  committee  on 
Sunday  Schools,  which  is  here  given  for  the  reasons,  that  we 
have  not  heretofore  referred  to  his  advocacy  and  love  for  this 
institution,  and  second,  because  the  report  is  a  most  excellent 
production. 

Report  on  Sabbath  Schools. 

Sabbath  Schools  have  long  since  lost  the  charm  of  nov- 
elty, and  your  committee  are  impressed  deeply  with  the  con- 
viction that  their  importance  is  overlooked  and  also  that  we  are 
falling  into  some  fatal  errors.  We  will  therefore  present  the 
following  dictates  and  suggestions  for  your  prayerful  consid- 
eration : 

First.  That  all  human  experience  demonstrates  that 
early  impressions  are  most  powerful  and  usually  fix  our  destiny 
for  good  or  evil,  for  eternal  joy  or  misery.  Geologists  find  that 
when  the  molded  lava  is  first  thrown  up  and  in  a  formative 
state  that  a  little  sparrow  lighting  upon  it  will  leave  its  foot- 
prints for  thousands  of  years;  so  with  the  moral  want  when  first 
cast  upon  the  shores  of  time.  Impressions  then  made  usually 
give  a  moral  tinge  or  coloring  which  grow  brighter  or  blacker 
not  only  in  time  but  forever. 

In  view  of  these  facts  statesmen  and  philosophers  have 
ever  felt  the  deepest  solicitude  for  the  rising  generation. 
Roman  mothers  were  so  careful  on  this  point  that  they  would 
not  commit  their  sons  and  daughters  to  any  but  the  most 
eminent  for  purity  and  patriotism.  Sparta  provided  for  the 
education  of  the  youth  at  the  public  expense.  Luther  charged 
his  co-laborers  "be  sure  to  train  the  children."  "Take  care 
of  the  children  and  success  is  sure."  The  great  and  good  Dr. 
Watts  spent  years  of  his  life  in  composing  "sacred  songs  for 
the  children,"  and  nothing  in  his  whole  life  indicates  more 
clearly  his  profound  wisdom. 

But  One,  greater  than  all  the  statesmen,  poets  and  di- 
YJnes  said,  "Suffer  little  children  to  come  unto  me  and  forbid 


De.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  285 

them  not."  And  when  he  takes  them  up  in  His  arms  and 
blesses  them,  He  leaves  an  example  never  to  be  forgotten  nor 
to  be  neglected.  In  view  of  such  facts  how  painful  is  it  to 
learn  that  a  number  of  churches  have  no  Sabbath  Schools  and 
no  means  for  the  religious  instruction  for  the  youth,  and 
learn,  too,  how  many  of  our  members  and  even  preachers  are 
nevei  seen  in  the  Sunday  School,  while  scores  of  children 
wander  about  the  streets  and  neighborhood  ^'corrupting  with 
one  another."  Our  endurance  and  neglect  is  rendered  more 
fearful  from  the  course  of  the  enemies  of  religion. 

Infidels  following  ;he  example  of  Voltaire  and  Volney 
are  exerting  every  power  by  books,  periodicals,  "and  philos- 
ophy so-called,"  to  sow  the  seeds  of  skepticism  in  the  minds  of 
our  young  men  and  thus  introduce  another  "Reign  of  Terror," 
and,  fasten  the  chain  of  error  upon  the  first  consciousness  of 
childhood.  In  view  of  these  solemn  facts  your  committee  in 
conclusion  would  urge  that  they  have  church  organizations 
and  Sabbath  Schools. 

Second.  That  preachers  and  parents  co-operate  with 
teachers  by  their  counsels  and  presence  to  awaken  and  in- 
crease their  interest  in  Sabbath  Schools. 

Third.  Let  us  as  Baptists  not  only  send  our  children  to 
Sabbath  School,  but  indoctrinate  them  early  and  fully  in  the 
peculiar  and  heaven-born  doctrines  of  our  church,  so  that  when 
we  are  gone  they  may  stand  like  the  ocean  behind  rocks, 
amidst  all  the  dashing  billows  of  error  and  infidelity  and  be- 
come blessed  pillars  in  the  temple  of  God. 
Respectfully  submitted, 

K.  C.  BURLESOK,  Chairman. 

General  Sam  Houston  was  a  member  of  the  convention, 
a  delegate  from  the  Huntsville  church.  He  was  made  chair- 
man of  the  committee  on  Indian  Missions.  He  presented  the 
report  of  the  committee  to  the  convention,  and  discussed  the 
subject  before  that  body. 

Repoet  on  Indian  Missions. 

Your  committee  on  Indian  Missions  have  had  the  same 
under  consideration,  and  beg  leave  to  report,  that  in  the  judg- 
ment of  your  committee  the  only  available  plan  to  accomplish 


286  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

anything  with  the  Indians  on  our  frontier,  would  be  to  recom- 
mend to  the  government  to  make  an  appropriation  to  erect  suit- 
able buildings  and  instruction  schools  under  the  supervision 
of  such  missionary  as  may  be  appointed  by  your  Board  for  that 
purpose,  and  to  preach  in  the  surrounding  country  to  the  desti- 
tute. 

That  this  is  an  enterprise  worthy  of  our  prayerful  con- 
sideration, will  appear  self -evidently  clear  by  reference  to  the 
report  of  our  Missionaries  of  last  year.  In  that  we  see  some 
five  or  six  hundred  children  there  at  two  stations  under  the 
age  of  12  years  old.  Could  these  children  be  gathered  into 
schools  and  their  young  minds  raised  from  their  present  chan- 
nel of  degradation  and  shame,  to  the  paths  of  virtue  and  knowl- 
edge, then  might  their  parents  and  the  whole  nation  he  reached 
by  the  glorious  results  that  eternity  alone  can  fully  develop. 

All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted, 

SAM  HOUSTOI^,  Chairman. 

ISTo  man  was  better  prepared  to  discuss  this  subject  than 
this  old  Christian  hero.  He  had  spent  three  years  with  the 
Cherokee  Indians  in  Western  Arkansas  in  his  younger  days, 
and  no  person  then  living  had  a  better  insight  into  their  lives 
and  a  clearer  conception  of  the  spiritual  side  of  their  charac- 
ters. This  will  be  admitted  when  the  following  history  of 
Gen.  Houston's  connection  with  these  untutored  savages  has 
been  read.  The  quotation  is  from  "The  Life  of  Sam  Hous- 
ton," by  Dr.  Wm.  Carey  Crane.  In  order  to  make  this  chap- 
ter in  Gen.  Houston's  life  intelligent,  which  easily  equals,  if  it 
does  not  eclipse,  in  all  the  elements  of  romance  any  truthful 
story  ever  told,  and  to  present  the  reasons  for  his  voluntary 
exilement,  it  must  be  understood  that  ''In  January,  1829,  he 
was  married  to  a  young  lady  of  i-eputable  connections,  and 
gentle  character.  Her  kindred  were  personal  and  political 
friends  of  Gen.  Houston,  and  had  zealously  supported  him  in 
his  political  canvasses.  The  whole  country  was  taken  by  sur- 
prise when,  about  three  months  afterward,  a  separation  took 
place  ISTo  publication,  either  by  Gen.  Houston  or  the  lady, 
has  ever  furnished  the  reason  for  this  remarkable  proceeding. 
Unfounded  reports,  bom  of  bitter  malignity,  were  scattered 
through  Tennessee,  and  the  popular  feeling  was  so  completely 


Dk.  RuFua  C.  BuKLEsoN,  287 

inflamed  that,  in  this  strange  excitement,  the  State  was  divided 
into  two  hostile  parties.  His  name  was  denounced,  imperti- 
nent disturbers  of  the  peace  did  not  hesitate  to  charge  him 
Avith  every  species  of  crime  ever  committed  by  man.  He 
offered  no  denial  to  these  allegations,  and  to  his  dying  day  ever 
spoke  of  this  lady  in  terms  of  unqualified  respect  and  kindness. 
He  never  authorized  any  explanation  of  this  singular  event, 
but  was  wont  to  say  in  reply  to  all  inquiry :  'This  is  a  pain- 
ful, but  a  private  affair.  I  do  not  recognize  the  right  of  the 
public  to  inquire  into  it,  and  shall  treat  the  public  as  though 
it  had  never  happened.  And  remember  that,  whatever  may 
be  said  by  the  lady  or  her  friends,  it  is  no  part  of  the  conduct 
of  a  gallant  or  generous  man  to  take  up  arms  against  a  woman. 
If  my  character  cannot  withstand  the  shock,  let  me  lose  it.  This 
storm  will  soon  sweep  by,  and  time  will  be  my  vindicator.' 
Over  fifty  years  have  elapsed  since  this  strange  event  occurred, 
and  it  cannot  do  any  party  to  this  strange  affair  any  injustice 
to  make  the  only  statement  known  to  have  been  made  by  him 
to  another.     ************* 

]Srearly  two  years  after  his  death,  and  about  two  years 
before  the  second  Mrs.  Houston's  death  (1867),  she  gave  the 
writer  (Dr.  W.  C.  Crane)  the  only  clew  to  the  separation  from 
the  first  Mrs.  Houston  that  ever  escaped  the  General's  lips.  It 
can  be  summed  up  in  a  few  words.  ******* 
The  first  Mrs.  Houston,  three  months,  after  the  marriage, 
admitted  to  her  husband  that  he  had  not  won  her  heart.  To  a 
man  of  Gen.  Houston's  fervid  impulses,  poetical  temperament, 
and  knightly  attachment  to  woman's  virtues,  this  admission 
was  overwhelming.  The  heroism  which  had  dared  death  on 
the  battlefield,  the  fortitude  which  had  endured  the  excru- 
ciating pain  of  unhealed  wounds,  were  insufficient  for  the 
ordeal,  and  he  succumbed  and  resolved  upon  exile  among  the 
Indians. 

*  *  *  •:<-****  * 

While  a  runaway  boy  among  the  Cherokee  Indians  in  the 
Jli  Wassee  country,  Oolooteka,  the  chief,  adopted  young  Hous- 
ton as  his  son,  and  gave  him  shelter  and  protection.  In  the 
course  of  events  this  chief  had  removed  to  Arkansas,  and  had 
become  principal  chief  of  his  tribe  in  that  country.     Tokens  of 


288  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

fond  recollection  passed  between  him  and  his  adopted  son 
during  their  separation. 

Eleven  eventful  years  had  passed,  but  their  attachment 
knew  no  abatement.  Resigning  the  gubernatorial  chair  of 
Tennessee,  he  determined  to  wend  his  way  to  the  wigwam  of 
this  old  Cherokee  chief.  ******  Embarking 
on  a  steamer  on  the  Cumberland  River,  he  separated  from  his 
devoted  friends,  amid  evidences  of  warm  affection,  presenting 
a  scene  of  touching  tenderness.  The  chief  honors  of  the  State 
had  crowned  him.  He  had  filled  its  highest  stations.  In  the 
streng-th  and  vigor  of  his  early  manhood,  he  stood  forth,  in  his 
thirty-fifth  year,  a  man  of  the  people,  toward  whose  future 
promotion  all  his  friends  had  looked  with  eager  anticipations 
of  a  brilliant  career.     *********** 

From  ISTashville  he  went  by  steamer  to  Little  Rock,  thence 
400  miles  to  the  northwest  to  the  falls  of  the  Arkansas  River. 
He  traveled  alternately  by  land  and  water.  ]^ear  the  mouth 
of  the  niinois,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Arkansas,  the  old  Chief 
Oolooteka  had  built  his  wigwam.  Above  Fort  Smith,  on 
both  sides  of  the  river,  the  Cherokees  had  settled.  *  *  * 
It  was  night  when  the  boat  reached  the  landing.  A  message 
was  sent  to  the  chief  that  Colonebe  (Gen.  Houston's  Indian 
name)  had  arrived.  Bringing  with  him  all  his  family,  the 
chief  came  to  greet  his  adopted  son.  Throwing  his  arms 
around  him,  and  embracing  him  with  great  affection,  the  old 
chief  said:  'My  son,  eleven  winters  have  passed  since  we 
met.  My  heart  has  \vondered  often  where  you  were.  I 
heard  you  were  a  great  chief  among  your  people.  Since  we 
parted  by  the  falls  as  you  went  up  the  river,  I  have  heard  that 
a  dark  cloud  had  fallen  on  the  white  path  you  were  walking, 
and  when  it  fell  on  your  way,  you  turned  toward  my  wig- 
wam. I  am  glad.  It  was  done  by  the  Great  Spirit.  There 
are  many  wise  men  among  your  people,  and  they  have  many 
counselors  in  your  section.  We  are  in  trouble,  and  the  Great 
Spirit  has  sent  you  to  us,  to  give  us  counsel  and  take  trouble 
away  from  us.  I  know  you  will  be  our  friend,  for  our  hearts 
are  near  to  you,  and  you  will  tell  our  trouble  to  the  Great 
Father,  Gen.  Jackson.  My  wigwam  is  yours;  my  home  is 
yours;  my  people  are  yours;  rest  with  us.' 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Bueleson.  289 

Such  a  greeting  took  largely  from  his  breast  the  bitter 
gloom  and  sorrow  of  the  past  few  weeks.  He  was  at  home  and 
the  wanderer  had  rest." 

Here  he  remained  three  years,  rendering  every  service 
possible  in  redressing  the  wrongs  of  these  people,  meanwhile 
studying  their  character  and  habits,  until  manifest  destiny 
called  him  to  Texas.  The  struggling  State  was  not  the  only 
beneficiary  of  his  coming.  Baptist  councils  were  aided  by  his 
advice,  and  Baylor  University  with  both  his  mind  and  means. 

In  Texas  he  was  not  only  to  deal  with  Anglo-Saxons  and 
the  principles  of  human  liberty,  Mexicans  and  Mexican  des- 
potism, but  with  uncounted  tribes  of  Indians,  with  their  pecu- 
liar idiosyncracies  as  well.  In  his  exile  he  had  studied  their 
character  carefully,  and  hence  not  only  knew  what  they 
needed,  and  exactly  how  to  approach  them,  but  to  plan  for 
their  advancement.  A  more  beautiful  specimen  of  English 
composition  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  whole  range  of  English 
literature  than  Gen.  Houston's  letter  to  Eed  Bear,  written  in 
old  Washington-on-the-Brazos,  dated  October  the  18th,  1842. 
And,  while  it  forms  no  part  of  this  record,  the  inclination  to 
insert  it  is  almost  irresistible. 

Dr.  Burleson's  relations  with  Gen.  Houston  were  of  the 
most  intimate  character.  They  discussed  all  subjects  freely 
and  confidentially.  They  had  talked  over  the  spiritual  condi- 
tion of  the  Texas  Indians,  which,  possibly,  led  Mr.  Burleson 
to  make  his  report  on  Indian  Missions  during  the  session  of  the 
convention  held  at  Anderson  in  1856,  in  which  he  insisted  that 
"it  is  our  duty  as  Christians  to  do  what  we  can  for  these  peo- 
ple." And  later  in  the  session  to  introduce  the  resolution  ?:nd 
recommend  that  the  "Board  of  Managers  of  the  convention 
open  correspondence  with  the  American  Indian  Mission  Asso- 
ciation on  the  supreme  importance  of  establishing  an  Indian 
Mission  within  the  limits  of  Texas." 

It  is  not  claimed  that  during  the  years  that  Gen.  Houston 
lived  with  Indians  in  Arkansas  that  he  then  bestowed  any 
thought  on  their  religious  condition  and  the  importance  of 
taking  any  steps  whatever  looking  to  the  establishment  of 
missions  among  them.  He  was  not  then  a  Christian,  and  his 
mind  was  engrossed  with  his  own  troubles  and  the  affairs  of 


290 


The  Life  and  Wkitings  of 


the  world.  After  his  conversion,  however,  Mr.  Burleson's 
report  on  this  subject  and  his  resolutions  directed  Gen.  Hous- 
ton's mind  to  this  field  and  to  these  neglected  people,  and 
induced  him  to  present  the  report  on  the  subject  at  the  session 
of  the  convention  held  in  Huntsville  in  1857. 

Who  knows,  and  who  but  God  does  know,  but  what  these 
acts  of  Dr.  Burleson  and  Gen.  Houston,  in  Baptist  State  Con- 
vention of  Texas,  in  1856  and  1857,  held  at  Anderson  and 
Huntsville,  may  have,  in  some  way,  at  some  time,  in  some 
place,  influenced  Dr.  H.  F.  Buckner  to  consecrate  his  life  and 
give  his  life  for  the  good  of  these  people.  And  from  this 
beginning,  through  the  influence  of  this  great  man  and  all 
who  labored  with  him,  the  present  standing  and  strength  of 
Baptists  among  the  Indians  in  the  territory  has  grown. 


Db.  Kufus  C.  Burleson.  291 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 


Texas  Pathmakers  Came  in  a  Struggle,  Lived  Amid  Con- 
flict, Worked  "Without  Means,  and  Built  for  All 
Time — Not  Moved  by  the  Courage  of  Cowards,  but 
From  a  Sense  of  Duty  and  Love  for  Humanity — To 
Say  They  Were  'Not  Successful  Would  Be  to  Brand 
A  Thousand  Eecords  as  Brazen  Lies — Dr.  Burleson 
Elected  President  of  the  Convention  in  1858 — Re- 
elected IN  1859 — Rev.  H.  Garrett  Reports  Baylor 
Booming — IN'ew  Buildings  Erected — Dr.  Burleson 
Takes  a  Vacation — Travels  East — Visits  the  Mai^i- 
MOTH  Cave — Bottomless  Pit — Fat  Man's  Misery — ' 
Bunyan's  Way — Echo  River — Gorin's  Dome — ^Meth- 
odist Church. 
"  God  give  us  men!     A  time  like  this  demands 

Strong  minds,  great  hearts,  true  faith  and  ready  hands; 
Men  whom  the  lust  of  office  does  not  kill, 

Men  whom  the  spoils  of  office  cannot  buy, 
Men  who  possess  opinions  and  a  will, 

Men  who  have  honor,  men  who  will  not  he, 
Men  who  can  stand  before  a  demagogue. 

And  damn  his  treacherous  flatteries  without  winking! 
Tall  men,  sun  crowned,  who  hve  above  the  fog 

In  pubhc  duty  and  in  private  thinking. 
For  while  the  rabble,  with  their  thumb-worn  creeds, 

Their  large  professions  and  their  httle  deeds, 
Mingle  in  selfish  strife— lo!  Freedom  weeps. 

Wrong  rules  the  land,  and  waiting  Justice  sleeps!" 

]Sr  NO  State  in  the  American  Union  have  the  Path- 
makers  more  cheerfully  answered  this  call  and  more 

fully  filled  this  demand,  than  the  trench-diggers  of 

Texas  during  the  times  of  which  we  have  written  and  are  now 
writing. 


292  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

Thej  came  in  a  struggle,  lived  among  conflicts,  worked 
without  means,  and  built  for  all  time.  They  did  not  move 
forward  with  the  courage  of  cowards,  pressed  into  service  at 
the  point  of  the  bayonet,  but  were  all  volunteers,  actuated 
by  a  sense  of  duty,  love  for  God,  their  country  and  humanity. 
To  say  that  their  struggles  were  not  successful  would  be  to 
brand  a  thousand  records  as  brazen  lies,  and  denounce  a  thou- 
sand ocular  demonstrations  as  halucinatory  monstrosities  and 
every  one  of  the  five  senses  enfeebled,  if  not  in  a  state  of  ruin. 

They  not  only  fought  for  a  place  to  stand,  but  hewed  out 
a  government,  fostered  commerce,  provided  for  transportation 
facilities,  built  churches,  established^  schools,  and  reckoned  for 
everything  else  desirable  in  civilized  life. 

The  Baptist  State  Convention  met  at  Independence,  Octo- 
ber 23d,  1858.  Thirty  churches  and  eleven  associations  were 
represented.  Dr.  R.  C.  Burleson  was  elected  President.  The 
convention  employed  eleven  missionaries  for  this  year,  who 
reported  fourteen  churches  organized  and  three  hundred  and 
eleven  persons  baptized.  The  Board  of  Trustees  stated  that 
an  elegant  three-story  stone  building  had  been  completed  for 
the  Female  Department  of  Baylor  University,  and  the  Law  and 
all  other  departments  of  the  school  in  a  flourishing  condition. 
The  convention  adjourned  to  meet  in  AVaco,  October  2 2d, 
1859.  The  delegates  complained  that  Waco  would  be  a  little 
hard  to  reach,  but,  nevertheless,  in  deference  to  the  wishes  of 
the  members  of  the  little  Baptist  Church  of  that  place,  they 
would  start  early,  ride  horseback,  camp  out,  swim  creeks,  and 
be  on  hand.  They  were  there,  and  the  swelling  tide  of  suc- 
cess came  from  every  part  of  the  State.  Dr.  R.  C.  Burleson 
was  re-elected  President, 

Dr.  J.  R.  Graves,  from  Memphis,  Tenn.,  attended  this 
session  of  the  convention,  and  caused  every  Baptist  in  the  State 
to  stand  erect,  take  courage  and  walk  faster  by  one  of  the 
masterly  sermons  for  which  he  was  proverbial. 

Rev.  H.  Garrett,  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of 
Baylor  University,  in  his  annual  report  to  the  convention 
stated  that  a  two-story  stone  structure  for  the  Male  Depart- 
ment was  in  an  advanced  stage  of  completion ;  and  that  plans 
for  a  three-story  building,  56x112  feet,  to  cost  $30,000,  had 
been  adopted,  $15,000  of  which  amount  had  been  raised. 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burlesok".  293 

Tlie  first  story  of  the  proposed  building  was  completed 
by  Major  A.  G.  Haynes,  at  an  expense  of  $6,500.  The  war 
of  1861  coming  on,  building  operations  were  suspended,  the 
subscriptions  to  the  building  fund  rendered  valueless,  and 
Major  Haynes  lost  80  per  cent  of  the  amount  he  had 
advanced. 

Dr.  Burleson,  having  discharged  the  arduous  dutie-i  of 
corresponding  secretary  of  the  convention  for  six  consecutive 
years,  President  of  Baylor  University  eight,  President  of  the 
convention  for  two,  preaching  every  Sunday  to  some  weak 
church,  traveling  and  lecturing  in  the  interest  of  the  school, 
greatly  needed  respite  from  his  work.  He,  therefore,  took  a 
trip  East,  including  many  places  in  Alabama,  Mississippi  and 
Kentucky  in  the  itinerary.  His  letters  to  his  wife,  members 
of  the  Faculty,  Board  of  Trustees  and  personal  friends  while 
on  this  tour  are  racy,  entertaining  and  rich.  All  are  worth  pro- 
serving,  but  as  this  would  make  this  memoir  too  voluminous, 
we  reproduce  only  one.  This  particular  letter  is  selected  from 
the  great  number  as  possessing  more  general  interest.  It  was 
"written  to  Mrs.  Burleson : 

Mammoth  Cave,  Sept.. 7,  1859. 
My  Dear  Georgia: 

This  morning,  after  a  hearty  breakfast,  bur  company,  con- 
sisting of  Mr.  Shropshire  and  his  bride,  from  Columbus, 
Texas;  Mr,  Austill  of  Mobile,  Mr.  Marshall  and  his  sweet, 
modest  daughter,  Bettie,  of  Claibom,  Alabama,  and  Mr.  Mar- 
shall and  his  thoroughgoing  wife  (just  like  Mrs.  Captain 
Fuller)  and  their  beautiful  daughter,  Lillie,  of  Mobile,  and 
Mr.  Andrews,  a  Presbyterian  preacher,  and  Mr.  Chapman  of 
Ohio  and  myself,  dressed  up  in  "Cave  Costume"  to  "see 
sights"  in  this  worldwide  wonder.  And  do  you  think  you 
would  have  known  me  with  a  little  red  flanel  round-about  coat 
on,  a  rough  pair  of  pants  and  a  little  slick  cap  ?  I  was  a  sight. 
The  ladies  were  all  dressed  in  dark  gray  flannel,  tipped  with 
red,  made  in  genuine  bloomer  style,  and  didn't  they  look  funny  ? 
Upon  my  word,  they  looked  like  boys  going  to  school,  and  how 
ashamed  they  seemed  at  first! 

We  left  the  splendid  hotel,  capable  of  entertaining  three 
hundred  persons  (who  flock  here  from  Calcutta  and  China  and 


294  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

every  part  of  Europe  and  America),  and  after  walking  one 
hundred  and  fifty  yards  down  a  long  hollow  we  came  to  the 
mouth  of  the  cave,  surrounded  with  tall  poplar  trees.  Each 
lady  and  gentleman  was  furnished  by  our  excellent  guide, 
Mat  (who  has  been  a  guide  here  for  twenty-three  years),  witli 
a  lamp  and  walking  stick.  For  the  first  half  mile  we  saw 
nothing  of  peculiar  interest,  except  the  saltpeter  works,  where 
saltpeter  and  gunpowder  were  made  in  1812  and  1814. 

The  vats,  troughs,  wooden  pipes,  and  even  the  corncobs, 
on  which  they  fed  the  oxen,  were  as  sound  as  they  were  forty- 
seven  years  ago.  Such  is  the  infiuence  of  the  dryness  of  this 
part  of  the  cave  and  the  salt  atmosphere.  The  tracks  of  the 
cart  wheels  and  the  oxen,  made  in  soft  mud,  but  now  petrified, 
are  as  distinctly  seen  as  they  were  when  first  made  in  1812. 

The  first  objects  of  peculiar  interest  were  natural  forma- 
tions of  rock  representing  perfectly  a  giant's  coffin,  forty  feet 
long;  the  lid  was  as  perfect  as  I  ever  saw  on  a  coffin;  with  two 
other  natural  formations  ,4-epreseriting  his  wife  land  child 
weeping  by  his  coffin.  The  next  object  of  peculiar  interest 
was  a  beautiful  cascade,  falling  about  twenty -five  or  thirty  feet. 
Soon  the  old  guide  called  "Bottomless  pit,  be  careful,"  and  in 
a  moment  we  were  right  over  the  awful  cavern,  down  which 
we  threw  rock,  and  heard  them  going  down,  down,  down,  till 
the  sound  died  away.  You  have  heard  me  in  a  sermon  allude 
to  the  horrible  instance  of  man  losing  his  light  and  falling  over- 
board. 

My  soul  was  horror-stricken  when  I  gazed  down  into  this 
dark  and  horrible  vortex,  especially  when  one  of  our  company, 
foolhardy  like,  rushed  out  and  stood  upon  the  "slippery  verge" 
of  the  bottomless  pit  itself.  Some  of  our  ladies  grew  faint  at 
the  very  sight. 

Oh,  how  like  sinners  who  daily  sport  and  laugh  on  the 
^TQYj  verge  of  the  bottomless  pit  of  eternal  burning!  Soon 
we  passed  "Minerva  Dome,"  which  was  tvbout  seventy  feet 
high,  and  then  "side-saddle  pit,"  which  was  about  100  feet 
deep.  We  then  squeezed  through  a  natural  channel,  worn 
through  a  solid  limestone  rock  about  a  foot,  and  very  crooked, 
fitly  called  "Fat  Man's  Misery,"  and  so  it  proved  to  be  to  the 
big,  fat  men  of  our  company.  The  guide  smiled  and  said, 
"Ladies,  this  road  was  made  under  the  ^old  constitution,'  'be- 


De.  Rufus  C.  Bukleson.  295 

fore  hoops  came  in  fashion.'  "  I  thought  it  might  have  been 
called  "Tall  Man's  Misery,"  for  I  had  to  bend  nearly  double 
to  get  along.  The  old  guide  said,  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  I 
could  carry  you  through  "Bunyan's  Way,"  but  you  would 
have  to  crawl  on  your  hands  and  feet  one  hundred  and  fifty 
yards."  Thus  has  the  immortal  dreamer  written  his  name 
wherever  human  beings  go  or  human  hearts  beat  in  sympathy 
with  genius. 

We  then  passed  Bacon  House  Cave,  just  like  a  smoke- 
house, and  then  "The  Dead  Sea,"  a  sluggish  pool  thirty  feet 
deep.  We  also  crossed  "The  River  Styx"  on  a  "natural 
bridge,"  as  "Charon's  boat"  had  floated  away  amid  the  misty 
and  beautiful  legends  of  the  Greeks.  We  also  crossed  in  a 
ferryboat,  "Lettie,"  a  little  sluggish  stream,  but  it  didn't 
make  some  of  our  company  forget  their  fears.  One  man 
declared  he  had  "an  ager,"  and  one  beautiful  maiden,  with 
pallid  cheeks,  declared  she  had  not  "one  particle  of  curiosity," 
which  was  the  first  time  I  ever  gave  full  credit  to  such  a 
declaration  from  one  of  the  fair  sex.  Indeed,  times  were  a 
little  skittish.  It  was  damp,  and  we  were  three  miles  from 
the  mouth  of  the  cave,  and  about  three  hundred  feet  under 
ground. 

We  next  came  to  "Echo  River,"  and  walked  down  its 
sandy  banks  three  hundred  yards.  In  order  to  drive  away  the 
fears  of  the  timid,  and  by  way  of  keeping  up  my  courage  (like 
a  boy  whistling  in  a  graveyard),  I  challenged  a  young  man, 
Mr.  Shropshire,  of  Columbus,  Texas,  to  a  trial  of  strength  in 
going  the  running  jump.  After  several  trials  I  came  oft'  vic- 
tor by  throwing  my  feet  and  legs  forward  and  falling  flat  on 
my  back  in  the  deep,  loose  sand.  Would  not  this  have  looked 
funny  at  Baylor  University  ?  Our  band,  which  we  had  hired, 
struck  up  a  lively  tune  and  revived  our  courage  enough  to 
take  a  ride  of  one  and  three-fourths  miles  on  the  "Echo  River." 
The  sound  of  the  ladies'  voices  in  singing  echoed  and  re- 
echoed beautifully. 

The  musicians  had  walked  on  through  a  terrible  way, 
called  "Purgatory,"  and  got  ahead  of  us,  and,  oh !  how  lovely 
did  "Annie  Laurie"  float  along  the  dark  stillness  of  this  won- 
derful stream.  The  old  guide  told  us  to  repeat  some  name 
and  hear  it  echo  back  from  the  dark  cavern  below.     I  repeated 


296  The  Life  and  Weitings  of 

aloud  "Georgia,"  and  tlie  echo  came  back  "Georgia."  I  called 
aloud  "Jonnie,"  and  the  sweet  little  name  came  back 
"Jonnie !"  I  said  "Find  papa,"  and  the  echo  found  papa 
crying,  for  I  could  not  see  those  sweet  little  eyes  turned  on 
me.  Here  Jenny  Lind  sang  beautifully  on  her  visit  to  the 
cave  in  1849. 

Our  guide  fired  off  a  pistol  and  it  roared  like  a  cannon. 
Our  ladies  were  getting  very  tired,  and  we  had  reluctantly  to 
turn  our  course  back,  and  did  not  get  to  see  Cleveland's  Grotto, 
three  miles  from  ''Echo  River,"  and  said  to  have  such  beauti- 
ful formations  of  white  rock  as  to  represent  lilies  and  roses 
and  a  perfect  flower  garden,  six  miles  under  ground.  We 
retraced  our  steps,  and  reached  "Richardson  Spring"  at  12 
o'clock,  in  time  for  dinner,  which  we  ate  with  a  fine  appetite. 

We  next  visited  "Gorin  Dome,"  three  hundred  feet  high. 
It  beggars  all  description.  To  be  understood  it  must  be  seen. 
Our  guide  lighted  a  sulphurous  taper  and  threw  it  down,  and  it 
sent  forth  a  purple  light  that  illuminated  the  dome  from  top  to 
bottom.  We  then  came  back  wdthin  a  mile  of  the  mouth  of 
the  cave  and  took  the  main  channel,  the  arch  of  which  is  from 
sixty  to  ninety  feet  from  the  bottom.  We  passed  by  several 
small  cabins,  which  were  built  here  sixteen  years  ago  by  con- 
sumptive persons  to  live  in,  hoping  that  the  uniform  tempera- 
ture would  cure  them,  but  it  was  rather  injurious,  for  every 
one  that  lived  here  died  after  they  came  out,  though  they  felt 
well  when  they  were  here. 

We  next  visited  the  "Star  Chamber,"  one  of  the  grandest 
scenes  on  the  earth  or  under  the  earth.  The  cave  is  about  sixty 
feet  wide  and  eighty  feet  high  and  five  hundred  feet  long.  At 
the  top  there  is  a  perfect  galaxy  of  stars  and  a  comet,  formed 
by  bright  particles  of  stone  jutting  through  the  black  gyp- 
sum. "We  wondered  and  still  the  wonder  grew."  The  old 
guide  carried  all  our  lamps  behind  some  ledges  of  rocks,  and 
as  the  lights  disappeared  he  gave  us  the  exact  appearance  of  a 
thunder  cloud  coming  up.  We  could  see  the  stars  as  they  dis- 
appeared behind  the  dark  cloud.  Then  he  disappeared 
entirely  in  a  small  by-cave,  and  such  darkness  as  enveloped  us  ! 
Why,  I  reached  out  my  hand  and  tried  to  feel  it.  Very  soon 
the  guide  appeared  as  a  ghost  shrouded  in  a  bright  mist,  and 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Buklesojst.  297 

soon  we  saw  tlie  most  hideous  light  any  opium  eater  every  saw. 
The  guide  had,  by  putting  six  lamps  on  each  arm,  and  extend- 
ing them  upward,  represented  the  open  jaws  of  some  terrible 
monster,  and  he  so  worked  his  fingers  in  the  light  as  to  repre- 
sent teeth  covered  with  blood. 

We  next  visited  the  floating  cloud  hall,  and  then  "Gothic 
Chamber,"  which  is  about  three-fourths  of  a  mile  long  and 
exceedingly  beautiful. 

Lastly  we  visited  the  "Methodist  Church,"  a  magnificent 
room,  with  a  pulpit  twenty  feet  up  on  the  wall.  The  ceiling 
was  about  sixty  feet  high,  and  the  cave  was  at  least 
eighty  feet  wide  and  two  hundred  feet  long.  There, 
sixty  years  ago,  the  pioneer  Methodists  used  to  preach  the 
gospel,  and  I  should  think,  to  get  a  sinner  in  here  and  preach 
"hell  fire"  and  the  "bottomless  pits"  to  him,  he  would  repent 
and  'get  religion"  as  quick  as  he  could  lose  it.  "We  saw  the 
logs  they  used  for  seats.  They  were  not  backed  nor  cushioned, 
but  hewed  logs. 

We  then  had  a  grand  appearance  of  daylight  dawning  as 
we  approached  the  mouth  of  the  cave,  and  then  we  emerged 
into  daylight  again  after  having  been  in  the  cave  from  8 
o'clock  till  4  p.  m. 

Yours  affectionately, 

HUFUS  C.  BURLESO^T. 

Ml-.  Burleson  visited  his  old  home  on  Flint  river  before 
returning  from  this  tour,  and  preached  at  Mt.  Pisgah,  the 
church  he  had  joined  twenty  years  before.  This  has 
already  been  alluded  to,  but  is  recalled  to  relate  a  touching 
incident  of  the  service.  His  stepmother,  between  whom  and 
himseK  all  the  affectionate  relations  of  mother  and  son  existed, 
was  advanced  in  life,  in  feeble  health,  and  had  been  for  months 
confined  to  her  home.  Every  member  of  the  family  attended 
the  service,  but  at  first  she  did  not  feel  able  to  do  so.  After 
they  had  gone,  the  desire  to  hear  her  son  preach  overcame 
physical  infirmities  and  pain,  and  she  called  two  negro  boys. 
One  she  told  to  hitch  the  horses  to  the  carriage;  the  other  to 
go  to  the  church  in  all  haste  and  ask  her  son  not  to  begin  the 
sermon  until  she  arrived.  The  runner  reached  the  church 
just  as  Mr,   Burleson  entered  the  pulpit.     Capt.   Burleson 


298  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

approached  him  and  said:  "My  son,  your  mother  has  just 
sent  a  boy  to  tell  me  she  had  decided  to  come  out,  and  wants 
you  to  wait  until  her  arrival  before  commencing."  Mr.  Bur- 
leson aimounced  another  hymn,  and  by  the  time  it  was  fin- 
ished his  mother  drove  up,  stopped  at  a  side  window,  in  full 
view  of  her  preacher  son,  and  remained  in  the  carriage  while 
he  told  the  story  of  the  cross.  As  he  proceeded,  tears  of  joy 
trickled  down  this  saintly  mother's  cheek,  which  visibly 
affected  the  son,  and  this,  in  turn,  the  congregation,  until  all 
were  in  tears.     The  scene  was  touching  beyond  description. 


Dr.  Kufus  C.  Burleson.  299 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 


Dr.  Burleson's  Dominating,  Absorbing  Purpose  Was  to 
Make  Baylor  University  the  Peer  of  Any  Institution 
ON  THE  Continent — A  Man  of  Many  Ideas — Inter- 
ested in  All  Public  Questions — Early  Canvass  for 
Railroads — Elected  Vice-President  at  the  Fif- 
teenth Session  of  the  State  Convention — ^Published 
Proceedings  of  State  Convention  in  1848  and  1898 — 
EiRST  Catalogue  of  Baylor  University  in  1852,  and 
Catalogue  of  Same  School  in  1898  Compared — Cur- 
tain ON  EiRST  Era  of  Dr.  Burleson's  Life  Dropped, 
and  Scene  Shifted  to  Waco. 


IP  ROM  the  day  Dr.  Burleson  resigned  the  pastorate  of 
^^  the  Eirst  Baptist  Church  of  Houston,  in  1851,  the 
Ssi  dominating,  controlling  and  absorbing  purpose  of 
his  life  -was  to  make  Baylor  University  the  peer  of  any  insti- 
tution of  learning  on  the  continent.  Notwithstanding  this 
fact,  he  was  a  man  of  many  ideas.  His  affections  he  never 
permitted  to  be  divided,  but  he  knew  what  was  transpiring  in 
the  country,  and  extended  a  helping  hand  to  every  worthy 
enterprise,  and  encouraged  every  scheme  that  had  for  its 
object  the  glory  and  good  of  the  world.  He  worked  for  edu- 
cation, all  the  plans  of  the  convention,  railroads,  factories, 
transportation  facilities,  the  growth  of  towns.  He  was  inter- 
ested in  all  political  questions,  and  deeply  concerned  for  the 
welfare  and  prosperity  of  the  State,  as  scores  of  letters,  found 
among  his  papers,  from  Governors  Houston,  Pease,  Coke, 
Ross,  Ireland,  Hubbard,  Hogg  and  Culberson  indicate. 


300  The  Life  and  Weitings  of 

Among  the  earliest  canvasses  intended  to  encourage  the 
construction  of  railroads  in  the  State  was  made  by  Dr.  Burle- 
son. General  Houston  sought  him  at  his  home  at  Indepen- 
dence in  1853  for  the  purpose  of  conferring  with  him  and 
reaching  some  conclusion  as  to  the  wisest  plan  to  adopt 
to  foster  railroad  construction.  Dr.  Burleson  took  the 
matter  up,  delivered  addresses  at  railroad  meetings,  and  con- 
tributed many  articles  to  the  press  emphasizing  the  importance 
of  this  means  of  developing  Texas.  The  task  was  by  no  means 
easy.  The  people  were  not  perhaps  hostile  to  railroads,  but 
were  suspicious  of  the  men  who  proposed  them,  and  much 
more  suspicious  of  all  plans  proposed  for  building  them.  They 
recalled  the  questionable  methods  of  the  "Texas  Railroad, 
Navigation  and  Banking  Company"  in  this  direction,  com- 
menced in  1839.  The  history  of  this  huge  corporation,  with 
a  capital  stock  of  $10,000,000,  was  unsavory,  and  while  rail- 
roads were  valuable,  perhaps,  in  promoting  the  material  devel- 
opment of  the  country,  yet  all  companies  projecting  them 
might  prove  to  be  of  the  same  ilk.  While  advocating  rail- 
road construction  and  favoring  a  liberal  State  policy  toward 
them;  he  insisted  that  the  Government  should  reserve  the  right 
to  control  these  highways.  His  efforts  accomplished  good, 
and  were  continued  both  at  Independence  and  Waco  in  later 
years. 

Mr.  Burleson  attended  the  fourteenth  session  of  the  con- 
vention, held  at  Huntsville,  October  29th,  1861,  and  preached, 
by  request,  in  the  Methodist  Church.  He  also  attended  the 
session  held  in  Waco,  October  25th,  1862,  and  was  made  one 
of  the  three  Vice-Presidents. 

From  this  time  on,  until  1885,  he  disappears  from  the 
record  of  the  convention,  except  to  receive  its  courtesies  as  a 
visitor,  having  become  a  constituent  of  the  General 
Association. 

We  have  thus  far  traced  Dr.  Burleson's  record  from  his 
birth,  in  1823,  through  his  boyhood  and  manhood,  to  1861. 
when  he  tendered  his  resignation  as  President  of  Baylor  Uni- 
versity at  Independence.  We  then  dropped  back  and  traced 
his  connection  ^^ath  the  Baptist  State  Convention  from  its 
organization,  in  1848,  until  1864. 


De.  Rufus  C.  Bueleson.  301 

We  liave  striven  to  avoid  becoming  tedious  in  reciting  the 
events  of  his  interesting  career,  but  careful  to  omit  nothing- 
important  in  the  record,  for  the  ob\dous  reason  that  it  was 
during  this  period  in  his  life  that  he  was  making  history. 

Dr.  Burleson  performed  a  much  greater  amount  of  work 
for  the  University  at  Waco  than  for  the  University  at  Inde- 
pendence; so,  also,  he  did  more  work  in  the  General  Associa- 
tion than  in  the  State  Convention,  but  made  less  history. 

To  illustrate  what  is  meant  we  will  state :  The  proceed- 
ings of  the  first  session  of  the  Baptist  State  Convention,  in 
1848,  is  a  little  pamphlet  containing  twelve  pages.  The  pro- 
ceedings of  the  fiftieth  session,  held  in  Waco,  in  1898,  is  a 
book  of  155  pages.  The  last  lacks  only  one  page  of  being 
thirteen  times  as  large  as  the  first.  Still  not  a  precedent  was 
established  in  the  fiftieth  session,  while  the  proceedings  of  the 
first  session  were  all  precedents. 

Again.  The  first  catalogue  issued  of  Baylor  University, 
at  Independence,  in  1852,  was  a  little  pamphlet  of  fourteen 
small  pages.  The  catalogue  issued  of  the  same  school,  at 
Waco,  in  1898,  is  an  elegant  book  of  103  pages;  yet  the  first 
little  catalogue  required  greater  mental  and  mechanical  effort 
than  the  last.  For  this  reason  we  are  not  impressed  that  from 
this  time  on  it  is  important  to  make  the  record  so  voluminous. 

In  addition  to  the  reason  expressed  we  are  led  to  this 
conclusion  by  the  following  considerations : 

First.  The  events  of  the  closing  years  of  Dr.  Burleson's 
life  are  well  known.  They  are  too  essentially  a  part  of  the 
history  of  Texas  to  be  ignored  or  overlooked. 

Second.  To  adhere  to  the  plan  heretofore  pursued 
would  make  this  record  more  voluminous  than  is  necessary  or 
desirable. 

The  curtain  on  the  first  era  of  Dr.  Burleson's  life  in 
Texas  is  dropped,  and  the  scene  shifted  to  Waco. 

We  shall  not  attempt  to  step  in  Dr.  Burleson's  footprints 
from  Waco  in  the  exact  order  in  which  they  were  made,  but 
will  attend  him  in  a  succession  as  follows : 

First.  Give  a  condensed  summary  of  the  progress  of 
education  in  Texas,  and  Dr.  Burleson's  efforts  to  establish  a 
system  of  public  schools.     The  importance  and  value  of  this 


302  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

service  will  be  something  of  a  surprise  to  those  who  have  not 
studied  his  life  carefully. 

Second.  His  connection  with  the  Baptist  General  Asso- 
ciation of  Texas  will  be  traced  from  the  organization  of  this 
body,  in  1868,  to  its  consolidation  with  the  Baptist  State  Con- 
vention in  1885,  when  the  consolidated  body  became  the 
Baptist  General  Convention  of  Texas. 

Third.  His  connection  with  the  Baptist  General  Conyen- 
tion  of  Texas  from  1885  to  1901.. 

Fourth.  His  connection  with  Waco  University  from 
1861  to  the  consolidation  of  Waco  and  Baylor  Universities  in 
1885,  when  the  consolidated  school  became  Baylor  University. 

Sixth.  His  connecltion  with  Baylor  University  from 
1885  to  1901. 

Thus  dividing  his  public  services,  divides  his  life  also 
in  exact  halves  in  respect  to  years.  Having  been  bom  in 
1823,  he  was  just  thirty-seven  years  old  when  he  resigned  the 
presidency  of  Baylor  University  at  Independence  in  1861. 
From  1861  to  1898  is  thirty-seven  years,  and  at  this  time  he 
was  made  president  emeritus  of  Baylor  University  by  the 
Board  of  Trustees,  which  marks  the  date  of  his  retirement 
from  active  public  life. 


De.  Kufus  C.  Buelesoi^.  303 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 


Education  in  Texas  Under  Spanish  Dominion  and  Mexi- 
can Rule — ^Population — Society — ]\Iissions — ^Revolu- 
tion in  Mexico — The  Empire — ^Republic — Constitu- 
tion OF  1824 — Provisions  for  Education  Under  the 
Federal  Constitution — Constitution  of  Coahuila  and 
Texas — Provisions  for  Public  Schools  in  the  State 
Constitution — The  Eiest  American  School — Report 
OF  Almonte — Efforts  of  the  Colonists  Toward  Edu- 
cation— The  First  Female  Academy  in  Texas — Inde- 
pendence Academy — Baylor  University — ^Descrip- 
tion OF  A  Mexican  School  in  1825 — Character  of  the 
American  Colonist — Gen.  Antonio  Lopez  de  Santa 
Anna — Revolt  of  the  American  Colonists. 

N  ORDER  to  present  more  clearly  the  splendid  service 
performed  by  Dr.  Burleson  in  behaK  of  public  edu- 
cation in  Texas,  it  bas  been  found  to  be  necessary  to 
take  more  than  a  cursory  view  of  this  interesting  subject.  He 
vitalized  constitutional  provisions  that  had  remained  dormant 
and  inoperative  for  years  and  invested  it  with  an  interest  not 
hitherto  known. 

It  is  assumed  that  the  only  educational  instruction  offered 
in  Texas  when  a  separate  province  of  Spain,  at  the  beginning 
of  the  last  century,  was  of  a  parochial  character,  and  that  it 
was  provided  by  Roman  Catholic  priests.  The  only  learning 
disseminated  by  them  at  the  various  missions  and  the  few  mili- 
tary establishments  was  of  a  religious  nature,  and  intended  to 
propagate    the    doctrines    of   the    Catholic    Church.     These 


304  The  Life  and  "Weitixgs  of 

priests  were  generally  men  of  fair  classical  education,  as  were 
also  many  of  the  officers  of  the  regular  service. 

They  no  doubt  exerted  some  influence  in  guiding  and 
moderating  the  fierce  temper  of  frontier  life,  and  in  setting  a 
wholesome  example,  which  produced  imitative  effects  upon  a 
rude  population.  In  1806  the  civilized  inhabitants  of  Texas 
numbered  7,000,  and  the  country  was  in  a  more  prosperous 
condition  than  it  had  ever  been  before. 

Many  new  settlers  came  into  the  country  about  the  close 
of  the  year,  and  brought  with  them  some  wealth.  This  move- 
ment was  influenced,  no  doubt,  by  the  recent  "Louisiana  Pur- 
chase," under  the  Jefferson  administration. 

San  Antonio  was  then  the  principal  town  in  Texas,  and 
was  then,  as  now,  in  a  flourishing  state.  The  buildings,  though 
generally  of  mud,  were  numerous,  and  occupied  an  extensive 
area.  The  population  was  about  2,000,  only  a  few  of  whom 
were  Americans.  From  a  Spanish  standpoint,  it  was  a  pleas- 
ant place  of  residence  on  account  of  the  society.  It  was  a 
garrisoned  town  and  was  the  capital  of  the  province.  The  sev- 
eral missions  in  the  vicinity  added  greatly  to  the  impor- 
tance of  the  place,  socially  as  well  as  commercially.  As  these 
were  the  homes  of  the  missionaries,  who  were  engaged  in  con- 
verting and  educating  the  Indians,  they  may  with  propriety 
be  designated  as  the  first  educational  institutions  established 
in  Texas.  The  least  conspicuous  of  these  mission  schools,  but 
destined  to  become  of  great  historical  importance,  was  the 
Alamo. 

^Nacogdoches,  founded  in  1778,  became  also  an  important 
and  historic  town,  and  promised,  until  the  great  oil  discovery 
at  Beaumont,  to  hold  its  position  as  the  commercial  center  of 
East  Texas.  In  1806,  jSTacogdoches  contained  about  500 
inhabitants,  among  whom,  as  at  San  Antonio,  there  were  very 
few  Americans. 

The  revolutionary  forces,  which  threatened  invasion,  dis- 
quieted the  people,  and  the  hostility  of  Indians  made  fugitives 
of  large  numbers,  until  Texas  was  almost  restored  to  a  state 
of  nature. 

This  condition  of  affairs  continued  until  Stephen  F.  Aus- 
tin and  others  executed  their  contracts  by  settling  a  large 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Buklesox.  305 

number  of  American  families  in  the  country.  The  contract? 
under  which  these  families  were  introduced  were  very  liberal. 
Austin's  success  i^  a  matter  of  history,  as  are  also  his  efforts  in 
behalf  of  the  colonists. 

Prior  to  this  time  the  revolution  in  Mexico,  which  had 
for  some  time  been  sustained,  was  accomplished.  Iturbide 
became  Emperor  and  administered  for  two  years,  when  he 
abdicated  in  obedience  to  the  will  of  the  people.  The  Federal 
Constitution  of  January  31st,  1824,  was  adopted  by  the  Repub- 
lic of  Mexico.  The  first  Congress  passed  a  decree  May  7th, 
1824,  known  as  the  constitutional  act,  uniting  Texas  with 
Coahuila  as  one  State,  by  reason  of  the  small  population.  The 
first  Congi-ess  of  this  new  State  was  duly  installed  August 
15th,  1824,  at  Saltillo,  and  entered  upon  the  discharge  of  its 
legislative  duties.  Congress  formulated  a  constitution  March 
11th,  1827.  It  provided  that  the  Congress  was  to  be  com- 
posed of  twelve  Deputies,  of  which  Texas  was  entitled  to  two. 

The  Federal  Constitutoin  provided :  "In  all  the  towns 
of  the  State  a  suitable  number  of  primary  schools  shall  be 
established,  wherein  shall  be  taught  reading,  Avriting  and  arith- 
metic, the  catechism  of  the  Christian  religion,  a  brief  and 
simple  explanation  of  the  Constitution  of  the  State,  and 
Republic,  the  rights  and  duties  of  man  in  society,  and  what- 
ever else  may  conduce  to  the  better  education  of  the  youth; 
that  the  seminaries  most  required  for  affording  the  means  of 
instruction  in  the  sciences  and  arts  useful  to  the  State;  and 
wherein  the  Constitution  shall  be  fully  explained,  shall  be 
established  in  suitable  places,  and  in  proportion  as  circum- 
stances go  or  may  permit.  The  method  of  teaching  shall  be 
uniform  throughout  the  State ;  and  with  a  view  also  to  indicate 
the  same.  Congress  shall  form  a  general  plan  of  education,  and 
regulate  by  means  of  statute  and  laws  all  that  pertains  to  this 
most  important  subject." 

"Thus  early,  and  in  this  manner,  was  provision  made  by 
organic  law  looking  to  the  adoption  of  a  plan  of  general  public 
education,  or  common  schools." 

As  usual  with  new  governments,  the  question  of  promot- 
ing the  settlement  of  Mexico  from  the  United  States  attracted 
early  attention,  and  in  a  few  months  after  the  adoption  of  the 

20 


306  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

Constitution  instructions  to  the  Land  Commissiouer  as  to  new 
town  sites  required,  among  other  things,  that  a  suitable  block 
of  ground  be  provided  for  school  and  other  buildings  for  public 
instruction. 

The  first  mention  of  an  American  school  in  Texas  is  in 
a  document  in  the  Bexar  County  record,  dated  July  5th,  1828, 
referring  to  the  McClure  School.  This  was  under  Mexican 
rule,  and  the  school  was  probably  an  institution  started  for 
the  benefit  of  the  growing  Anglo-Saxon  colonists.  About 
this  time  there  existed  a  Spanish  public  school  on  the  east  line 
of  the  present  military  plaza.     (J.  J.  L.) 

The  State  Legislature  took  the  action  in  favor  of  estab- 
lishing a  system  of  public  education  in  Decree  No.  92,  adopted 
May  11th,  1829,  which  made  provision  for  a  school  of  mutual 
instruction  on  the  "Lancastran  plan,"  at  the  capital  of  each 
department,  for  the  free  instruction  of  a  limited  number  of 
poor  children,  and  for  the  compulsory  education  of  the  chil- 
dren of  the  parents  not  able  to  pay  tuition.  It  provided  that 
the  teachers  should  instruct  the  children  in  the  rudiments 
only,  the  dogmas  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  the 
American  catechism  of  arts  and  sciences.  It  fij^ed  the  salary 
of  the  teacher  at  $800  per  annum,  and  provided  for  the  gen- 
eral expenses  of  the  school  by  creating  a  fund  in  the  said  capi- 
tals, to  be  supplemented  when  necessary  by  loans  from  the 
municipality,  or  by  loans  from  the  State  rents,  subject  to  be 
restored  to  the  State  agents.  Parents  who  were  able  were 
required  to  pay  fourteen  dollars  per  annum  for  each  child 
while  learning  the  "first  rudiments"  till  they  commenced  to 
write,  and  eighteen  dollars  for  the  rest  of  their  attendance. 
Each  student  educated  in  the  establishment  was  required,  on 
leaving,  to  pay  ten  dollars  "gratitude  money"  for  rewarding 
the  teacher  at  the  end  of  the  teacher's  contract. 

In  April  following  the  Legislature  passed  another  law, 
establishing  six  temporary  schools  on  a  like  plan,  as  provided 
for  under  Decree  92,  with  some  modifications,  which  were 
specified,  reducing  the  pay  of  teachers  to  five  himdred  dollars 
each  per  annum,  and  gratitude  money  to  six  dollars  per  pupil. 
Provision  was  made  for  the  support  of  these  public  schools  by 
grants  of  four  leagues  of  land  to  the  capital  of  each  depart- 


De.  Kufus  C.  Bukleso^'.  307 

ment.  San  Antonio  was  the  capital  of  the  Department  of 
Bexar,  By  a  decree  of  January  31st,  1831,  Bexar  was 
divided,  and  a  new  department  created,  with,  its  capital  at 
[Nacogdoches,  and  a  special  grant  of  four  leagues  of  land  was 
allotted  to  the  new  municipality  for  educational  purposes. 

But  these  laudable  efforts  of  the  Government  proved  to  be 
practically  ineffective.  They  were  not  satisfactory,  and  the 
people,  especially  the  Americans,  did  not  second  the  views  of 
the  Legislature,  largely  because  of  the  preference  allowed 
Spanish  over  English  speaking  children.  At  a  convention 
held  at  San  Felipe,  in  1832,  the  disaffection  on  the  subject 
led  to  the  appointment  of  a  committee  to  petition  the  State 
Government  for  a  donation  of  land  for  the  purpose  of  creating 
a  fund  for  the  future  establishment  of  primary  schools,  but 
there  is  no  evidence  that  it  was  presented,  although  provision 
was  made,  of  a  limited  character,  to  produce  school  funds 
under  general  decree  of  April,  1833,  whereby  Juntas  were  also 
created,  charged  to  take  special  care  that  the  funds  intended 
for  the  schools  be  used  for  no  other  purpose,  and  that  they  be 
not  separated  therefrom  for  any  cause  whatever. 

These  Juntas  were  further  required  to  provide  schools 
and  also  teachers,  and  to  see  that  the  teachers  "do  not  render 
useless  by  their  example  the  lessons  it  is  their  duty  to  give 
on  morality  and  good  breeding."  ' 

So  far  nothing  of  value  was  accomplished  by  the  govern- 
ment in  its  efforts  to  establish  a  system  of  public  education, 
and  as  was  oiScially  reported  by  a  commission  in  1834,  there 
were  then  only  three  private  schools  in  operation  in  the  prov- 
ince; one  on  the  Brazos  river,  one  on  Red  river  and  the  other 
in  San  Antonio,  where  the  teacher  got  $25.00  for  his  ser- 
vices.   (Report  of  Almonte). 

In  1844  the  city  of  San  Antonio  took  action  in  obedience 
to  the  stipulations  in  its  charter  to  encourage  the  opening  of  a 
public  school  by  recommending  that  the  old  court  house  be  so 
repaired  as  to  serve  for  both  court  and  school  purposes,  and 
certain  lots  were  appropriated  for  the  purpose,  but  for  some 
reason  the  arrangement  was  not  consummated  until  August, 
1849. 

Those  Texas  settlements  that  would  justify  it,  established 
private  schools  for  the  instruction  of  their  children.     In  cases 


308  The  Life  and  Weitings  of 

where  parents  could  afford  it,  their  children  were  sent  to  the 
United  States  to  be  educated.  Mrs.  M.  Looscaus  says,  'The 
need  of  schools  among  the  early  colonists  was  pre-eminent  in 
their  minds,  and  many  a  good  scholar  who  came  to  Texas  with 
no  intention  of  teaching  was  pressed  into  service  by  the  im- 
portunities of  his  neighbors.  A  school  house  erected  in  a 
neighborhood  was  made  large  enough  to  accommodate  not 
only  all  the  children  within  riding  distance,  but  many  others 
from  less  favored,  or  less  thickly  settled  sections,  were  re- 
ceived into  families,  often  without  thought  of  receiving,  or 
even  accepting  payment  for  board,  and  were  taken  care  of  by 
the  good  women  as  if  their  oAvn. 

In  the  coast  country  the  names  of  Willbarger,  Henry 
Smith,  (afterward  provisional  governor),  Phineas  Smith, 
Thomas  J.  Pilgrim,  I^oonan,  Cloud  and  Copeland  are  still 
cherished. 

Major  George  B.  Erath  says,  ''School  houses  of  logs  were 
found  in  the  more  thickly  settled  portions  of  country,  but  sel- 
dom was  a  school  kept  in  one  of  them  for  more  than  one  year. 
The  same  house,  or  the  shade  of  a  tree  did  very  well  for  a  re- 
ligious service,  and  preachers  of  all  denominations  were  pass- 
ing and  repassing." 

One  of  the  schools  that  had  been  located  at  "Washington 
prior  to  1834,  was  transferred  to  Mount  Vernon,  once  the 
county  site  of  Washington  county,  and  Miss  Lydia  McHenry 
taught  there  until  1836. 

A  very  interesting  feature  of  the  first  history  of  Baylor 
University  is  now  approached.  We  make  no  effort  to  con- 
trovert the  statement  that  Union  Association  is  the  mother 
of  Baylor  University,  and  by  turning  back  a  few  leaves  in  the 
history  of  education  in  Texas,  we  trace  its  descent  back  one 
more  generation  and  discover  also  who  our  "Baylor's"  grand 
mother  was. 

The  first  young  ladies  boarding  school  established  in 
Texas,  was  opened  by  Miss  Trask  of  Boston,  in  1831.  The 
academy  building  was  of  round  cedar  and  post  oak  logs,  the 
room  eighteen  feet  square.  This  school  was  located  about 
1,500  yards  due  west  from  the  old  Pemale  College  building  at 
Independence,  known  at  that  time  as  "Coles'  Settlement."  By 
a  most  singular  coincidence  the  location  was  also  only  a  few 


Dr.  Eufus  C.  Burleson. 


301) 


hundred  yards  north  from  the  house  in  which  Mrs.  R.  C.  Bur- 
leson was  partially  raised,  and  grew  to  womanhood.  Miss 
Trask  was  a  very  cultivated  and  highly  educated  lady  and 
as  fearless  as  any  frontiersman  in  Texas.  "\V  hen  it  was  neces- 
sary for  her  to  do  so,  she  mounted  her  Texas  pony,  swung  a 
six  shooter  on  one  horn  of  her  saddle,  and  unattended,  woidd 
ride  to  La  Grange,  Houston  or  Austin,  a  distance  of  fifty  or 
seventy-five  miles,  the  whole  route  infested  with  Indians  and 
other  lawless  characters. 

This  academy  was  continued  until  1838  or  1839,  when 
Prof.  Henry  F.  Gillette,  as  we  have  seen  a  member  of  the 
first  Faculty  of  Baylor  University,  bought  out  the  school,  and 
established  "Independence  Academy"  in  1841,  which  was 


1.    Houston  and  Cowden  Halls.  2.    Gymnasium. 

3.    Caeeoll  Science  Hall.  i.    Geoegia  Bueleson  Hall 

5.    Main  Building. 
BAYLOR  UNIVERSITY. 

successfully  conducted  until  1845,  when  it  was  transferred  and 
became  a  part  of  Baylor  University.  So  therefore,  the  Trask 
Seminary,  established  January  31st,  1834,  the  first  female 
school  opened  in  Texas,  has  the  distinction  of  being  the  pro- 
genitor of  Ikylor  University  and  Baylor  Female  College. 

From  this  brief  account  of  the  educational  institutions  in 
Texas  under  the  Mexican  Republic,  it  is  evident  that  institu- 
tions of  learning  were  few  in  number  and  poorly  sustained, 
under  the  existing  state  of  affairs  among  the  colonists,  but 
facts  go  to  prove  that  they  were  not  unmindful  of  the  benefits 


310  The  Life  and  Wettings  of 

to  be  derived  from  education,  and  that  even  beset  by  innum- 
erable trials,  they  exerted  themselves  to  establish  schools  of 
some  kind,  and  to  foster  them  to  the  limit  of  their  ability. 

The  fundamental  law  of  the  Republic  in  providing  for  a 
system  of  public  free  schools  is  worthy  of  the  highest  estima- 
tion, as  was  also  the  decrees  promulgated  by  the  state  of  Coa- 
huila  and  Texas  for  the  same  purpose.  Those  laws  undoubted- 
ly influenced  legislation  in  later  years,  and  were  suggestive  of 
benefits  we  now  enjoy  in  connection  with  the  present  school 
system. 

The  hindrances  to  the  successful  inauguration  of  any 
system,  were  such  as  exist  in  all  newly  settled  countries  and  the 
obstacles  to  the  establishment  of  such  institutions  are  insur- 
mountable ;  but  were  especially  so  under  the  turbulent  state  of 
affairs  throughout  the  Republic.  Other  parts  of  Mexico  was 
no  better  provided  with  educational  facilities  than  was  Texas. 
To  form  an  idea  of  the  conditions  in  Mexico  we  can  not  do  bet- 
ter than  refer  to  the  discription  of  one  of  their  schools  about 
the  year  182.5  as  given  by  an  intelligent  eye  witness: 

''I  have  just  returned,"  says  Mr.  Poinsett,  "from  visit- 
ing a  school,  and  have  been  much  amused  with  the  appearance 
of  the  pedagogue.  In  a  large  room,  furnished  with  two  or 
three  cowhides  spread  on  the  floor,  and  half  a  dozen  low 
benches,  were  ten  or  twelve  little  urchins,  all  repeating  their 
lessons  as  loud  as  they  could  bawl.  The  master  was  stalking 
about  the  room,  with  a  ferule  in  his  hand,  and  dressed  in  the 
most  grotesque  manner.  He  had  an  old  manta  wrapped  about 
his  loins,  from  under  which,  there  appeared  the  ends  of  tat- 
tered leather  breeches  hanging  over  his  naked  legs;  sandals 
were  bound  round  his  ankles;  a  leather  jerkin,  the  sleeves 
worn  off,  and  a  dirty  handkerchief  twisted  round  his  head, 
above  which  his  shaggy  hair  stood  erect,  completed  his  dress. 
He  seemed  perfectly  unconscious  of  his  uncouth  appearance, 
but  received  me  very  courteously,  dismissed  his  scholars  im- 
mediately, and  at  once  entered  into  conversation  on  the  state 
of  the  country.  He  told  me  that  he  was  bom  in  that  house, 
and  had  never  wandered  beyond  the  precincts  of  the  village. 
Several  of  the  country  people  came  in  while  we  were  talking, 
and  treated  the  pedagogue  with  great  respect.  He  appeared 
to  be  an  oracle." 


De.  Eufus  C.  Burleson.  311 

This  graphic  description  enubles  one  to  estimate  the  ex- 
tent of  knowledge  and  refinement  imparted  in  such  an  institu- 
tion and  we  safely  infer  that  all  the  country  schools  throughout 
Mexico  was  of  a  like  character  where  ignorance  was  almost 
universal.  This  ignorance  too,  became  more  conspicuous 
after  the  execution  of  the  decree  of  December  8,  1827,  which 
was  passed  by  the  general  congress  and  instigated  by  the  ex- 
cessive hatred  entertained  against  the  natives  of  old  Spain 
residing  in  Mexico,  and  in  response  to  the  clamor  raised  for 
their  expulsion.  It  was  not  only  a  barbarous  law,  but  it  "ban- 
ished from  her  society  those  who  possessed  nearly  all  the  in- 
telligence and  refinement  in  the  nation.  Miserable  indeed  is 
the  condition  of  that  country  which  supposes  that  its  safety 
requires  the  banishment  of  its  most  accomplished  and  useful 
citizens."     (Yoakum). 

As  a  contrast,  it  can  be  shown  that  the  colonists  in  Texas 
were  generally  of  a  high  order  of  intellect.  Many  were  fami- 
liar with  the  refinements  and  elegancies  of  society,  and  they 
practiced  these  evidences  of  civilization  in  the  wilds  of  a 
frontier  life  to  the  extent  that  circumstances  would  permit. 
Many  were  of  good  families  and  bore  names  of  distinction  in 
their  former  homes,  and  it  is  a  well  attested  fact  that  all,  at 
least  of  Austin's  colonists,  were  a  superior  order  of  people,  and 
that  they  would  not  tolerate  any  individual  who  was  not  law- 
abiding  and  personally  worthy  of  respect.  As  a  natural  con- 
sequence, such  a  society  attracted  to  it  immigrants  of  like  ten- 
dences  and  its  disposition  was  to  encourage  every  influence 
calculated  to  elevate  the  character  and  provide  for  the  intel- 
lectual welfare  of  their  offspring.  That  they  did  so,  Ave  have 
every  reason  to  believe,  even  if  history  did  not  attest  the  fact 
in  the  chronicle  of  events. 

The  American  population  in  Texas  had  increased  to 
thirty  thousand  in  1831,  and  were  constantly  augmenting, 
notwithstanding  the  proscriptions  of  the  national  government 
against  immigration.  The  measures  of  tyranny  attempted  to 
be  instituted  in  Texas  met  with  resistance,  and  the  spirit  then 
manifested  attracted  a  large  number  of  adventurous  characters 
to  the  colonies.  But  the  despotism  of  Bustamente  had  become 
intolerable  in  Mexico,  and  a  successful  revolution  in  favor  of 
Santa  Anna  was  the  result. 


312  The  Life  and  Writiin^gs  of 

The  people  of  Texas  gladly  availed  themselves  of  the 
opportunity  presented  by  the  factious  spirit  in  Mexico,  and 
professing  sincere  attachment  to  the  constitution  of  1824, 
they  gave  their  adherence  to  Santa  Anna,  and  taking  up  arms 
they  resorted  to  force  to  suppress  his  opposition  in  Texas. 

The  successful  battle  of  Velasco  and  JSTacogdoches  added 
dignity  and  lustre  to  the  national  flag.  Thus  Texans  made 
triumphant  efforts  at  the  promptings  of  patriotism  in  sweep- 
ing Texas  of  Mexican  soldiers,  but  in  doing  so  they  fostered 
the  power  which  was  to  control  the  destinies  of  Mexico,  and  to 
drench  her  own  beautiful  prairies  in  blood. 

The  historical  events  which  followed  are  not  only  out  of 
place  in  this  brief  view  of  early  education  in  Texas,  but  are 
too  well  known  to  be  recited.  After  the  treacherous  and  blood- 
thirsty usurper,  Santa  Anna,  secured  his  power  in  Mexico  ho 
turned  toward  Texas  for  the  purpose  of  satisfying  his  veng- 
eance by  exterminating  the  colonists.  His  success  in  the 
massacre  of  Texan  patriots  at  the  Alamo  and  Goliad,  gave  him 
confidence,  and  led  him  on  to  his  ruin  and  doom.  The  declara- 
tion of  Texas  Independence,  the  general  uprising  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  the  glorious  battle  of  San  Jacinto,  with  the  humiliat- 
ing capture  of  the  tyrant,  terminated  the  disturbances  in 
Texas,  and  placed  her  among  the  respected  powers  of  earth. 


De.  Rufus  C.  Bueleso;^.  313 


CHAPTER  XXXVIl. 


Education  in  Texas  Undee  the  Republic — The  Declaea- 
TiON  OF  Independence— The  Consitution  of  1836 — 
The  Fiest  Congeess  of  the  Republic — Establishment 
of  Schools — The  Fiest  Chaetee  of  the  Republic  to 
Independence  Academy — The  Act  to  Establish  a 
State  TJniveesity — Peesident  Lamae's  Message  on 
Education — Aeea  of  the  Republic — Land  Geants  fob 
Educational  Pueposes — Bayloe  TJniveesity  at  Inde- 
pendence— School  at  San  Augustine. 


>r^ 


I 


IST  presenting  the  progress  of  education  in  Texas,  and 
Dr.  R.  C.  Burleson's  connection  therewith,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  mention  some  historical  facts  already  referred 
to.  Since,  however,,  an  entirely  new  view  is  taken  of  these 
facts  this  explanation  is  scarcely  necessary. 

The  declaration  of  Independence  promulgated  at  Wash- 
ington-on-the-Brazos,  March  2nd,  1836,  was  consummated  on 
the  battlefield  of  San  Jacinto,  April  21st  of  that  year.  The 
Burlesons  and  Byrds,  paternal  and  maternal  relatives  of  Dr. 
R.  C.  Burleson  bore  a  conspicuous  part  in  that  memorable  bat- 
tle, which  may  be  placed  with  the  decisive  engagements  in 
history. 

That  document  declared  in  connection  with  other  griev- 
ances, ''that  the  Mexican  government  had  failed  to  establish 
a  system  of  public  education,  although  possessed  of  almost 
boundless  resources;  and  although  it  is  an  axiom  in  political 
science  that  unless  a  people  are  educated,  it  is  idle  to  expect  a 
continuance  of  civil  liberty,  or  the  capacity  for  self  govern- 
ment."     To  maintain  these  views  the  patriots  engaged  in 


314  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

deadly  strife,  and  successfully  established  the  principle  as  one 
of  the  organic  laws  of  the  government. 

It  is  notable  that  the  framers  of  the  document  had  fol- 
lowed the  expressions  of  the  constitution  of  Coahuila"  and 
Texas  in  fixing  their  attention  upon  the  public  domain,  in- 
stead of  direct  taxation  in  providing  for  public  education. 

The  first  congress  of  the  Republic  of  Texas  assembled  in 
Houston,  October  1st,  following  under  the  constitution  of 
March  17,  1836.  It  was  composed  of  men  well  qualified  to 
discharge  the  responsible  duties  delegated  to  them  by  the  peo- 
ple. Among  them  were  experienced  statesmen  and  jurists, 
and  these  were  sustained  by  a  high  order  of  cultivated  and 
native  intellects,  which  assisted  in  framing  the  laws  and  pro- 
viding for  the  permanent  institutions  of  the  country. 

"The  new  constitution  made  it  the  duty  of  the  congress 
of  the  republic,  as  soon  as  circumstances  permitted,  to  pro^ 
vide  by  law  a  general  system  of  education.  Schools  were  soon 
developed  by  the  impetus  of  increased  population,  academies 
and  other  educational  institutions  sought  charters  from  the 
government,  and,  as  the  public  records  show,  as  early  as  Juno 
5,  1837,  the  President  of  the  Kepublic,  Sam  Houston,  ap- 
proved "An  Act  to  Incorporate  the  Trustees  of  Independence 
Academy  and  the  University  of  San  Augustine,"  which  were 
separate  institutions,  but  were  embraced  in  the  same  act  by  th? 
first  congress  of  the  republic  of  Texas.  The  institutions  were 
located  at  Independence,  in  Washington  county  and  at  San 
Augustine,  in  San  Augustine  county.  The  same  day,  June 
5,  President  Houston  approved  ''An  Act  Incorporating  the 
Trustees  of  Washington  College  to  be  located  at  or  near  the 
town  of  Washington,  on  the  Brazos  River.  These  acts  of  in- 
corporation provide  in  effect,  as  do  nearly  all  the  charters 
granted  by  the  republic,  as  well  as  by  the  State  of  Texas,  for 
educational  institutions,  that  they  shall  be  accessible  to  all 
students  without  regard  to  religious  or  political  opinions.  Such 
institutions  were  generally  maintained  by  subscriptions  to  their 
respective  funds,  or  by  tuition,  or  both,  or  in  some  way  by 
private  enterprise.  The  amount  of  property  which  they  were 
to  hold  was  generally  expressed  in  the  respective  acts  of  in- 
corporation, and  the  property  was  generally,  but  not  always, 
exempt  from  taxation.     Very  often,  too,  upon  application  to 


Dk.  Eufus  ^C.  Bueleson.  315 

the  legislature,  special  acts  were  passed  prohibiting  the  sale 
of  intoxicating  liquors  near  the  premises.  Special  qualifica- 
tion was  made  as  to  the  Bible  in  two  instances — one  in  an  act 
incorporating  the  "Texas  Christian  College,"  to  be  located 
where  the  largest  subscription  may  induce,  and  providing  that 
"the  Bible  may  be  fully  taught,  but  no  partisan,  sectional, 
sectarian,  or  denominational  peculiarity  shall  be  taught  or  en- 
couraged in  the  college,"  and  the  other  in  an  act  incorporating 
"McKenzie  Male  and  Female  College,"  in  Red  River  county, 
which  provided  that  "the  Bible  may  be  publicly  read  and 
used  as  a  text-book." 

The  idea  of  projecting  a  University  to  be  supported  by 
the  government  took  shape  in  an  act  introduced  in  the  con- 
gress of  the  Republic,  entitled  "An  Act  to  Establish  the  Uni- 
versity of  Texas,"  which,  on  April  13,  1838,  was  referred  to  a 
special  committee  (page  7,  "House  Journal"),  but,  as  far  as  the 
records  show,  was  not  further  considered  during  that  session  of 
Congress, 

In  his  message  of  December  20,  1838,  to  the  third  Con- 
gress of  the  Republic,  convened  at  Houston,  President  Lamar 
thus  expressed  his  views  as  to  the  importance  of  liberal  landed 
provision  for  the  promotion  of  public  education,  while  the 
domain  was  ample  for  the  purpose.  "The  present  is  a  propi- 
tious moment  to  lay  the  foundation  of  a  great  moral  and  in- 
tellectual edifice,  which  will  in  after  ages  be  hailed  as  the 
chief  ornament  and  blessing  of  Texas.  A  suitable  appropria- 
tion of  lands  to  the  purpose  of  general  education  can  be  made 
at  this  time  without  inconvenience  to  the  government  or  the 
people;  but  defer  it  till  the  public  domain  shall  have  passed 
from  our  hands,  and  the  uneducated  youths  of  Texas  will  con- 
stitute the  living  monuments  of  our  neglect  and  our  remiss- 
ness. A  liberal  endowment  which  Avill  be  adequate  to  the  gen- 
eral dift'iision  of  a  good  rudimental  education  in  every  district 
of  the  republic  and  to  the  establishment  of  a  University  where 
the  highest  branches  of  science  may  be  taught  can  now  bo 
effected,  without  the  expenditure  of  a  single  dollar.  Postpone 
it  a  few  years,  and  millions  will  be  required  to  accomplish  the 
great  design."     (Lane's  Educational  System). 

The  area  of  the  Republic  was  about  395,557  square  miles, 
without  including  the  territory  afterward  sold  to  the  United 


316  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

States,  which  was  125,000  square  miles.  The  Spanish,  Mexi- 
can and  Colonial  grants  amounted  to  25,000,000  acres.  This, 
exclusive  of  bays,  lakes,  etc.,  is  about  167,865,600  acres  of 
land,  of  which  Texas  had  the  disposal  of  about  143,000,000 
acres  in  1836.  Lamar  s  suggestion  met  with  approval  to  the 
extent,  that  the  committee  on  education  reported  and  reconi- 
mended  the  adoption  of  a  bill  entitled  "An  act,  to  appro- 
priate certain  lands  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  general 
system  of  education  and  proposing  a  grant  of  three  leagues 
(thirteen  thousand  two  hundred  and  eighty-four  acresj,  of 
the  public  domain  to  each  county  for  establishing  a  primary 
school  or  academy  in  the  county;  and  authorizing  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  republic  to  have  surveyed  from  any  of  the  vacant 
domain  twenty  leagues  of  land,  which  were  to  be  set  apart 
and  appropriated  for  the  establishment  ai;id  endowment  of  two 
colleges  or  universities,  one  in  the  eastern,  and  the  other  in  the 
western  part  of  Texas. 

The  act  passed  with  fifty  leagues  substituted  for  twenty 
leagues,  and  was  approved  January  26,  1839.  The  same  day 
President  Lamar  approved  an  act  establishing  and  incorporat- 
ing the  "College  of  DeKalb"  at  DeKalb,  in  Ked  Kiver  county, 
the  act  naming  a  board  of  "superintendents,''  exempted  the 
property  of  the  college  from  taxation,  and  authorized  the  board 
in  addition  to  selecting  teachers  and  providing  for  the  educa- 
tional and  financial  management  of  the  school,"  to  suppress 
and  abate  nuisances  within  half  a  mile  in  any  direction  from 
the  premises,"  and  to  levy  and  exact  a  fine  of  from  twenty- 
five  to  one  hundred  dollars  from  all  retailers  of  spirituous 
liquors  sold  within  the  prescribed  limits.  The  Congress  also 
granted  four  leagues  of  land  in  fee  simple  for  buildings  and 
apparatus,  and  ''for  the  promotion  of  arts,  literature  and 
science.  An  act  of  1840  "Establishing  Kutersville  College," 
made  similar  provisions  to  the  preceding. 

The  first  effort  of  the  government  for  promoting  public 
free  schools  in  the  counties  wms  an  act  of  February  5,  1840, 
"In  relation  to  common  schools  and  academies  and  to  provide 
for  securing  the  lands  formerly  appropriated  for  purposes  of 
education."  It  made  the  chief  justice  and  two  associate 
justices  (then  existing  ofiicers)  of  each  county,  ex  officio  a 
board  of  school  commissioners,  with  full  power  in  their  re 


De.  Rufus  C.  Bukleson.  317 

spective  counties  to  receive,  lease,  and  sell  all  property  ap- 
propriated for  the  schools,  and  required  them  to  have  located 
and  surveyed  the  three  leagues  of  land  appropriated  under  the 
act  of  January  26,  1839,  ancl  granted  an  additional  league 
(four  thousand  four  hundred  and  twenty-eight  acres)  for  the 
purpose  of  necessary  scientific  endowment,  one-half  of  it  for 
an  academic  school  and  the  remainder  to  be  distributed  among 
the  various  common  school  districts  in  the  county.  It  pro- 
vided that  school  districts  be  organized  in  the  county  when  the 
population  or  interests  of  education  required. 

Numerous  private  as  well  as  denominational  institutioua 
of  learning  were  chartered  by  direct  acts  of  the  republic  and 
subsequent  state  legislatures,  till  a  law  was  enacted  by  the 
State  prescribing  a  general  mode  for  such  incorporations,  un- 
der which  the  charter  articles,  when  framed  accordingly,  have 
only  to  be  accepted  and  filed  in  the  State  department  at  Aus- 
tin."    (Lane). 

The  laudable  efforts  on  the  part  of  the  people  to  secure 
institutions  as  provided  by  law,  resulted  in  the  establishment 
of  only  a  few  of  those  projected,  and  but  few  of  these  be- 
came permanent  and  attained  positions  of  prominence. 

Among  those  that  succeeded  was  Baylor  University  at 
Independence,  which  as  a  chartered  institution,  as  stated  else- 
where, was  the  direct  successor  of  the  oldest  Female  school  in 
Texas.  "Baylor"  was  a  denominational  school  under  the  con- 
trol of  the  Baptists,  and  after  1851,  under  the  able  manage- 
ment of  Dr.  R.  C.  Burleson,  attained  eminence. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  same  act  which  incorporated 
"Independence  Academy"  also  included  the  "University  of 
San  Augustine."  It  is  curious  to  note  that  the  history  of 
those  institutions,  which  were  the  first  incorporated  under  the 
Republic,  passed  through  a  similar  experience  in  consequence 
of  acrimonious  differences,  which  arose  in  their  communities, 
but  from  different  causes.  The  facts  of  Baylor  University 
have  been  stated  and  the  following  account  of  the  fate  of  the 
school  at  San  Augustine  we  give  as  recited  in  "The  Compre- 
hensive History  of  Texas." 

"The  town  of  San  Augustine  is  situated  on  a  beautiful 
and  fertile  strip  of  red-land  country  running  in  an  east  and 
west  direction  through  the  counties  of  Sabine,  San  Augustine 


318  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

and  ISTacogdocheSj  which  was  well  settled  with  good  farmers 
as  early  as  1840,  and  from  that  time  to  1850,  that  town  was  one 
of  the  largest  and  best-improved  towns  in  all  Eastern  and 
JSTorthern  Texas.  It  was  situated  thirty  miles  west  of  ^  the 
Sabine  River,  on  the  old  King's  Highway,  leading  from 
JSTatchitoches  in  Louisiana,  through  Nacogdoches  and  Bastrop 
to  San  Antonio.  The  wagon  road  made  along  or  near  it,  com- 
monly called  the  "San  Antonio  road,"  was  the  principal  thor- 
oughfare along  which  the  immigrants  came  to  Texas  by  land, 
and  it  was  the  route  of  the  first  stage  line  through  Eastern 
Texas.  A  master  builder,  a  Mr.  Sweet,  erected  a  large  two- 
story  frame  building  and  sold  it  to  the  county  of  San  Augus- 
tine for  a  league  of  land  that  had  been  given  to  the  county  for 
the  erection  of  an  academy,  though  the  school  had  the  high- 
sounding  name  of  "The  University."  A  small  school  having 
been  taught  in  it  for  several  years,  in  1843,  a  gentleman  by 
the  name  of  Montrose,  of  medium  size,  about  30  years  old,  and 
apparently  good  manners  and  intelligence,  appeared  at  the 
hotel,  and  learning  that  there  was  a  large  school  building  in 
the  town,  let  it  be  known  that  he  was  a  teacher.  The  board 
of  trustees  were  soon  assembled  and  sent  for  him.  He  was  a 
man  of  few  words  and  very  positive  in  his  utterances.  He 
said  in  substance :  "All  I  ask  is  to  give  me  control  of  the 
house,  and  I  will  build  up  a  large  school,  that  will  attract 
scholars  to  your  town." 

They  complied  with  his  request,  and  before  the  end  of  the 
second  session,  he  had  verified  his  assertion  and  had  a  large 
school,  with  numbers  of  scholars  from  a  distance.  It  so  con- 
tinued for  several  years.  One  of  his  great  merits  as  a  teacher 
was  his  control  of  the  scholars  in  school  by  a  regular  system, 
and  the  anxiety  he  produced  in  them  to  attend  school  punct- 
ually and  an  ardent  desire  to  attend  to  their  studies.  He  did 
not  seek  to  acquire  favor  in  the  community,  except  through 
his  scholars,  and  was  seldom  seen  upon  the  streets  of  the  town 
or  otherwise  in  communication  with  the  citizens.  He  taught 
school  as  a  business  strictly,  and  had  no  difiiculty  in  collecting 
his  tuition  through  his  scholars,  although  there  was  a  great 
scarcity  of  money  in  the  country.  After  his  school  increased 
his  plan  for  assistance  was  to  engage  some  of  his  advanced 
scholars  to  teach  classes  under  his  direction.     The  school  soon 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  319 

became  the  pride  of  the  town  and  surrounding  country,  with  a 
united  recognition  of  its  advantages.  It  may  be  instructive 
to  tell  how  discord  and  contention  were  produced  that  ulti- 
mately led  to  bad  consequences  in  reference  to  that  and  other 
schools  in  that  place. 

A  Methodist  preacher  came  there  fresh  from  "The 
States,"  as  the  United  States  were  then  called,  and  preached  a 
sermon  in  favor  of  "perfect  sanctification  on  this  earth,"  the 
most  numerous  denomination  of  Christians  there  being  Metho- 
dists. Professor  Montrose,  being  a  Presbyterian,  and  a  good 
reader,  had  occasionally  read  sermons,  as  a  layman,  to  a  few 
Presbyterians  and  others  on  Sunday.  By  their  urgency  he 
was  induced  to  read  in  public  a  sermon  opposed  to  the  doc- 
trine advanced  by  the  Methodist  minister,  who  promptly  chal- 
lenged him  for  a  public  debate  on  the  subject.  Professor  Mont- 
rose, though  not  a  preacher,  was  pressed  into  the  debate  by 
his  religious  friends;  moderators  were  chosen  to  regulate  the 
debate,  and  it  Vas  held  before  a  large  audience.  Professor 
Montrose  simply  read  extracts  from  books  when  it  came  to  his 
turn  to  speak,  and  he  did  it  with  such  impressiveness  as  to  make 
it  appear  that  he  had  achieved  a  victory  over  the  challenger. 
At  once  a  religious  storm  was  raised.  There  being  a  number  of 
prominent  Methodist  preachers  and  other  leading  citizens  of 
that  denomination  in  the  town  and  in  the  surrounding  country, 
it  was  readily  determined  to  put  up  in  that  place  a  Methodist 
College.  A  large  three-story  frame  building  was  erected,  and 
an  excellent  teacher,  as  well  as  preacher,  was  brought  from 
Ohio  to  take  charge  of  the  College.  His  name  was  Jones,  a 
cousin  of  Bishop  Jones.  Other  Methodist  preachers  were  en- 
gaged to  teach  in  the  college  and  several  Presbyterian  min- 
isters were  engaged  to  assist  Professor  Montrose.  Both  schoola 
prospered  for  several  years,  with  scholars  in  each  to  the  num- 
ber of  one  hundred  and  fifty.  'San  Augustine  claimed  to  be 
the  Athens  of  Texas.  -J^  *  *  The  rivalry  that  made  a 
spasmodic  success  for  a  time  for  both  schools  could  not  last 
long.  Professor  Jones  left  the  college,  and  it  declined  and  was 
sold  to  the  trustees  of  the  so-called  university  for  a  female 
institute.  Professor  Montrose,  hampered  with  assistants,  con- 
trary to  his  own  plan  of  getting  them  by  engaging  his  ad- 
vanced students,  left  and  afterwards  taught  at  IsTacogdoches, 


320  The  Life  and  Wkitings  of 

and  at  Anderson  in  1857.  The  university,  as  it  was  called, 
struggled  along  for  a  time  under  its  trustees,  but  gradually 
declined,  and  that  place  has  never  been  able  to  keep  up  a  good 
school  since  its  failure.  Both  of  the  buildings  have  been 
burned,  and  the  vacant  places  where  they  stood  attest  the  sad 
calamity  of  a  religious  rivalry  entering  the  management  of 
the  schools  of  a  community,  where  it  assumes  the  character  of 
a  bitter  partisanship." 

Another  denominational  school  was  Rutersville  Col- 
lege— the  first  Methodist  school  chartered  in  Texas  of  the 
many  educational  enterprises  put  on  foot  by  that  vigorous  de- 
nomination, including  McKenzie  College  at  Clarksville,  Wes- 
leyan  College  at  San  Augustine,  and  Soule  University  at 
Chappell  Hill.  The  unsatisfactory  history  of  these  scattered 
enterprises  led  to  the  concentration  in  late  years  of  all  their 
chartered  rights  in  the  "Southwestern  University"  at  George- 
town, which  has  become  an  ornament  to  all  Texas.  Thi'-5 
policy  of  consolidation,  in  a  modified  form,  as  we  shall  notice 
later  on,  was  afterward  adopted  by  the  Baptists. 

The  subject  might  be  still  further  enlarged,  possibly  with 
pleasure  and  profit,  but  as  it  is  only  contemplated  to  sketch  an 
outline  of  the  measures  adopted  by  the  fathers  of  the  Re- 
public, that  constitutes  the  foundation  of  the  fabric  upon 
which  has  been  erected  the  present  school  system  of  Texas,  all 
details  are  omitted,  except  such  as  are  calculated  to  show  the 
temper  of  the  people  in  a  few  instances,  and  to  lead  up  to  Dr. 
Burleson's  connection  with  public  education. 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  321 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 


Pkogkess  of  Education  in  Texas  Under  State  Rule — An- 
nexation OF  Texas  to  the  United  States — Texas  Re- 
tains Her  Unappropriated  Public  Domain — The  Con- 
stitution OF  1845 — Legislative  Provision  for  Educa- 
tion— Dr.  R.  C.  Burleson  Arrives  in  Texas — The 
Civil  War  1861  to  1865 — The  Constitution  of  Texas 
as  a  State  in  the  Confederacy — Surrender  of  the 
Confederacy — The  Interregnum  Followed  by  Mili- 
tary Occupation — The  Peabody  Eund,  Its  Infuence 
ON  Education. 


^T^  HE  State  of  Texas  surrendered  its  sovereignty  as  an  in- 
^s;^  dependent  nation  through  a  convention  of  the  people 
^^^^*^J  assembled  at  Austin  July  4,  1845,  and  adopted  res- 
olutions for  the  annexation  of  the  state,  in  harmony  with  a 
resolution  passed,  by  the  congress  of  the  United  States.  Among 
other  stipulations  it  was  provided,  that  the  Republic  of  Texas 
should  retain  as  a  state  in  the  Union  all  its  vacant  and  un- 
appropriated public  domain. 

The  constitution  that  Avas  adopted  when  Texas  became 
a  State,  provided  for  education  as  follows  : 

Article  7  section  8,  made  a  restriction  on  State  appro- 
priations of  money  by  declaring,  that  appropriations  of  money 
should  not  be  made  for  a  longer  period  than  two  years,  ex- 
cept for  purposes  of  education. 

Article  10,  asserted  1st.  A  general  diffusion  of  knowl- 
edge being  essential  to  the  preservation  of  the  rights  and  lib- 
erties of  the  people,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  legislature  of 
this  State  to  make  suitable  pro\d3ion  for  the  support  and  main- 
tenance of  public  schools. 


21 


322  The  Life  and  Writings  op 

2.  The  Legislature  shall,  as  early  as  practicable,  estab- 
lish free  schools  throughout  the  State,  and  shall  furnish  means 
for  their  support  by  taxation  on  property,  and  it  shall  be  the 
duty  of  the  Legislature  to  set  apart  not  less  than  one-tenth  of 
the  annual  revenue  of  the  State,  derivable  from  taxation,  as  a 
perpetual  fund,  which  fund  shall  be  appropriated  to  the  sup- 
port of  free  public  schools;  and  no  law  shall  ever  be  made, 
diverting  said  fund  to  any  other  use ;  and  until  such  time  as  the 
Legislature  shall  provide  for  the  establishment  of  such  schools, 
in  the  several  districts  of  the  State,  the  fund  thus  created  shall 
remain  as  a  charge  'against  the  State,  passed  to  the  credit  of 
the  free  common  school  fund. 

3.  All  public  lands  which  have  been  heretofore,  or  may 
hereafter  be  granted  for  public  schools,  to  the  various  counties, 
or  other  political  divisions  in  this  State,  shall  not  be  alienated 
in  fee,  nor  disposed  of  otherwise  than  by  lease,  for  a  term  not 
exceeding  twenty  years,  in  such  manner  as  the  Legislature  may 
direct. 

4.  The  several  counties  in  this  State,  which  have  not 
received  their  quanitity  of  lands  for  the  purposes  of  education, 
shall  be  entitled  to  the  same  quantity  heretofore  appropriated 
by  the  Congress  of  the  Hepublic  of  Texas  to  other  counties. 

In  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the  constitution  the 
following  acts  were  passed  by  the  Legislature  in  support  of  the 
common  free  school  system : 

An  act  of  1846  set  a  precedent  of  municipal  taxation  for 
the  support  of  free  schools  in  which  the  Legislature  authorized 
the  corporation  of  Galveston  to  levy  a  tax  for  such  purpose, 
limited  to  one-half  per  cent,  on  the  value  of  the  real  estate  of 
the  corporation. 

An  act  of  January  16,  1849,  exempted  from  taxation  all 
buildings  with  furniture  and  library  used  solely  for  purposes 
of  education,  together  with  the  lands  owned  by  the  educational 
iustitutions,  not  exceeding  ten  acres,  on  which  they  are  sit- 
uated. 

An  act  of  January  16,  1850,  appropriated  four  leagues  of 
land  to  all  organized  counties  as  provided  in  the  act  of  1839. 

An  act  of  February  1,  1850,  authorized  the  survey  of 
three  leagues  of  land  for  the  University  in  lieu  of  the  surveys 


Dr.  Kufus  C.  Burleson.  323 

lost  hj  failure  to  return  the  field  notes  of  the  surveys  madc^ 
under  the  act  of  1839. 

An  act  of  January  31,  1854,  appropriated  two  million 
dollars  of  5  per  cent,  bonds  of  the  United  States  remaining  in 
the  State  treasury  of  the  amount  received  from  the  general 
government  in  the  settlement  of  the  boundary  question,  as  a 
school  fund  for  the  support  and  maintainance  of  public  schools, 
to  be  called  the  ''special  school  fund;"  the  interest  therefrom  to 
be  distributed  for  the  benefit  of  the  school  fund.  This  fund 
was  afterwards  authorized  to  be  invested  in  railroad  bonds  to 
encourage  railroad  construction  in  the  State. 

An  act  of  January  30,  1854,  to  encourage  the  construc- 
tion of  railroads  in  Texas,"  and  the  act  of  February  11,  1854, 
relative  to  the  Galveston  and  Brazos  ISTavigation  Company, 
appropriated  "alternate  sections,"  of  lands  in  large  quantities 
to  the  railroads  and  navigation  companies  and  to  the  free 
school  fund,  the  corporations  being  required  to  survey  the 
school  sections  for  the  State,  as  well  as  their  own  lands.  These 
grants  aggregated  many  millions  of  acres,  including  about 
thirty-two  million  acres  to  the  railroads. 

An  act  of  August  30,  1856,  provided  for  the  survey  of 
fifty  leagues  of  University  lands,  appropriated  by  the  act  of 
1839,  under  certain  stipulations  respecting  the  survey:  Also 
how  it  should  be  divided  and  sold;  the  minimum  price  per 
acre,  and  the  payments  and  interest.  The  proceeds  was  to 
constitute  a  University  fund.  Another  act  in  1856  provided 
for  "investments  of  the  special  school  fund  in  bonds  of  rail- 
road companies  incorporated  by  the  State." 

An  act  of  1856  provided  that  "no  statute  of  limitations 
shall  run  in  favor  of  any  one  who  has  heretofore  settled  on  or 
may  hereafter  settle  upon  or  occupy  any  of  the  lands  that 
have  heretofore  been  granted,  or  may  hereafter  be  granted  for 
purposes  of  education." 

An  act  of  February  11,  1858,  known  as  the  'University 
Act  of  1858"  provided  for  the  organization  and  establishmeuL 
of  the  University.  It  granted  the  University  of  Texas  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars  in  United  States  bonds,  then  in  the 
State  treasury;  transferred  to  it  the  fifty  leagues  of  land  ori- 
ginally set  apart  by  the  Republic  of  Texas  for  the  "endo^vment 
of  two  colleges  or  universities,"  and  further  set  apart  to  it 


324  The  Life  and  AVkitixgs  of 

"one  section  of  land  out  of  ten  sections  which  have  heretofore 
been  or  maj  be  hereafter  surveyed  and  reserved  for  the  use 
of  the  State,  under  the  act  of  January  30,  1854,  to  encourage 
the  construction  of  railroads  in  Texas,"  and  the  act  of  Feb- 
ruary 11,  1854,  granting  lands  to  the  Galveston  and  Brazos. 
Navigation  Company.  The  governor  was  to  select  the  sections 
so  as  to  have  them  adjoin  each  other.  The  administrative  de- 
tails of  the  institution  were  provided  for  and  all  the  usual  re- 
quirements for  a  first  class  university  were  established.  The 
Constitution  of  1876  annulled  the  proposition  as  to  the  alter- 
nate sections,  converting  the  lands  to  the  free  school  fund, 
and  substituting  to  the  University  but  one  million  acres  of  far 
less  valuable  lands,  in  lieu  of  some  three  million  two  hundred 
thousand  acres  to  which  the  University  was  entitled  under  the 
act  of  1858. 

We  have  thus  far  traced  the  history  of  education  in  Texas 
from  the  earliest  times,  through  its  evolutions  under  four 
separate  governments,  according  to  available  data.  It  has  been 
shown  that  the  constitutions  and  laws  all  demanded  common 
free  schools,  but  their  requirements  were  never  enforced  or  a 
single  school  put  into  operation.  The  only  provision  ever  madu 
was  for  the  free  tuition  of  every  indigent  child  and  every 
orphan  in  a  good  private  school  ten  months  in  the  year.  The 
reasons  for  their  not  having  been  established  was  partly  owing 
to  the  fact  that  the  permanent  school  fund  afforded  an  in- 
sufficient income  for  the  purpose,  and  because  the  lands  were 
unremunerative.  But  for  the  opposition  of  the  people  to  the 
levying  of  a  tax  for  the  support  of  a  system  of  free  schools 
they  might  have  been  instituted  with  success;  mthout  a  tax 
for  the  purpose,  the  measure  was  practically  impossible,  other- 
wise the  men  of  affairs,  aided  by  those  who  were  devoted  to 
the  educational  interests  of  the  State  would  have  established 
them  without  a  question  of  doubt. 

J.  J.  Lane  says  that  "after  the  annexation  of  Texas  to  the 
United  States,  the  public  school  system  was  subject  to  various 
important  changes.  ISTaturally,  at  the  organization  of  the  gov- 
ernment, the  management  of  educational  interests  was  largely 
left  to  the  cities  and  counties  and  boards  of  school  trustees,  the 
counties  being  generally  divided,  when  the  population  justi- 
fied, into  school  districts  with  respective  school  commissioners. 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  325 

Eventiiallv  sub-divisions  of  school  districts  were  allowed, 
under  what  was  termed  the  community  system,"  where  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  the  people  petitioned  for  it  to  the  school  au- 
thorities. Cities  and  towns  were  allowed  to  incorporate  as 
''independent  school  districts"  imder  separate  school  boards 
and  city  school  superintendents,  and  established  "graded" 
and  "high"  schools,  in  addition  to  the  grammar  and  primary 
schools.  The  disposition  of  free  school  funds  of  the  counties, 
derived  from  State  grants  and  special  appropriations  and  tax- 
ation, was  charged  to  the  county  officers,  subject  to  legislative 
regulation. 

At  first  the  State  Treasurer,  and  subsequently  the  State 
Comptroller,  was  p-x  officio  State  Superintendent  of  instruction, 
with  a  certain  general  supervision  of  the  school  fund  and  some 
direction  as  to  its  distribution  and  use  in  the  several  counties, 
reports  of  county  school  finances  and  school  work  being  re- 
quired to  be  made  to  him,  and  he  to  report  to  the  govern^-"  a:,i 
to  the  condition  of  such  matters  and  the  general  interests 
education  in  the  State.  This  was  before  the  population  of 
Texas  had  grown  so  as  to  require  a  more  thorough  system  of 
regulation," 

Under  the  laws  and  regulations  then  in  force  quite  a 
number  of  institutions  of  learning  were  sustained  in  this  more 
thickly  settled  portions  of  the  State  by  private  enterprise  and 
these  were  generally  supported  by  a  generous  patronage. 
They  were  under  the  supervision  of  competent  instructors  and 
their  management  secured  for  some  of  the  establishments  a 
reputation  which  ranked  them  among  the  creditable  schools  in 
the  Union. 

During  this  era,  as  we  have  seen.  Rev.  Rufus  C.  Burleson 
arrived  in  Texas  who  was  destined  to  take  rank  among  the 
eminent  instructors  in  the  educaitional  institu|tions  of  his 
adopted  State.  He  was  also  to  become  an  instrument  in  mould- 
ing the  present  educational  system  by  bringing  to  bear  his 
indominatable  spirit  and  great  energy  combined  with  an  in- 
fluence and  an  enthusiasm  which  no  opposition  could  with- 
stand. 

At  the  time  of  his  arrival  in  Texas,  Rev.  Rufus  C.  Burle- 
son was  a  young  Baptist  preacher.  The  reader  is  familiar  with 
all  the  incidents  of  his  life  prior  to  this  time,  and  during  this 


326  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

period  and  will  be  made  acquainted  in  subsequent  chapters 
with  his  after  life  when  he  became  an  educator  in  charge  of 
Waco  University,  in  1861,  located  at  Waco  Texas,  and  since 
rechristened  Baylor  University  through  consolidation.  It  was 
in  this  institution  where  his  life-work  was  accomplished  in  the 
education  of  hundreds  of  the  youth  of  the  land  who  received 
the  benefits  of  his  instruction.  It  was  here  he  acquired  a 
prominence  as  an  educator  which  proved  him  an  authority  in 
the  estimation  of  the  people  of  Texas  and  elsewhere,  and  this 
popularity  gave  assurance  that  he  would  be  heard  with  defer- 
ence on  all  subjects  appertaining  to  education.  He  thus  be- 
came eminently  qualified  to  instruct  the  masses  when  the 
proper  time  arrived,  on  the  subject  of  public  schools,  and  it 
was  through  his  indefatigable  exertion  and  earnest  solicitation, 
more  than  any  other  one  man  that  they  became  an  accom- 
plished fact,  which  will  be  the  unbiased  judgment  of  the  pub- 
lic when  all  the  evidence  is  in. 

It  is  appropriate  that  we  should  introduce  Dr.  Burleson 
on  the  stage  of  this  feature  of  his  service  for  education  in 
Texas  at  the  earliest  moment  consistent  with  history.  In 
forecasting  liis  after-life  at  this  time,  it  serves  as  an  introduc- 
tion to  his  great  achievements  in  administering  the  Peabody 
Education  Fund,  with  which  he  became  so  closely  identified 
in  Texas  a  few  years  later. 

We  have  arrived  at  a  period  in  the  history  of  education 
in  Texas  when  nearly  the  whole  system  collapsed  under  the 
terrible  visitation  of  civil  war  and  its  after  results  which  in- 
cluded a  period  of  about  eight  years.  During  the  first  half 
of  these  years  1861-1865,  the  government  and  the  people  of 
Texas  was  absorbed  by  measures  and  conditions  relating  to 
military  operations.  A  universal  patriotic  enthusiasm  was 
manifested  in  the  cause  of  secession  throughout  the  struggle 
for  independence  on  the  part  of  the  Confederate  States,  and  as 
the  people  of  the  l^orth  figuratively  testified,  the  Confederacy 
robbed  both  the  cradle  and  the  grave,  to  recruit  its  armies  by 
voluntary  enlistment  of  its  old  men  and  youth,  l^evertheless 
a  few  schools  were  maintained  during  the  struggle  and  nota- 
bly the  one  over  which  Dr.  Burleson  presided. 

The  constitutional  convention  of  1861,  held  during  the 
secession  of  the  Southern  States,  adopted  the  constitution  of 


Dk.  Kufus  C.  Burleson.  327 

1845  with  some  amendments,  adapting  it  to  the  new  order  of 
things,  but  without  changing  article  10,  on  education  or  the 
two  years  provision  as  to  appropriation  for  educational  pur- 
poses. 

At  the  termination  of  the  war  and  with  the  collapse  of  the 
Southern  Confederacy,  all  military  and  civil  government  was 
substantially  at  an  end.  There  was  for  more  than  two  months 
an  interregnum  in  the  government  of  Texas.  And  although 
the  State  was  full  of  soldiers  with  guns  in  their  hands  and 
under  no  authority,  yet  the  utmost  order  everywhere  prevailed. 
They  were  filled  with  despair  at  the  results  of  their  heroic 
efforts  in  behalf  of  liberty,  but  they  were  alive  to  the  necessi- 
ties of  civilization  and  they  exhibited  a  love  of  order  and  re- 
spect for  the  rights  of  person  and  property  that  was  creditable 
to  the  reputation  they  had  sustained  as  soldiers  of  the  "Lost 
Cause."  The  people  having  accepted  the  results  of  the  strug- 
gle they  made  the  best  of  the  situation  that  was  possible. 
Schools  were  opened  throughout  the  country,  and  thousands 
of  young  men,  who  had  volunteered  as  youths  in  their  coun- 
try's cause  laid  aside  the  trappings  of  war,  and  returned  to  the 
school  room,  fully  realizing  their  deficiencies  and  in  search  of 
an  education  which  had  been  interrupted  at  the  most  impor- 
tant period  in  their  lives.  With  enthusiasm  they  had  put  aside 
their  school  books  when  their  services  were  required  in  their 
country's  defence,  and  history  records  their  merit  as  soldiers, 
but  many  of  them  resumed  their  studies  as  cripples  or  phy- 
sical wrecks,  resulting  from  the  vicissitudes  of  war  and  disease. 

The  distracted  condition  of  the  country  during  the  several 
years  which  followed,  was  not  conducive  to  the  establishment 
of  educational  institutions.  Civil  government  was  suspended 
and  the  country  was  impoverished.  The  people  were  at  the 
feet  of  the  conqueror  and  the  radical  element  among  them 
being  in  the  majority  suppressed  the  conservative  measures 
advocated  for  restoring  the  Southern  states  to  the  Union  and 
for  rehabilitating  the  country.  The  evils  resulting  from  a 
free  indulgence  of  such  passions  were  disastrous  and  demora- 
lizing. In  1867  a  mighty  impetus  was  given  to  the  cause  of 
education  in  the  Southern  states,  by  the  creation  of  the  Pea- 
body  Education  Fund.  This  noble  benefaction  came  at  an 
opportune  time,  and  the  good  it  effected  can  not  be  overes- 


328  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

timated,  in  relation  to  the  poverty  and  ignorance  that  was  then 
stalking  abroad  in  the  land. 

By  some  of  the  worst  desolated  states  the  charity  was 
grasped  with  avidity,  and  these  consequently  were  soonest  in 
possession  of  a  successful  system  of  public  schools;  but  its 
benefits  were  generally  slow  in  reaching  those  for  whom  the 
fund  was  created.  The  reasons  were  manifold  which  hindered 
and  retarded  its  application.  The  greatest  obstacle  was  in  the 
people  themselves.  They  were  required  by  the  regulations 
ordained  by  the  Trustees  of  the  Fund,  to  comply  with  certain 
requirements  before  they  could  become  beneficiaries.  The 
rule  of  the  Trustees  was  that  they  would  help  those  most,  who 
helped  themselves  most,  and  if  nothing  was  done  in  that  direc- 
tion they  would  -withhold  their  benefaction. 

The  benefits  of  this  Fund  to  public  education  in  Texas, 
and  it  might  be  said  to  all  education,,  for  all  was  stimulated, 
is  shown  hereafter  in  connection  with  the  influence  it  exerted 
in  bringing  about  results,  which  have  been  so  firmly  estab- 
lished in  the  educational  institutions  of  the  State. 


De.  Rufus  C.  Buelesox.  320 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 


Education  in  Texas  Undee  the  Peovisional  Goveenment 
— MiLiTAEY  Occupation — Emancipation  Oedee — Ham- 
ilton Peovisional  Goveenoe — Oeganization  of  the 
Civil  Goveenment — Election  Oedee — Constitution 
of  1866 — Theockmoeton  Goveenoe — Peo vision  for 
Education — Republican  Reconsteuction — Civil  Gov- 
eenoe Removed — E.  M.  Pease  Appointed  Peovisional 
Goveenoe — Constitution  of  1868 — Peo  visions  foe 
Education — Fiest  Public  Feee  School  in  Texas  was 
Opened  Septembee  4th,  1871 — De.  P..  Seaes'  Repoet 
AS  Geneeal  Agent  of  the  Peabody  Fund — The  Tax- 
payees'  Convention. 

IsT  the  19th  of  June,  1865,  General  Gordon  Granger, 
of  the  United  States  army,  by  proclamation  at  Gal- 
veston, assumed  command  over  Texas,  and  issued  an 
order  declaring  "all  acts  of  the  Governor  and  Legislature  of 
Texas,  since  the  ordinance  of  secession  was  adopted  illegiti- 
mate, and  called  upon  all  Confederate  and  State  officers  and 
soldiers  to  repair  to  certain  designated  places  in  the  State  to 
be  paroled.  On  the  same  date  he  also  declared  the  negroes 
to  be  free,  from  which  fact  the  negroes  of  Texas  have  ever 
since  celebrated  June  19,  as  "Emancipation  Day." 

Many  measures  effecting  public  education  in  the  State 
came  within  these  dates,  and  hence  many  things  must  be  done 
de  novo. 

After  passing  through  a  period  of  reconstruction,  a  con- 
stitutional convention  was  held  January  7th,  1866,  and  James 


330.  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

W.  Throckmorton  was  elected  President.  This  convention 
adopted  a  constitution,  submitted  it  to  a  vote  of  the  people 
who  ratified  it,  and  in  an  election  which  followed  Mr.  Throck- 
morton was  elected  Governor. 

This  constitution  amended  the  provisions  of  article  10, 
on  education,  by  declaring  that  the  Legislature  shall,  as  early 
as  possible  establish  a  system  of  free  schools  throughout  the 
State,  and  as  a  basis  for  the  endowment  and  support  of  said 
system,  all  the  funds,  lands  and  other  property  heretofore 
set  apart,  or  that  may  hereafter  be  set  apart  and  appropriated 
for  the  support  and  maintenance  of  public  schools,  shall  con- 
stitute the  public  school  fund;  and  said  fund  and  the  income 
derived  therefrom  shall  be  a  perpetual  fund  for  the  education 
of  all  the  white  scholastic  inhabitants  of  this  State,  and  no  law 
shall  ever  be  made  appropriating  said  fund  to  any  other  use 
or  purpose.  It  further  provided  that  all  the  alternate  sections 
of  land  reserved  by  the  State  out  of  previous  or  future  grants 
to  railroad  companies  or  other  corporations  for  internal  im- 
provements, or  for  the  development  of  the  wealth  on  resources 
of  the  State,  shall  be  set  apart  as  the  permanent  school  fund  of 
the  State;  that  the  legislature  shall  hereafter  appropriate  one- 
half  of  the  proceeds  of  sale  of  public  lands  to  the  perpetual 
school  fund,  and  shall  provide  for  the  levying  of  a  tax  for 
educational  purposes,  and  that  the  sum  arising  from  said  tax 
which  may  be  collected  from  Africans  or  persons  of  African 
descent,  shall  be  exclusively  appropriated  for  the  maintenance 
of  a  system  of  public  schools  for  Africans  and  their  children; 
that  the  LTniversity  funds  shall  be  invested  in  like  manner 
provided  for  the  public  school  fund,  and  the  legislature  shall 
have  no  power  to  appropriate  the  University  fund  for  any 
other  purpose  than  that  of  the  maintenance  of  universities, 
and  shall  at  an  early  day  make  such  provision  by  law  as  will 
organize  and  put  into  operation  the  University.  The  Governor 
in  his  inaugural  address  thus  graphically  described  the  situa- 
tion: 

"We  have  just  emerged  from  the  most  terrible  conflict 
known  to  modern  times,  with  homes  made  dreary  and  deso- 
late by  the  hand  of  war,  the  people  impoverished  and  groaning 
under  public  and  private  debt ;  the  great  industrial  energies  of 
the  country  sadly  depressed,  occupying  in  some  respects  the 


De.  Kufus  C.  Buelesois'.  331 

position  of  a  State  in  the  Union,  and  in  others  the  condition 
of  a  conquered  province ;  exercising  only  such  privileges  as  the 
conqueror  in  his  wisdom  and  mercy  may  allow;  the  loyalty  of 
the  people  to  the  government  doubted;  their  integrity  ques- 
tioned; their  holiest  aspirations  for  peace  and  restoration  dis- 
believed, malinged  and  traduced  by  a  constant  misapprehen- 
sion of  their  most  innocent  actions  and  intentions."  Defama- 
tions continued  to  iniluence  the  hostility  at  the  Xorth,  and 
aggravate  their  feelings  toward  the  Southern  people.  A  mili- 
tary government  was  established,  and  the  highest  welfare 
of  the  people  for  a  time  seems  to  have  been  forgotten.  But 
through  it  all  Dr.  Burleson  never  relinguished  his  life  pur- 
pose, not  lost  sight  of  the  proposition  that  the  perpetuity  of 
republican  institutions  depends  upon  an  educated  constituency. 

The  Keconstruction  Convention  which  assembled  June 
1,  186S,  framed  a  State  Constitution  which  was  finally  ratified 
by  the  people  in  July  1869.  This  Constitution  eliminated 
from  that  of  1866  all  those  provisions  against  "race  discrimi- 
nations," and  was  so  changed  as  to  provide  that  ''the  perpetual 
school  fund  shall  be  applied,  as  needed,  exclusively  for  the 
education  of  all  the  scholastic  inhabitants  of  the  State,  and  no 
law  shall  ever  be  made  appropriating  such  fund  for  any  other 
use  or  purpose."  It  was  also  provided  that  "All  sums  of  money 
that  may  come  to  this  State  from  the  sale  of  any  portion  of  the 
public  domain  of  the  State  shall  also  constitute  a  part  of  the 
public  school  fund.  And  the  legislature  shall  appropriate  all 
the  proceeds  resulting  from  sales  of  public  lands,  to  such 
public  school  fund,  and  shall  set  apart  for  the  benefit  of  the 
public  schools  one-fourth  of  the  annual  revenue  derivable  from 
general  taxation ;  and  shall  also  cause  to  be  levied  and  collected 
an  annual  poll-tax  of  one  dollar  on  all  male  persons  in  this 
State,  between  the  ages  of  21  and  60  years,  for  the  benefit 
of  public  schools."  "And  said  fund  and  the  income  therefrom 
and  the  taxes  herein  provided,  for  school  purposes  shall  be  a 
perpetual  fund  to  be  applied"  as  above. 

The  Constitution  declared  the  Ordinance  of  Secession 
of  1861  and  all  legislation  based  thereon,  a  nullity.  It  also 
declared  that  the  Legislature,  which  assembled  in  Austin, 
August  6,  18G6,  was  provisional  only.  The  invalidating  of  all 
debts  under  the  Confederacy  caused  a  loss  to  the  University 


332  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

fund  of  $74,804.48,  in  consequence  of  having  received 
that  amount  in  "Confederate  notes"  in  payment  for  (Jniversity 
lands  and  turned  over  to  the  Confederate  States  depository. 
ISTo  estimate  seems  to  have  been  made  with  respect  to  the  losses 
sustained  by  the  free  school  fund  and  other  special  trusts  by 
the  State  being  prohibited  from  paying  any  debt  involving 
Confederate  money. 

Provision  for  the  establishment  of  Public  Free  Schools 
was  made  under  a  new  school  law  which  was  passed  April  4, 
1871,  in  which  ample  power;:,  were  given  to  the  school  authori- 
ties, and  in  which  the  bch  elastic  age  was  placed  at  from  six 
to  eighteen  years  and  attendance  at  school  was  required  by 
law.  The  first  public  free  schools  were  opened  in  Texas  on 
September  4,  1871,  under  the  administration  of  Provisional 
Governor  E.  J.  Davis  and  with  J.  C.  De  Gross  (appointed  by 
Davis)  as  State  Superintendent  of  Education. 

Governor  O.  M.  Koberts  says  in  relation  to  this  period, 
"Public  free  schools  were  established  with  the  same  central 
control  by  a  school  board  at  Austin,  with  district  supervisors 
and  county  superintendents,  and  with  taxes  levied  in  the  coun- 
ties to  build  school  houses.  Parents  were  compelled  to  send 
their  children  of  a  certain  age  to  school  under  a  penalty  for 
failure  to  do  it.  Immense  bounties  of  land  were  given  to 
railroad  companies,  and  in  one  case  a  large  amount  of  money 
was  donated,  the  payment  of  Avhich  was  prevented  only  by  the 
stern  honesty  of  the  Treasurer,  A.  Bledsoe,  who  refused  to 
sign  the  bonds  issued  to  secure  it,  and  which  bounty  gave  the 
State  no  little  trouble  afterwards."  Hon.  J.  J.  Lane  says, 
"An  act  of  1871,  amended  the  general  school  law  by  providing 
that  the  Board  of  Education  shall  apportion  the  territory  of  the 
State  anew  into  convenient  educational  districts.  The  State 
Superintendent  was  authorized  to  appoint  the  district  super- 
visors, the  supervisors  were  to  appoint  the  school  directors  and 
could  act  as  examiners  of  teachers.  Thus,  the  school  officer;? 
were  very  numerous  and  involved  an  expense  that  was  well 
calculated  to  exhaust  the  school  fund,  if  not  to  bankrupt  the 
State,  if  the  system  was  maintained.  At  all  events,  it  was  too 
extravagant  for  maintenance  by  the  counties." 

Dr.  Sears  as  general  agent  of  the  Peabody  Education 
Fund  reported  to  the  Trustees  February,  1871,  as  follows: 


Dk.  Kufus  C.  Burlesox,  333 

"A  little  more  than  a  year  ago,  I  visited  this  remote  State, 
and  found  that  nothing  could  be  accomplished  for  the  object 
of  my  mission  till  after  the  session  of  the  first  Legislature  under 
the  new  constitution,  which  required  the  immediate  enactment 
of  a  school  law.  That  body  has  at  length  passed  a  law,  but  it 
seems  not  to  be  very  satisfactory  to  the  people.  It  makes  the 
members  of  the  police  court  of  the  county  a  Board  of  School 
Directors.  It  declares  ''that  the  Board  of  School  Directors 
shall  be  subject  to  the  rules  and  directions  and  supervision  of 
the  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction." 

The  governor  nominated  a  Superintendent,  but  the 
Senate  refused  to  confirm  the  appointment.  iSTo  other  nomi- 
nation has  been  made,  and  the  office  is  still  vacant.  Thus  the 
whole  system  is  rendered  inoperative,  and  it  is  not  known  that 
any  county  has  taken  measures  for  carrying  out  the  provisions 
of  the  law.  In  consequence  of  this  failure,  I  have  not  yet 
been  able  to  eifect  anything  for  schools  in  Texas." 

In  Dr.  Sears'  annual  report  to  the  Trustees  of  the  Pea- 
body  Fund  in  June,  1872,  he  gives  a  synopsis  of  the  State 
school  law  in  connection  with  the  following  statistics  gathered 
from  the  Report  of  the  Superintendent : 

"The  school  fund,  after  being  sadly  plundered,  is  still 
larger  than  that  of  any  Southern  State,  being  $2,285,279. 
The  number  of  children  of  school  age  in  the  State  is,  accord- 
ing to  the  imperfect  returns  recently  made,  227,615.  Of 
these  63,501  (increased  to  about  90,000,  April  5),  have  been 
already  brought  into  the  public  schools.  Of  the  1,324  schools, 
1,107  have  been  graded.  Teachers  have  been  well  paid,  male 
and  female  receiving  equal  compensation,  and,  consequently, 
capable  persons  could  generally  be  obtained  for  the  office. 
The  schools  were  organized  through  the  agency  of  the  Super- 
visors of  the  thirty-five  Judicial  Districts.  This  number  of 
Supervisors  has,  from  considerations  of  economy,  been  reduced 
to  twelve.  Only  one  or  two  public  school  houses  were  found 
in  the  State  at  the  beginning  of  last  year."  He  further 
remarks :  "I  can  safely  assert  that  until  the  present  time  we 
have  never  had  an  educational  law  free  from  most  glaring 
defects."  In  a  Supplemental  Report  he  adds:  ''While  at 
every  step  this  department  has  met  with  stubborn  opposition, 
the  experience  of  the  last  three  months  has  demonstrated  that 


334  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

the  sovereigns  of  the  soil  are  fully  alive  to  the  importance  and 
necessity  of  free  schools."  In  a  letter,  written  nearly  at  the 
same  time,  he  says:  "I  cannot  sufficiently  thank  you  for 
your  kind  suggestions  concerning  the  donation  intended  for 
this  State.  I  recommend  the  wisdom  of  the  plans  proposed, 
and  shall  enter  into  a  hearty  co-operation  with  you  in  exe- 
cuting the  same."  "The  State  has  made  an  appropriation  of 
over  $500,000,  a  part  of  which  is  in  the  State  Treasury." 

Roberts  says,  in  reviewing  the  administration  of  these 
times,  that  "Such  were  the  extravagant  appropriations  of 
money  and  the  lavish  expenditure  of  it,  and  such  were  the 
violations  of  the  Constitution  in  the  administration  of  affair-:;, 
that  the  whole  country  became  alarmed  at  the  excesses 
being  continually  perpetrated,  and  conservative  men  of  all 
parties  determined  to  arrest  the  ruinous  policy  if  possible.  For 
that  purpose  a  meeting  was  called  to  assemble  at  Austin,  by 
both  Republicans  and  Democrats.  This  non-partisan  meet- 
ing was  called  the  "Taxpayers'  Convention  of  1871."  It 
was  held  September  22,  23  and  25,  1871.  It  was  composed  of 
the  leading  citizens  of  the  State. 

Dr.  Burleson  warmly  supported  this  movement,  and, 
while  not  sent  as  a  delegate,  the  action  of  the  convention  con- 
tributed largely  toward  securing  a  Democratic  Legislature  in 
the  election  of  1873. 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  335 


CHAPTER  XL. 


The  Peabody  Educatiox  Fund — George  Peabody — His 
Character — His  Death — ^Munificent  Bequest — Dk. 
Barnas  Sears  General  Agent  of  the  Fund — Dr. 
KuTUS  C.  Burleson's  Appointment  as  Lecturer  for 
THE  Fund  in  Texas — His  First  Quarterly  Report. 


EORGE  PEABODY,  the  enlightened  and  beneficent 
founder  of  the  trust  which  bears  his  name,  was  a 
native  of  Massachusetts,  but  for  many  years  was  a 
resident  of  London,  "England,  where  he^  accumulated  a  large 
fortune.  With  characteristic  sagacity,  he  was  among  the 
first  to  foresee  the  evils  which  would  be  entailed  on  the  South- 
ern States  of  America  by  the  ravages  of  the  great  Civil  War, 
and  the  consequent  inability  of  the  people  of  those  States  to 
extend  to  the  rising  generation  the  blessing  of  education." 
Discarding  every  feeling  of  a  sectional  character,  and  acting 
with  a  magnanimity  almost  without  a  parallel  in  history,  he 
dedicated  several  millions  of  dollars  of  his  private  fortune  "to 
be  held  by  trustees  (named  by  himself)  and  their  successors, 
and  the  income  thereof  used  and  applied,  in  their  discretion, 
for  the  promotion  and  encouragement  of  intellectual,  moral 
and  industrial  education  among  the  young  of  the  more  desti- 
tute portions  of  the  Southern  and  Southwestern  States  of  our 
Union;"  his  purpose  being  that  the  benefits  intended  should 
be  distributed  among  the  entire  population  and  without  other 
distinction  than  their  needs  and  the  opportunities  of  useful- 
ness to  them. 

The  letter  of  the  great  philanthropist  was  dated  Wash- 
ington, February  7,  1867.  The  trustees  met  and  effected  an 
organization  the  following  day. 


336  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

Mr.  Peabody  added  a  second  princely  gift  of  over  $51,- 
000,000  to  bis  original  donation  June  29, 1869.  He  sailed  for 
Liverpool  on  the  29tb  of  September  following,  and  died  in 
London  on  the  4th  of  ISTovember  of  the  same  year. 

His  death  was  greatly  lamented,  and  his  acts  afforded  a 
theme  of  eloquent  tributes  commemorative  of  his  character. 
He  was  the  subject  of  funeral  honors  by  command  of  Queen 
Victoria.  His  remains,  after  resting  for  a  few  days  under  the 
consecrated  arches  of  Westminster  Abbey,  were  brought  to 
the  United  States,  by  order  of  the  Queen,  in  H.  B.  M.  iron- 
clad steamer  "Monarch,"  which  was  accompanied  by  the 
United  States  ship  of  war  "Plymouth,"  He  was  buried, 
agreeably  to  his  own  wishes,  in  his  family  tomb  in  Harmony 
Grove  Cemetery,  in  Danvers,  Mass.,  on  the  8th  of  February, 
1870. 

George  Peabody  did  not  wait  for  posthumous  execution 
of  his  munificence  by  refraining  from  parting  with  his  millions 
until  death  should  have  wrested  them  from  a  reluctant  grasp. 
His  charity  was  of  his  own  designing.  The  noble  aspirations 
of  his  early  manhood,  which  contemplated  the  acquisition  of 
wealth  for  the  purpose  of  disposing  of  it  by  doing  some  great 
good  to  his  fellow-men  was  realized  in  the  opportunity  offered 
at  the  close  of  the  sanguinary  struggle  in  his  native  land, 
which  impoverished  the  overpowered  Confederate  States  and 
left  them  at  the  mercy  of  ignorance.  The  hopeless  condition 
of  the  Southern  people  was  manifest,  with  their  4,500,000 
emancipated  slaves  recently  associated  in  the  political  man- 
agement of  affairs,  and  fostered  by  a  military  despotism. 

George  Peabody  grasped  the  situation  and  saw  "the  edu- 
cational needs  of  those  portions  of  our  beloved  and  common 
country  which  has  suffere'd  from  the  destructive  ravages,  and 
the  not  less  disastrous  consequences,  of  civil  war."  By  his 
prompt  action  in  bestowing  the  gift  and  in  his  discrimination, 
which  secured  efficient  trustees  and  agents  for  its  distribution, 
he  gained  a  place  by  himself  far  above  all  competition  or  com- 
parison as  having  done  the  greatest  good  for  the  greatest  num- 
ber of  his  fellow-men,  and  in  all  human  annals  he  should  be 
esteemed  as  pre-eminent  among  the  many  benefactors  of  man- 
kind. 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Buelesox.  337 

Tlie  history  of  education  in  the  United  States  would  bo 
incomplete  which  did  not  introduce  George  Peabodj  and  his 
pati'iotic  benefactions  in  behalf  of  the  South  at  a  critical 
period  in  the  history  of  those  States.  In  their  then  impov- 
erished condition  the  people  were  unable  to  provide  educa- 
tional facilities  for  the  white  children  who,  for  eight  years,  had 
been  grooving  up  in  ignorance  during  the  continuance  of  the 
war,  and  after  its  close,  because  all  efforts  in  that  direction 
were  restrained,  for  the  education  of  the  masses,  by  the  blight- 
ing influences  of  military  occupation.  The  country  was  in  the 
power  of  selfish  and  malignant  influences,  and  threatened  by 
a  semi-barbarous  generation  under  universal  suffrage  seeking 
to  control  the  destinies  of  a  section  of  the  country  which 
needed  all  the  resources  of  knowledge,  science  and  art  to 
recuperate  and  fully  develop  its  energies.  Men  of  elevated 
character  and  ability  throughout  the  Southern  States  were 
fully  impressed  with  the  importance  of  establishing  an  educa- 
tional system,  and  were  in  a  state  of  anxiety  when  contemplat- 
ing the  preponderance  of  ignorance  which  threatened  the 
country. 

The  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Peabody  Fund  appointed 
Rev.  Dr.  Barnas  Sears,  President  of  Brown  University,  Rhode 
Island,  their  general  agent.  The  wisdom  of  this  appointment 
cannot  be  questioned.  He  was  eminently  fitted  for  the  work 
contemplated  by  the  endowment.  His  high  intellectual  gifts 
and  large  attainments,  and  administrative  ability,  coupled  with 
his  social  distinction,  qualified  him  for  entering  upon  such  a 
vast  field  of  labor,  where  so  much  was  to  be  accomplished.  Dr. 
Sears  was  a  great  man,  statesman  and  philosopher  as  well  as 
an  educator.  Through  his  industry  and  patience  in  removing 
obstacles,  he  succeeded  in  laying  the  foundation  for  a  system 
of  public  schools  for  the  South. 

His  fidelity  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  and  the  results 
flowing  from  the  administration  of  the  great  Peabody  bequest 
up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  at  Saratoga,  July  6,  1880,  will 
commemorate  him  as  the  friend  and  benefactor  of  the  South- 
ern people. 

It  was  through  Dr.  Sears  that  the  State  of  Texas  became 
a  beneficiary  of  the  Peabody  Fund.  In  December,  1869,  he 
said:     ''I  visited  the  State  shortly  after  the  adoption  of  the 

22 


338  The  Life  am)  Wkitixgs  of 

new  Constitution.  All  eyes  were  turned  to  tlie  Legislature 
about  to  be  convened.  Great  interest  was  being  manifested 
on  the  subject  of  a  system  of  public  instruction.  I  had  an 
interview  Avith  the  Governor-elect,  with  members  of  both 
branches  of  the  Legislature  and  others.  I  was  earnestly 
requested  by  them  all  to  visit  Austin  during  the  session  of  the 
Legislature.  As  nothing  could  be  done  in  Texas  until  that 
time,  I  made  preparation  for  future  action  by  addressing  cir- 
culars to  cities  in  the  interior  setting  forth  my  plans  of  action, 
and  requesting  co-operation  as  soon  as  the  necessary  laws 
should  have  been  passed."  He  says  in  his  report  of  February, 
1870  :  ''The  present  is  a  time  of  great  interest  in  Texas  with 
respect  to  all  that  relates  to  its  social  and  moral  condition. 
While  I  was  in  Texas  three  different  committees  were  ap- 
pointed to  confer  with  the  Legislature  on  the  subject  of  a 
system  of  public  instruction." 

Dr.  Burleson  says  in  an  unpublished  paper:  "A  broad 
and  magnificent  system  of  free  schools  was  the  early  pride  and 
glory  of  our  Texas  fathers.  They  made  the  grandest  provision 
for  the  future  establishment  of  free  schools  of  any  nation  in 
ancient  or  modern  times.  But  Gov.  E.  J.  DaAas  and  his 
allies,  by  their  miserable  management,  made  the  free  school 
system  odious  in  so  much  that  when  that  learned  and  practi- 
cal sage  and  philosopher.  Dr.  Barnas  Sears,  general  agent  of 
the  Peabody  Fund,  came  to  Texas  in  1869,  expecting  to  make 
an  appropriation  of  $60,000,  he  returned  home  in  sadness, 
and  reported  to  the  Trustees  of  the  fund,  assembled  at  White 
Sulphur  Springs,  Virginia,  that  it  was  useless  to  appropriate 
anything  to  Texas  in  her  present  situation ;  and  suggested  that 
unless  some  Texas  educator,  well  and  favorably  known,  could 
be  induced  to  canvass  the  whole  State,  and  correct  the  mistakes 
and  explain  the  abuses  of  E.  J.  Davis  and  his  allies,  the  free 
school  system  of  Texas  would  be  set  back  twenty-five,  if  not 
fifty,  years.  By  the  earnest  importunity  of  Dr.  Sears  for  the 
Trustees  of  the  Peabody  Fund  and  other  true  friends  of  free 
schools,  I  reluctantly  consented  to  canvass  the  State  and  cor- 
rect these  abuses,  which  would  result  in  saving  the  3,542,400 
acres  of  county  school  lands  for  the  children  of  Texas. 

"I  was  astonished  to  find  in  my  tour  the  fearful  array  of 
prejudice  agaist  a  free  school  system.     In  several  places  lead- 


Dr.  Kufus  C.  Burleson.  339 

ing  educators  denomiced  my  advocacy  of  free  schools  as 
iinwortliv  of  an  old  Texas  educator.  Even  threats  and  insults 
opposed  me." 

It  was  not,  however,  until  1874  that  Dr.  Sears  appointed 
Dr.  K.  C.  Burleson  special  agent  and  lecturer  for  one  year  in 
Texas.  In  this  selection  Dr.  Sears  exhibited  his  usual  good 
sense  in  choosing  the  most  competent  men  available  in  eacli 
State  to  assist  him  in  carrying  into  effect  the  intention  of  the 
great  trust.  Dr.  Burleson,  however,  says  that  "he  w^as 
appointed  because  he  knew  everybody,  was  not  afraid  of  any- 
body, and  was  a  friend  to  free  schools." 

Previous  to  this  Dr.  Burleson's  services  were  enlisted  in 
the  cause  of  the  Peabody  Fund,  during  Dr.  Sears'  visit  to  the 
State  in  1869,  but  the  extent  of  his  labors  in  its  behalf  are  not 
accurately  known,  until  the  time  when  he  entered  upon  his 
duties  as  State  lecturer.  His  first  quarterly  report  is  herein 
given : 

PiEST   Quarterly  Report   of   Pufus   C.   Burlesoit,   From 
April  21st,  1871,  to  July  21:TH,  1874. 

To  Dr.  B.  Sears,  Through  Prof.  0.  N.  Hollingsworth,  Super- 
intendent of  Puhlic  Instruction  for  the  State  of  Texas  : 

Dear  Sir — I  have  the  honor  to  submit  my  first  quarterly 
rei)ort  as  State  Lecturer  on  Common  Schools  under  the  Pea- 
body  Education  Fund. 

I  w^ent  immediately  from  Austin  on  receiving  my  com- 
mission, April  21st,  1874,  to  the  city  of  Galveston.  I  found 
my  old  friend.  General  Thomas  X.  Waul,  the  Superintendent 
of  Common  Schools  in  Galveston  County,  fully  alive  to  the 
great  cause  of  universal  education,  and  determined  to  make 
Galveston  the  banner  county  in  Texas  in  the  efficiency  of  her 
common  schools. 

I  found  tilings,  however,  in  a  very  confused  and  chaotic 
state,  chiefly  because  of  the  fact  that  the  old  De  Gress  Board, 
in  the  absence  of  any  regulation,  liad  reappointed  themselves 
as  Trustees  of  the  county  for  one  year.  ISTeither  the  people 
nor  the  teachers  had  confidence  in  these  self-appointed  Trus- 
tees; hence  there  was  but  little  co-operation  and  much  con- 
fusion as  to  the  distinct  duties  of  the  School  Directors  and  the 


340  The  Life  and  "Writings  of 

School  Trustees.  As  a  consequence,  the  teachers  were 
appointed  and  left  to  work  out  their  own  salvation  and  do  that 
which  was  right  in  their  own  eyes.  It  is  justice  to  Jas.  P.  Cole 
and  others,  on  the  old  De  Gress  Board,  to  state  that  they  pro- 
tested against  this  disreputable  self-appointment,  and  tendered 
at  once  their  resignations  to  General  Waul,  but  he  and  other 
good  citizens  urged  and  prevailed  upon  him  and  his  honorable 
minority  to  remain  and  restrain  the  majority  from  doing  fur- 
ther mischief. 

I  found  over  6,000  children  under  the  scholastic  age  in 
the  county,  and  nearly  all  of  them  in  the  city  of  Galveston. 

I  visited  and  delivered  lectures  before  all  the  principal 
schools.  I  found  them,  as  a  whole,  -  doing  well.  Some  of 
them  were  very  high  models  in  discipline  in  the  manner  and 
ability  of  teaching.  Mrs.  Goodwin's  school  was  equal  to  any 
I  have  ever  visited  in  Texas. 

I  made  an  effort  to  organize  a  Teachers'  Institute,  but 
found  it  impracticable,  as  nearly  all  the  schools  were  drawing 
to  a  close,  and- there  was  great  uncertainty  whether  the  same 
teachers  would  remain  in  the  common  schools.  Indeed  most 
of  them  had  resolved  not  to  continue  to  teach  unless  there  was 
a  general  remodeling  and  greater  certainty  in  regard  to  prompt 
pay.  They,  however,  expressed  a  great  anxiety  to  organize  a 
Teachers'  Institute  as  soon  as  the  common  schools  reopened, 
provided  they  continued  to  teach.  I  have  found  the  same 
difficulty  existing  all  over  the  State,  and  I  deferred  organizing 
Teachers'  Institutes  till  fall. 

I  found  that  great  confusion  and  dissatisfaction  exists  in 
regard  to  the  salaries  of  teachers.  The  matter  being  left  to 
each  district,  I  found  one  district  giving  higher  salaries  to 
inferior  teachers  than  was  being  paid  to  teachers  of  higher 
grade  and  greater  ability  and  experience  in  an  adjoining  dis- 
trict. And  some  inexperienced  colored  female  teachers  were 
receiving  salaries  equal  to  Mrs.  Goodwin.  Also,  in  some  in- 
stances, one  district  would  offer  higher  wages  to  induce  a  fav- 
orite teacher  to  remove  into  another  district.  I  suggested  as 
an  immediate  remedy  for  these  e\dls  that  as  soon  as  the  new 
teachers  were  elected  a  convention  should  be  called  and  all  the 
schools  be  well  graded;  also,  that  the  salaries  of  teachers  be 


De.  Eufus  C.  Burleson.  341 

made  uniform  according  to  the  grade  of  the  school  and  the 
experience  and  ability  of  the  teacher. 

I  am  convinced  from  what  I  have  seen  in  all  our  large 
towns  and  cities,  including  Galveston,  Houston,  Jefferson, 
Dallas,  Sherman  and  Denison,  that  the  present  law  must  be 
so  amended  as  to  permit  all  large  cities  and  densely  populated 
counties  to  elect  a  special  city  or  county  superintendent — a 
man  of  great  ability  as  an  organizer  and  experience  as  a 
teacher — to  superintend  and  regulate  all  these  things.  He 
should  be  paid  and  required  to  devote  his  time  to  the  duties 
assigned  to  him. 

I  conferred  with  the  Mayor  and  many  leading  citizens 
relative  to  the  importance  of  making  a  special  effort  to  elect, 
at  the  approaching  election,  the  best  men  in  the  county  as 
Trustees,  and  to  use  every  influence  to  co-operate  with  Gen. 
"Waul  in  making  the  common  schools  in  Galveston  a  great  suc- 
cess. Galveston  secured,  years  ago,  eligible  lots  for  school 
buildings  at  the  instigation  of  County  Judge  Jas.  P.  Cole. 

As  soon  as  I  learned  the  new  Trustees  were  elected,  I 
returend  to  Galveston,  and  delivered  a  lecture  to  a  convention 
of  all  the  teachers  in  the  county,  in  which  I  pointed  out  the 
defects  I  found  existing  in  the  former  schools.  They 
appointed  a  committee  of  one  teacher  from  each  district  to 
meet  monthly  and  confer  fully  on  all  the  great  interests  of  the 
schools,  and  also  a  committee  to  provide  school  houses. 

I  was  rejoiced  to  find  the  Trustees  were  the  very  best 
citizens  of  Galveston.  I  promised  them  to  return  when  the 
schools  open  and  organize  a  Teacher's  Institute,  at  which  time 
the  Honorable  Mayor  promises  to  call  a  mass-meeting  of  citi- 
zens in  behalf  of  common  schools. 

If  we  can  demonstrate  in  a  few  great  centers  of  influence 
the  efficiency  of  the  common  school  system,  then  we  can  dispel 
the  doubts  and  break  down  the  prejudices  so  common  in  Texas 
against  its  adoption;  hence  I  propose  to  direct  special  attention 
to  those  places. 

I  am  happy  to  report  that  I  found  two  of  the  colored 
schools  in  Galveston  in  a  very  fine  condition.  The  school 
taught  by  Miss  Fanny  Williams  (F.  W.  C.)  and  the  Barns 
Institute  were  conducted  in  such  a  manner  as  to  give  me 


342  The  Life  axd  Writings  of 

renewed  confidence  in  the  possibility  of  educating  the  colored 
race. 

Houston  and  Harris  County  I  found  less  favorable  to 
common  schools.  The  schools  generally  had  not  met  the  pub- 
lic expectation  and  were  not  Avell  organized.  Dr.  Ashbel 
Smith,  the  learned  County  Superintendent,  lives  remote  from 
Houston,  the  county  seat,  but  has  done  the  best  he  could  under 
the  circumstances.  I  visited  the  schools  at  an  unfortunate 
time,  as  they  were  in  recess,  preparing  for  their  May  festivities 
on  a  large  scale. 

At  Hockley  I  found  a  better  spirit  and  a  determination 
to  reorganize  in  September  with  a  full  corps  of  efiicient 
teachers. 

At  Crockett  and  in  Houston  County  I  found  a  disposition 
to  co-operate  and  build  up  common  schools,  but  there  was  a 
strong  inclination  to  complicate  with  some  cherished  private 
school.  In  my  address  to  them  I  endeavored  to  explain 
clearly  the  present  school  law,  and  the  importance  of  keeping 
common  schools  free  from  entangling  alliances,  but,  should 
necessity  require  a  temporary  blending,  the  terms  ought  to  be 
well  defined,  because  no  aid  could  be  received  from  the  Pea- 
body  Fund  except  for  common  free  schools. 

At  Huntsville,  in  Walker  County,  I  found  a  dead  acqui- 
escence in  favor  of  common  schools  without  any  well  defined 
purpose.  The  leading  citizens  heard  my  lecture  with  earnest 
attention,  and  promised  co-operation,  but  I  fear,  with  a  few 
exceptions,  they  have  the  impression  that  common  schools  are 
mainly  for  charity  schools  and  must,  from  necessity,  be  of 
inferior  grade. 

'Ne&Y  the  farm  of  Col.  Green,  five  miles  east  of  Hunts- 
ville, there  is  a  very  flourishing  colored  school,  which  seems  to 
be  doing  well.  They  want  to  get  aid  from  the  Peabody  Fund 
to  enlarge  their  faculty. 

While  at  Marshall  and  Jefferson  I  was  too  hoarse  to  lec- 
ture, and  too  lame  to  walk  much,  yet  I  gave  all  the  information 
I  could.  The  leading  men  in  these  towns  are  very  doubtful 
of  any  good  results  from  common  schools. 

The  citizens  of  Marshall  would  be  gl^ad  to  have  one  of  the 
State  ISTormal  Schools  located  there,  and  wdll  turn  over  to  the 
State  a  comomdious  building  for  that  purpose. 


De.  Rufus  C.  Burlesox.  343 

At  Calvert  and  in  Robertson  County  I  found  things  very 
niucli  mixed.  At  Bremond  and  a  few  other  places  common 
schools  had  done  well.  Prof.  C.  E.  Stephen  is  one  of  the  best 
County  Superintendents  I  have  met,  and  if  he  could  spare  the 
time  to  give  common  schools  the  requisite  attention  he  would 
make  them  succeed. 

At  Calvert  my  lecture  was  well  received  by  a  majority  of 
the  leading  citizens,  but  I  met  open  hostility  from  Dr.  Mood, 
President  of  the  Methodist  University  at  Greorgetown.  I 
invited  him  and  a  number  of  the  leading  ]\Icthodist  educators 
and  preachers,  who  were  in  Calvert  holding  an  educational 
convention,  to  hear  me,  hoping  that  they  might  be  influenced 
to  give  me  some  aid  in  my  arduous  mission,  and  from  courtesy 
I  invited  members  of  the  convention  to  take  part  in  the  dis- 
cussion. Whereupon  Dr.  Mood,  in  an  inflammatory  address, 
appealed  to  the  old  prejudices  of  the  South,  and  entered  his 
protest  against  anything  and  everything  originating  in  i^ew 
England  or  the  monarchies  of  the  Old  World.  He  especially" 
objected  to  my  position  that  the  State  had  the  right  to  tax  the 
people  of  the  country  to  educate  the  children  of  the  improvi- 
dent and  the  poor.  Several  of  his  brethren  joined  heartily  in 
with  him. 

I  fear  all  the  preachers  and  teachers  of  that  church  with 
any  personal  connection  or  interest  in  their  church  schools 
will  throw  every  obstacle  in  the  way  of  common  schools. 

My  visit  to  Waxahachie  confirmed  me  in  this  impression. 
My  old  friend,  Dr.  Pugh,  President  of  Marion  College, 
declined  to  give  notice  of  my  appointment  to  lecture,  and  he 
and  his  friends  seemed  to  do  all  in  their  power  to  prevent  the 
masses  from  hearing  me  on  common  schools.  IN^evertheless,  I 
received  a  patient  hearing  from  all  the  leading  men  in  the 
community  not  immediately  connected  with  the  Methodist 
College.  I  endeavored  to  show  the  congregation  that  common 
schools  would  be  an  assistance  and  not  hostile  to  all  real 
colleges  and  ministers. 

At  Ennis  and  Lancaster  I  found  a  better  spirit  and  was 
cordially  received. 

At  Mt.  Calm  and  Spring  Hill,  in  Limestone  County, 
the  people  had  failed  to  do  anything  and  were  welhiigh  in 
despair.     After  hearing  me  fully  on  all  the  difliculties,  and  the 


344  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

best  means  of  removing  tliem,  they  resolved  to  make  one  more 
earnest  effort. 

Dresden,  in  ISTavaro  County,  is  more  hopeful,  and  will 
organize  vigorously,  and  apply  for  aid  from  the  Peabody 
Fund.  If  they  can  avoid  sectarianism  they  can  succeed,  and 
will  deserve  assistance. 

Collin  County  is  in  a  better  condition  than  any  county  in 
the  State,  Col.  Alexander  was  a  noble  Superintendent,  and 
his  removal  to  California  is  a  calamity  to  universal  education 
in  Texas.  Col.  Rogers,  his  successor,  pledges  himself  to  do 
all  he  can  in  support  of  my  efforts.  I  was  cordially  received 
and  heard  at  McEanney  and  in  every  part  of  Collin  County. 

I  was  delighted  to  find  in  the  Rev.  Mr.  Park,  of  McKin- 
ney,  a  professor  in  the  Methodist  Male  and  Female  Institute, 
a  warm  supporter  of  common  schools.  He  was  conected  with 
common  schools  nine  years  in  St.  Louis,  Mo.  If  the  arrange- 
ment can  be  made,  he  is  anxious  to  turn  over  the  building  and 
furniture  of  his  school  to  the  State,  and  make  it  a  graded 
school  for  Collin  County.  Grayson  County  has  done  some- 
thing, but  is  far  below  Collin  County  in  the  number  and 
especially  the  efficiency  of  her  schools. 

Denison  is  all  alone  with  reference  to  common  schools 
and  education.  They  have  commenced  a  school  house,  to 
cost  $30,000,  which  amount  is  to  be  raised  by  the  sale  of  city 
bonds.  I  found  the  schools  all  full  and  organized,  but  sadly 
in  need  of  room  and  school  furniture. 

All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted, 

RUFUS  C.  BURLESON, 

State  Lecturer  on  Common  Schools  in  Texas. 
Waco,  July  21st,  1874. 


Dr.  Eufus  C.  Burleson-.  34f 


CHAPTER  XLI. 


Address  of  Hon.  Robert  C.  Winthrop,  Chairman,  Before 
THE  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Peabody  Education 
Fund — Appropriation  of  the  Fund  to  Texas  in  1877 — 
Differences  Regarding  Appointment  of  Superintend- 
ents OF  Peabody  Schools — Dr.  R.  C.  Burleson's  Let- 
ter on  the  Subject — Annual  Report  of  Dr.  B.  Sears 
FOR  1877 — Dr.  Burleson  Charged  With  Sectarian 
Bias — Vigorous  Denial — More  of  the  Pioneers  of 
Texas — Joint  Canvass  of  the  State  by  Drs.  Sears 
AND  Burleson. 

iT  THE  address  of  Hon.  Robert  C.  Wintlirop,  cliair- 
man  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Peabody  Edu- 
cation Fund,  at  the  fifteenth  meeting  of  the  Board, 
held  in  'New  York,  October  3d,  1877,  he  says:  "The  one 
thing  needful  for  these  States,  under  the  changed  social  con- 
ditions resulting  from  the  war,  was  an  enlightened  public 
opinion  on  the  subject  of  education,  and  a  deeper  impression 
of  the  essential  importance  of  free  schools  for  their  whole 
population  under  regulations  of  their  own  establishment, 
together  with  examples  of  schools  of  the  highest  character, 
and  N^ormal  schools  for  the  training  of  teachers.  I  think  it 
will  abundantly  appear  from  the  reports  that  such  have  been 
established,  and  that  such  a  public  opinion  has  been  created  in 
many  of  the  States,  if  not  quite  in  all. 

The  visit  of  Dr.  Sears  to  Texas  during  the  last  winter, 
agreeably  to  the  instructions  of  the  Board,  was  welcomed  in 
many  parts  of  that  great  State,  and  there  is  every  reason  for 


346  The  Life  aisd  Writings  of 

hoping  that  the  interest  which  it  awakened  will  not  be  without 
important  results." 

In  1877  Texas  received  $10,800  from  the  Peabodj  Fund, 
which,  added  to  the  annual  sums  previously  donated,  was 
$18,600.  This  amount  was  paid  to  incorporated  cities  which 
complied  with  the  requirements  of  the  Board. 

It  seems  that  some  misunderstanding  arose  during  this 
period  on  the  j)art  of  cities  which  were  the  beneficiaries  of  the 
Fund  regarding  the  selection  of  principals  of  such  schools. 
The  only  stipulation  exacted  by  Dr.  Sears  was  the  Superin- 
tendents elected  by  such  cities  must  be  fuly  competent  to 
undertake  the  management,  and  he  went  no  farther  .than  to 
recommend  such  persons  to  fill  vacancies.  Dr.  Burleson  was 
the  intermediary  in  such  cases,  and  he  thus  became  an  object 
of  attack.  In  only  one  instance,  to  the  San  Antonio  Herald, 
does  he  make  any  effort  to  correct  the  erroneous  charge.  That 
journal  on  one  occasion  said: 

"It  is  generally  understood  that  unless  Dr.  Burleson, 
Peabody  agent,  has  the  appointment  of  Superintendents,  the 
$2,000  that  the  San  Antonio  schools  are  entitled  to  will  be 
withheld.  Also  that  Dr.  Burleson  has  his  eye  on  an  eminent 
Baptist  minister  to  take  Prof.  Plagge's  shoes.  Some  of  the 
Aldermen  feel  like  telling  Dr.  Biudeson  to  take  your  little 
$2,000  and  depart  out  of  our  coasts." 

Dr.  Burleson  answered  this  charge  of  sectarian  bias  in 
vigorous  terms,  as  follows: 

"There  is  not  a  shadow  of  truth  in  the  insinuation  that  1 
have  my  eye  on  an  eminent  Baptist  minister  to  take  my  friend. 
Prof.  Plagge's,  shoes.  Prof.  H.  11.  Smith,  of  Houston,  and 
Prof.  Rightstell,  of  Arkansas,  are  the  only  men  I  ever  had 
^my  eye  upon'  for  Superintendent  in  San  Antonio,  and 
neither  of  whom  is  even  a  Baptist,  much  less  'an  eminent 
minister.'  But  I  soon  learned  neither  could  be  spared  from 
his  present  position.  I  received  a  letter  from  Judge  Divine 
and  other  eminent  citizens  of  San  Antonio  urging  the  claims 
of  Prof.  J.  R.  Grifiin,  and  I  informed  his  Honor,  Mayor 
French,  I  would  endorse  him  if  elected  by  the  city  authorities. 

"Second.  It  is  equally  untrue  that  ^unless  Mr.  Burleson 
has  the  appointment  of  Superintendent,  the  $2,000  wall  be 
withheld.'     The   appointment  is   left  with   the   Mayor   and 


Dr.  Kufus  C.  Burlesoic.  347 

Aldermen.  But  the  Peabody  Fund  is  'a  premium  fund/  as 
your  correspondent  says,  and  we,  as  agents,  must  decide  wliat 
schools  are  entitled  to  the  'premium.'  We  always  withhold  it 
from  any  school  that  is  conducted  in  the  interests  of  any  sect 
or  party,  in  religion  or  irreligion,  or  any  clique  or  favorite,  or 
upon  any  principle  except  'the  greatest  good  to  the  greatest 
number,'  or  'education  for  the  people  and  from  the  people 
and  by  the  people.'  If  cities  or  communities  want  to  conduct 
their  schools  on  any  other  principles,  they  are  not  worthy  of 
the  'premium'  offered  by  the  Peabody  Fund,  and  will  never 
receive  it.  But  it  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  know  that  the 
noble  ]\rayor  of  San  Antonio  and  the  noble  Mayor  of  Houston 
are  struggling  to  make  their  schools  a  grand  success,  and  we 
are  glad  to  aid  them  to  our  utmost  ability  in  giving  them  each 
$2,000. 

"Third.  It  seems  hard  for  men  to  learn  that  'eternal 
separation  of  church  and  State'  is  a  cardinal  doctrine  of  all 
true  Baptists.  Our  Peter  AValdo,  and  John  Bingani,  and 
Roger  Williams,  and  the  thousands  unknown  to  fame,  have 
suffered  and  died  for  the  principle  during  the  last  500  years. 
If  I  should  pay  or  reward  men  for  being  Baptists  I  would 
not  only  apostatize  from  the  faith  of  Baptists,  but  aid  in  fill- 
ing the  church  with  hirelings  and  hypocrites  and  the  State  witli 
indifferent  officers.  ^'Give  unto  Caesar  the  things  that  arc 
Caesar's,  and  unto  God  the  things  that  are  God's,'  'My  kingdom 
is  not  of  this  world,'  are  the  grand  doctrines  of  Baptists  in  ail 
ages.  And  that  we  have  acted  on  this  great  principle  is  evi- 
dent from  two  well-known  facts.  First,  though  Dr.  Bamas 
Sears,  Prof.  O.  jST.  Hollingsworth  and  I  are  all  strict  Baptists, 
and  have  had  the  sole  management  of  the  Peabody  Fund  in 
Texas,  there  is  no  Baptist  Superintendent  of  any  Peabody 
School  in  Texas.  Second.  Last  year  year  Dr.  II.  Clarke,  a 
Baptist  of  thirty  years'  standing,  was  an  earnest  applicant  for 
Superintendent  of  Public  Schools  in  Houston,  yet  Dr.  Sears 
and  I  used  all  our  influence  for  Prof.  H.  H.  Smith,  an  Episco- 
palian, and  his  brilliant  success  demonstrates  the  wisdom  of 
our  choice,  as  well  as  our  impartiality. 

"I  would  not  waste  my  time  nor  your  valuable  s|)ace  in 
these  corrections,  but  in  lecturing  in  116  counties  in  Texas  I 
have  urs'cd,  as  the  thousands  will  remember,  all  denominations 


348  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

and  parties — Baptists,  Methodists,  Presbyterians,  Episcopa- 
lians, Catholics  and  Jews,  Democrats  and  Republicans — to  all 
unite  on  one  common  platform,  and  make  our  common  free 
schools  a  glorious  success  and  an  inestimable  blessing  to  all 
Texas.  And  if  ever  I  go  back  on  these  declarations  and  the 
creed  of  my  venerable  church,  'the  eternal  separation  of 
church  and  State,'  'let  my  right  hand  forget  her  cunning  and 
my  tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth.' 

Of  course,  I  do  not  question  the  truth  of  what  the  San 
Antonio  correspondent  (of  the  Galveston  IsTews)  says  in  regard 
to  what  is  believed  in  San  Antonio. 

''T  wish  it  to  be  understood  at  once  and  forever  that  all 
such  surmisings  are  groundless  as  to  myself;  and  I  wish  it 
also  understood  that  I  am  a  warm  personal  friend  of  Prof. 
Plagge,  and  all  I  have  done  is  from  a  sincere  desire  to  see  your 
beautiful  city  the  banner  free  school  city  of  Western  Texas." 

RUFUS  C.  BURLESON'. 

The  honest  effort  to  secure  efficiency  in  the  endowed 
schools  was  enhanced  by  a  desire  to  use  such  schools  as  exam- 
ples to  encourage  the  adoption  of  the  free  school  system.  The 
plan  worked  successfully,  and  the  high  standing  acquired  by 
these  few  institutions  of  learning  induced  a  general  adoption 
of  the  system. 

There  never  was  a  trust  more  carefully  or  judiciously 
handled  than  the  Pcabody  Education  Fund,  and  the  men 
entrusted  with  its  management  were  ever  prompt  and  active 
in  the  discharge  of  their  duties  in  accordance  with  the  wishes 
of  its  revered  founder. 

The  history  of  education  in  Texas  at  that  time  is  embraced 
in  the  reports  of  Dr.  Sears  and  Dr.  Burleson,  and  the  space 
devoted  to  their  evidence  is  important  in  connection  with  the 
active  measures  taken  by  the  Legislature  in  the  years  which 
followed.  The  annual  report  of  Dr.  Sears,  as  General  Agent, 
October,  1877,  to  the  Board  of  Trustees  is  a  valuable  docu- 
ment: 

''The  State,  from  the  very  beginning  made  liberal  pro- 
vision for  education,  and  though  more  than  $1,000,000  was 
withdrawn  and  used  for  military  purposes  during  the  war,  it 
still  has  claims  and  lands  sufficient,  if  properly  husbanded,  to 


Dk.  Eufus  C.  Burleson.  349 

educate  every  child  in  the  state  without  resorting  to  taxation. 
The  property  held  for  the  school  fund  has  been  estimated  at 
$30,000,000.  The  school  law  of  1870  was  so  impracticable 
that  it  was  abandoned,  and  a  new  one  was  passed  and  approved 
April  24th,  1871,  and  on  the  4th  of  September  of  the  same 
year  public  free  schools  were  opened  for  the  first  time  in 
Texas,  as  we  have  already  observed.  They  were  put  in  opera- 
tion in  the  midst  of  great  opposition,  and  had  a  very  active 
but  short  life  during  a  period  of  fierce  party  strife.  The 
number  of  pupils  in  1871  was  63,504,  and  the  expenditures 
were  $50,000.  In  1872  the  former  were  115,000  out  of  227,- 
615,  and  the  latter  $1,342,794. 

''The  originators  of  the  system  accelerated  their  move- 
ments by  relying  more  on  the  authority  of  law  than  on  the 
slow  process  of  persuasion.  If  they  did  not  go  too  far,  they 
at  least  traveled  too  fast.  As  they  appeared  to  have  little  con- 
fidence in  the  people,  the  people  at  length  showed  in  turn  that 
they  had  little  confidence  in  them.  The  one  party  wielded 
the  law  to  overcome  public  sentiment ;  the  other  wielded  public 
sentiment  to  overthrow  the  law. 

"Complaints  were  made  on  both  sides.  On  the  one,  it 
was  alleged  that  there  was  unreasonable  opposition;  on  the 
other,  that  there  was  an  utter  recklessness  and  extravagance 
in  the  expenditure  of  the  public  money.  The  opposition  at 
length  prevailed,  and  in  1873  the  school  law  was  so  changed 
that  hardly  a  vestige  of  its  former  character  remained.  A 
marked  difference  of  opinion  still  continued,  some  asserting 
that  the  public  schools  were  virtually  abolished;  others  that 
the  schools  were  preserved,  and  only  the  power  to  squander 
money  was  abolished.  The  immediate  effect  was  undoubt- 
edly adverse  to  the  schools;  but  what  was  lost  in  1873  was 
regained  in  1874,  when  the  attendance  (including  an  esti- 
mate of  the  counties  that  did  not  report)  rose  to  about  161,- 
670,  and  the  amount  paid  to  teachers  to  $499,930.  In  1875 
the  attendance  was  184,705,  and  the  salaries  of  teachers 
$630,334;  and  the  total  expenditure  for  schools  and  public 
school  officers  $723,052.  The  present  law  is  certainly  very 
defective,  but  with  a  few  alterations,  such  as  would  probably 
meet  with  no  great  opposition,  it  might  be  made  to  operate 
tolerably  well.     The  executive  power  is  not  now  vested  in  a 


350  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

State  Superintendent,  but  in  a  Board  of  Education,  consisting 
of  State  officers,  assisted  by  a  clerk.  But  men  who  are 
already  burdened  by  other  public  duties  will  do  little  beyond 
giving  a  formal  and  hurried  attention  to  schools.  The  clerk^ 
with  no  official  position,  and  with  a  small  salary,  cannot  be 
expected  to  perform  other  than  clerical  services.  This  mis- 
take, which  was  unfortunately  made  in  the  new  Constitution, 
may  be  corrected  by  making  the  clerk  also  the  chief  executive 
officer,  under  the  Board  of  Education,  and  by  gi^dng  him  a 
corresponding  support. 

"Another  serious  impediment  to  the  schools  is  the  restric- 
tion of  the  tax  to  such  narrow  limits,  except  in  incorporated 
cities,  that  such  schools  cannot  be  continued  sufficiently  long 
to  be  of  much  value.  The  remedy  for  this  lies  in  the  future. 
So  ample  is  the  provision  for  a  prominent  school  fund  that, 
if  what  is  due  to  it  from  the  State  shall  be  paid,  and  if  the 
public  lands  set  apart  for  the  purposes  of  education  shall  be 
advantageously  disposed  of,  instead  of  being  sacrificed  to  pri- 
vate interests  and  sold  for  a  nominal  amount,  the  fund  itself 
will  be  adequate  to  the  support  of  all  the  schools. 

"In  the  present  attitude  of  affairs,  we  can  effect  nothing 
in  the  country  districts.  But  in  the  cities,  which,  by  their 
charters,  can  levy  a  local  tax  within  certain  limits,  we  have 
ample  scope.  Perhaps  it  will  be  expedient  under  any  circum- 
stances-to  direct  our  chief  attention  at  first  to  the  cities.  IsTot 
only  can  we  accomplish  more  there,  and  obtain  a  powerful 
moral  support  for  the  system,  but  can  effectually  do  what  is 
most  of  all  needed — present,  for  imitation,  to  all  parts  of  the 
State  examples  of  the  most  perfect  organization  and  manage- 
ment of  public  schools.  It  should  not  be  forgotten  that  in  this 
new  and  distant  State  there  is  gi'eat  want  of  knowledge  on 
this  subject.  Except  with  a  few  teachers  educated  in  N'ormal 
schools  in  the  jSTorthwestem  States,  there  is  a  prevailing  igno- 
rance of  the  progress  made  in  recent  times  in  the  processes  of 
education,  ^ow  if  in  the  large  cities  which  have  never  had 
free  schools  the  best  forms  of  organization  and  the  best  meth- 
ods of  instruction  can  be  introduced,  the  whole  State  will  look 
to  them  as  models;  and,  besides,  a  good  supply  of  young  teach- 
ers will  be  furnished,  who  will  carry  their  newly  acquired 
skill  to  all  the  remoter  districts.     Something  more  is  needed 


Dr.  Kufus  C.  Burlesox,  351 

than  the  multiplication  of  such  schools  as  now  exist  in  the 
greater  part  of  the  State. 

^'In  all  the  arrangements  recently  made  -with  the  cities 
of  Texas  this  object  has  been  kept  distinctly  in  view.  Assist- 
ance has  been  promised  on  condition  that  the  schools  of  each 
city  shall  be  put  in  charge  of  a  superintendent  who  has  had  a 
professional  training  and  experience,  and  who  shall  be  able  to 
train  the  existing  corps  of  teachers  by  weekly  instructions,  as- 
well  as  to  superintend  the  schools  and  direct  the  teachers  in 
their  daily  work.  Until  [N'ormal  schools  shall  be  established, 
this  kind  of  training  in  the  cities,  and  teachers'  institutes  in  all 
parts  of  the  State,  will  be  indispensable.  Othermse,  the  pub- 
lic schools  will  be  but  a  farce.  I  need  not  say  that  these  con- 
clusions are  dra^\^^  from  personal  observation.  The  contrast 
between  two  or  three  cities  which  have  already  adopted  the 
improved  methods  and  those  that  tread  in  the  old  Texan 
paths  is  almost  incredible. 

"I  spent  a  part  of  the  winter  (1876)  in  Texas,  visiting  the 
principal  cities  as  far  south  as  Galveston  and  Austin.  I  was 
accompanied  by  our  excellent  agent,  Kev.  Dr.  Burleson,  who, 
as  a  pioneer  in  education,  'had  crossed  every  river  and  every 
prairie  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  lied  Kiver  and  from 
the  Sabine  to  the  Kio  Grande.'  He  had  made  the  necessary 
arrangements  for  public  meetings  in  all  the  places  we  visited, 
and  the  assemblies  which  we  addressed  were  sometimes  very 
large.  While  in  one  or  two  places  great  indifference  was 
manifested,  there  was  generally  an  interest  awakened  in  edu- 
cation bordering  upon  enthusiasm.  iNTo  one  can  visit  this 
State  and  notice  the  change  which  has  taken  place  mthin  the 
last  ten  years  without  being  deeply  impressed  with  its  speedy 
future  greatness.  While  Middle  Texas  is  growing  rapidly, 
the  tide  of  population  is  continually  setting  westward,  new 
counties  being  organized,  and  new  court  houses,  school  houses 
and  churches  being  built.  This  circumstance  not  only  illus- 
trates the  growth  of  the  State,  but  shows  the  character  of  its 
new  citizens,  which  is  very  different  from  that  of  many  of  the 
earlier  settlers.  It  is  estimated  that  not  less  than  150,000 
persons  from  abroad  enter  Texas  every  year.  Among  these 
are  manv  families  of  wealth  and  refinement." 


352  The  Life  anb  Writings  of 

This  report  of  Dr.  Sears  has,  for  obvious  reasons,  been 
given  in  full.  It  contains  a  series  of  facts  and  criticisms  based 
upon  disinterested  opinions  derived  from  personal  observa- 
tions during  his  sojourn  in  Texas.  His  conclusions  upon  the 
whole  are  fair  and  altogether  true,  except  in  regard  to  the 
earlier  settlers  of  Texas,  who  should  not  be  disparaged  in 
favor  of  the  emigrants  who  have  made  Texas  their  home  since 
the  Civil  War.  The  latter  may  be  in  every  respect  worthy  of 
his  encomiums,  but  it  can  be  proven  that  the  people  with 
whom  they  are  compared  were  exceptionally  superior  as  a 
whole  to  the  masses  who  have  assisted  in  developing  the  State. 
As  pioneers  they  laid  the  foundation  of  the  structure  which 
the  others  have  since  aided  in  building.  In  hewing  out  the 
wilderness  they  furnished  the  material  which  a  later  civiliza- 
tion utilized  in  their  work.  They  "blazed"  the  road  to  the 
Capitol  of  Texas,  to  the  university  and  to  her  public  free 
school  system. 

These  sturdy  pioneers,  with  records  of  daring  and  unpar- 
alleled heroism,  fought  for  the  provision  they  made  for  the 
present  school  system  of  Texas,  as  well  as  almost  every  other 
public  blessing  enjoyed.  They  walked  and  fought  their  way 
to  the  site  of  the  present  splendid  State  Capitol  building,  and 
made  the  generations  who  were  to  come  after  them  a  present 
of  it;  while  those  who  come  into  the  State  now  to  admire 
it  ride  in  undisturbed  ease  and  comfort  on  palace  cars. 


Dr.  Eufus  C.  Bueleson.  353 


CHAPTER  XLII 


Pbogress  of  Public  Education  in  Texas — Application  of 
THE  Peabody  Fund — Aid  to  City  Schools — Dk.  Btjk- 
leson's  Report  as  State  Lecturer — Dr.  Sears'  Re- 
port AS  General  Agent  for  1878 — Dr.  Burleson's 
Great  Interest  in  Education  in  Texas — Offers  His 
Services  to  Dr.  Sears  Without  Compensation — Offer 
Accepted. 

R.  SEARS,  in  his  great  solicitude  for  the  success  of  the 
campaign  he  and  Dr.  Burleson  had  been  making  in 
Texas,  was  anxious  to  hear  often  from  those  in 
authority,  and  to  draw  out  expressions  from  them  as  to  the 
conditions.  He  addressed  them  hj  letter  frequently.  His 
conversance  with  the  progress  made  and  trend  of  educational 
affairs  in  the  State,  situated  2,000  miles  away,  was  nothing  less 
than  marvelous.  He  represented  a  great  fund,  but  realized 
that  it  was  not  inexhaustible.  He  was  not  only  careful  in  the 
application  of  every  dollar,  but  was  careful  in  making  appoint- 
ments. He  relied  on  Dr.  Burleson's  judgment  and  sought  his 
views  on  all  matters.  He  was  fully  aware  of  Dr.  Burleson's 
energetic  interest  in  education  in  its  broadest  sense,  and  the 
tremendous  amount  of  work  he  was  doing,  and  on  May  18th, 
1877,  he  addressed  him  a  word  of  caution : 

"Have  you  at  last  found  out  that  you  are  not  altogether 
made  of  iron?  You  know  my  doctrine,  that  is  is  our  duty  to 
be  in  good  health  if  possible.  I  am  very  glad  to  learn  that  our 
tour  was  not  in  vain.  "We  certainly  did  what  we  could  to  set 
the  subject  of  education  in  its  true  light  before  the  people.  I 
shall  probably  never  make  another  such  tour.  But  if  we  can 
carry  Texas  for  a  good  system  of  schools,  it  will  be  a  great 

23 


354  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

thing."  Again,  June  4,  1877,  he  says  (after  alluding  to  cer- 
tain differences  with  certain  cities  in  connection  with  recom- 
mendation of  teachers)  :  "JSTow,  I  wish,  you,  who  know  all  my 
views,  would  adjust  these  matters.  I  shall  undoubtedly  con- 
firm all  your  doings.  I  enclose  a  check  for  $700.00  You 
must  not  pay  too  much  money  out  of  your  own  pocket.  Est 
modus  in  rehusJ'  On  July  3,  1877,  he  writes:  "I  think  I 
could  pay  no  Texan  who  is  on  the  ground  over  $1,500.  Ought 
any  such  one  to  be  put  above  you  and  Mr.  HoUingsworth  in 
this  respect?  1  think  not."  September  4,  1877,  he  says:  "1 
have  no  doubt  that  some  one  should  look  after  legislation  to 
secure  its  favorable  action.  I  shall  recommend  at  our 
Trustees'  meeting,  at  JSTew  York,  October  3,  the  con- 
tinuance of  your  agency  another  year,  and  then  you  can 
do  what  is  necessary  in  this  line.  As  old  soldiers,  wo 
shall  not  be  discouraged  by  a  few  reverses.  We  are  in  for  the 
war  and  mean  to  'fight  it  out  on  this  line.'  The  next  term  of 
the  ISTormal  College  begins  in  ISTashville  on  the  first  Wednes- 
day in  October.  Let  the  candidates  go  with  your  recommen- 
dation to  President  Eben  S.  Stearns,  who  will  tell  them  what 
to  do,  and  will  give  them  all  needful  aid."  ISTovember  14, 
1877,  he  writes:  "I  know  no  other  way  than  to  continue 
your  agency  half  the  year,  hoping  something  will  'turn  up,' 
and  relying  on  next  year's  income  to  pay  it.  I  will  endeavor 
to  make  some  school,  and  not  you,  wait  for  the  pay." 

These  extracts  from  the  letters  of  Dr.  Sears  are  given 
in  this  place  for  the  purpose  of  showing  the  implicit  confi- 
dence entertained  by  the  Board  of  Trustees  in  Dr.  Burleson's 
work  on  the  recommendation  of  their  general  agent.  It  is 
perfectly  evident  that  Dr.  Sears  was  guided  in  all  his  acts  in 
relation  to  the  distribution  of  the  Peabody  Pund  in  Texas  by 
Dr.  Burleson's  advice.  It  is  also  evident  that  they  all  held 
him  in  the  highest  esteem. 

The  following  is  Dr.  Burleson's  report  of  his  stewardship 
from  April  21,  1874,  to  September  1,  1877,  but  somewhat 
abridged  from  the  original.  It  is  copied  from  Dr.  Sears' 
annual  report  of  Texas  in  October,  1878,  in  volume  2,  Pro- 
ceedings of  the  Trustees  of  the  Peabody  Education  Pund : 

"In  view  of  the  deep  interest  expresed  by  Mr.  Peabody, 
and  felt  by  the  Trustees,  in  this  great  and  rapidly  rising  State, 


Dr.  Kufus  C.  Bukleson.  355 

and  of  the  want  of  a  succinct  and  clear  statement  of  the  history 
of  the  efforts  there  made  in  behalf  of  education,  I  beg  leave 
to  present,  in  this  place,  the  substance  of  our  agent's  report 
of  his  four  years'  ser\dce.  Though  it  alludes  to  parties  with- 
out much  reserve,  and  contains  so  graphic  a  sketch  of  what  has 
passed  before  his  eyes,  that  I  should  be  reluctant  to  with- 
hold it." 

''The  old  Texans  have  for  forty  years  earnestly  desired 
a  system  of  free  schools.  They  provided  a  permanent  fund 
of  $3,500,000  and  70,000,000'^acres  of  land,  now  valued  at 
$50,000,000.  But  in  the  years  1869-73  a  number  of  causes; 
arose  threatening  ruin  to  all  these  plans  of  our  early  statesmen. 
Identified  as  I  had  been  for  nearly  thirty  years  years  with  those 
men,  and  being  one  of  the  few  of  their  survivors,  I  regarded 
it  as  a  sacred  duty  to  aid  Governor  Coke,  Superintendent  Hol- 
lingsworth  and  others  in  bringing  order  out  of  confusion  and 
securing  the  ends  which  our  fathers  had  in  view. 

"In  undertaking  my  agency  I  was  met  at  the  outset  with 
the  following  difficulties:  1.  Our  territory  is  so  vast,  our 
settlements  so  scattered  and  our  population  so  diversified  that 
many  think  it  is  impossible  to  establish  and  maintain  a  uni- 
form system  of  public  instruction.  Of  the  1,700,000  people 
scattered  over  our  vast  territory  150,000  are  Germans,  15,000 
are  Mexicans,  13,000  are  Bohemians,  3,000  are  Poles,  2,500 
are  E'orwegians  and  100,000  are  colored  people.  2.  The 
great  mass  of  the  Texans  are  from  the  Southern  States,  know- 
ing little  of  the  value  of  free  schools  and  less  of  the  best  means 
of  conducting  them.  3.  The  party  placed  over  Texas  by  the 
Federal  Government  made  free  schools  a  grand  feature  of  their 
plan  of  reconstruction,  and  conducted  them  on  strictly  party 
principles.  In  ignorance  or  disregard  of  our  poverty,  of  the 
prejudice  of  the  people,  of  the  vastness  of  our  territory  and  of 
the  diversity  of  our  population,  they  established  a  system  that 
might  have  suited  Kew  York  or  Massachusetts,  but  was  ill 
adapted  to  Texas.  The  result  was  as  might  have  been 
expected.  Vast  sums  of  money  were  squandered.  An  army 
of  unpaid  teachers  was  roaming  over  the  country.  Private 
schools  were  unsettled,  and  nothing  was  supplied  in  their  place. 
There  was,  consequently,  a  collapse  of  the  whole  system  of 
education.     At  this  juncture  another  party  came  into  power. 


356  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

Like  all  partisans,  they  were  eager  to  disparage  even  the  good 
which  others  had  done,  and  often  magnified  their  blunders  in 
regard  to  free  schools.  Demagogues  and  the  press  were,  as 
ever,  ready  to  pander  to  the  passions  of  the  prejudiced  and  of 
the  ignorant,  and  to  raise  the  clamor,  ^Away  with  free  schools  !' 
'Let  every  man  educate  his  own  child.'  4.  All  these  pas- 
sions were  intensified  by  the  near  prospect  of  a  prize  of  $15,- 
000,000.  The  Kepublican  Constitution  of  1869  had  restored 
to  the  State  8,000,000  acres  of  land  (mostly  in  the  older  parts 
of  the  State),  which  had  been  granted  to  the  counties  for  edu- 
cation by  the  Constitutions  of  1837  and  1845.  Land  specu- 
lators holding  land  scrip  of  the  State  seized  upon  these  as  State 
lands.  But,  as  their  right  to  locate  on  lands  set  apart  for 
educational  purposes  was  questioned,  they  endeavored  to  bring 
odium  upon  the  whole  system  of  free  schools,  in  order  to  make 
their  claims  more  sure.  They  called  to  their  aid  all  the  power 
and  enlisted  all  the  talent  that  money  could  procure.  Two 
powerful  Christian  denominations  had  established  church 
schools  in  every  part  of  the  State,  and  were,  hence,  opposed 
to  a  system  of  education. 

"In  going  among  the  people  as  agent  of  the  Peabody 
Fund,  I  had  to  grapple  with  all  these  difiiculties.  Sometimes 
the  opponents  met  me  in  fiery  debate,  and  sought  to  arouse 
against  me  all  the  passions  and  prejudices  of  the  ignorant. 
Sometimes  they  assailed  me  in  an  indirect  way  through  the 
press,  and  used  a  thousand  devices  to  prevent  me  from  getting 
a  fair  hearing  before  the  people.  Nothing  but  my  long  iden- 
tity with  the  educational  interests  of  Texas,  and  the  personal 
regard  of  the  hundreds  whom  I  had  instructed,  gained  me  an 
audience.  I  have  canvassed  all  the  counties  from  the  Sabine  to 
the  Upper  Colorado,  and  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  Red 
River.  This  embraces  all  the  older  and  thickly  settled  coun- 
ties. I  have  conferred  personally  or  by  letter  with  all  the 
Mayors  of  towns  and  cities  and  with  all  our  leading  politicians 
and  educators.  I  have  utilized  the  principal  journals  of  the 
State,  and  have  soured  the  publication  of  short  articles,  and 
sometimes  a  series  of  articles,  setting  forth  the  importance  of 
free  schools,  and  disabusing  the  public  mind  of  prejudices 
caused  by  former  failures. 


De.  Kufus  C.  Burleson.  357 

The  following  ends  have  been  attained  :  1.  Tlie  8,000,- 
000  acres  of  land  have  been  rescued  and  saved  for  the  schools. 

2.  Every  leading  journal  and  politician  of  both  parties  have 
declared  themselves  in  favor  of  public  schools  in  some  form. 

3,  One  of  the  two  denominations  named  above  has  become 
con\dnced  of  the  impossibility  of  meeting  the  wants  of  all  the 
people  by  means  of  church  schools.  The  other  has  undergone 
no  change.  What  is  now  most  needed  is  an  improved  school 
law  and  more  decided  interest  and  action  by  the  people."  Dr. 
Burleson's  report,  which  follows,  is  copied  from  the  original 
document : 

"The  last  legislature  appropriated  one-fourth  of  the  entire 
revenues  of  the  State,  about  $1,000,000  annually  for  the  sup- 
port of  free  schools.  Though  much  has  been  done,  a  great  deal 
more  remains  to  be  done.  We  have  carried  a  majority  of  the 
people,  and  especially  all  the  better  classes  for  our  cause,  yet 
there  is  a  vast  amount  of  ignorance  and  prejudice  existing 
against  public  education  ready  to  burst  forth.  Hence  the  pub- 
lic mind  needs  to  be  thoroughly  enlightened  and  guided.  We 
must  have  our  whole  school  laws  remodeled  and  to  attain  this, 
we  need  powerful  agencies  to  arouse  the  people,  so  that  they 
Avill  send  competent  men  to  mould  favorable  legislation  on 
education.  Unless  this  is  done  the  public  tide  now  in  our 
favor  may  react,  and  then  it  will  be  far  more  difficult  to  restore 
public  confidence.  I  am  constrained,  therefore,  to  advocate, 
that  c  vigorous  agency  should  be  maintained  in  Texas  until 
after  the  meeting  of  the  next  Legislature  with  the  object  of 
securing  the  remodeling  of  our  school  laws. 

I  have  been  thinking  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  me  to 
continue  my  exertions  as  your  agent  for  the  Peabody  Fund 
owing  partly  to  the  injury  to  my  health  from  the  arduous 
toils  of  traveling  and  of  public  speaking  during  the  past  win- 
ter. Besides  other  interests  loudly  call  for  my  labors  and  I 
would  gladly  be  released.  But  with  the  facts  before  you,  and 
from  your  own  observations  you  can  comprehend  the  situa- 
tion and  if  you  can  find  no  one  to  take  my  place  I  will  continue 
at  everv  sacrifice. 

EUFUS  C.  BUKLESON, 
State  Lecturer  and  Agent  for  the  Peabody  Fund. 

Waco,  Texas,  September  1,  187Y. 


358  The  Life  and  Wettings  of 

Dr.  Sears  was  so  mucli  pleased  with  this  comprehensive 
report  that  he  embodied  it  in  his  annual  report.  It  was  evi- 
dently the  first  official  report  that  he  ever  received  from  Dr. 
Burleson  relative  to  his  work  in  Texas. 

In  the  proceedings  of  the  Trustees  which  gives  Dr.  Bur- 
leson's last  report,  Dr.  Sears  adds  in  connection  therewith : 

"The  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Education  (of  Texas)  in 
a  letter  dated  July  1,  1878,  referring  to  our  aid,  says :  "The 
effect  upon  public  sentiment  produced  by  the  schools  at  Deni- 
son,  San  Antonio,  Brenham,  Houston,  and  New  Braunfels,  is 
very  marked  and  encouraging  to  the  friends  of  popular  edu- 
cation in  this  State."  Our  Agent,  Dr.  Burleson,  writes  Au- 
gust 20,  1878 :  "Our  brilliant  success  in  Houston,  Brenham, 
Denison  (and  I  may  add  with  some  modification,  San  An- 
tonio), has  been  worth  $20,000  to  Texas." 

The  plan  described  in  my  last  report  of  recommending 
to  the  cities  aided  by  the  fund  experienced  and  skillful  super- 
intendents, to  organize  graded  schools  and  to  select  and  train 
teachers,  was  fully  tried  in  Houston,  with  results  which  have 
not  only  gratified  but  astonished  both  the  city  government 
and  the  people.  A  few  such  experiments  will  clear  away  all 
doubts  as  to  the  value  of  public  schools.  There  can  be  no  ques- 
tion that  this  is  the  surest  and  quickest  way  to  remove  preju- 
dice on  the  subject,  where  it  exists." 

The  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Education,  writing  July 
30,  1878,  after  saying  that  the  reports  giving  the  statistics  of 
the  schools  the  present  year  have  not  yet  been  received,  adds : 
''Under  our  present  law,  our  schools  have  prospered  as  they 
never  did  before.  The  system  has  taken  such  deep  root  in  the 
popular  mind  that  no  fears  need  now  be  entertained  for  the 
future." 

"There  will  be  so  many  cities  applying  for  aid  from  the 
Peabody  Eund  that  it  will  be  impossible  for  me  to  make  a 
satisfactory  selection."  "It  will  take  at  least  $25,000  to  sup- 
ply the  calls  that  will  be  made."  "T  am  clearly  of  the  opinion 
that  the  Trustees  would  best  advance  the  interests  of  popular 
education  in  this  State,  if,  instead  of  aiding  a  few  cities,  they 
would  appropriate  $10,000  for  the  support  of  a  good  l^ormal 
School.  I  am  confident  that  the  State  would  liberally  co- 
operate with  them  in  such  a  work." 


De.  Kufus  C.  Burleson.  359 

Dr.  Sears  writes  to  Dr.  Burleson  July  14,  1878,  "The 
prospects  of  our  funds  are  no  better,  not  quite  so  good.  I 
shall  be  obliged  to  close  our  agency  in  Texas  with  this  year. 
I  did  the  best  I  could  for  you  the  cun-ent  year.  I  wish  the 
people  would  make  you  State  Superintendent,  or  something 
equivalent  to  it,  but  I  suppose  no  one  can  tell  what  the  poli- 
ticians will  do." 

September  20th,  1878,  he  again  writes,  "Your  proposi- 
tion for  volunteer  work,  without  pay,  will  undoubtedly  be 
accepted." 

In  order  to  appreciate  Dr.  Burleson's  interest  in  educa- 
tion in  its  broadest  sense  the  above  oifer  of  gratuitous  service 
must  not  be  forgotten.  It  not  only  shows  his  love  for  educa- 
tion in  general,  but  it  shows  his  wisdom  at  the  same  time. 
College  Presidents  and  Principals  of  private  schools  all  over 
Texas  were  crying  "away  mth  free  schools,  they  will  absorb 
our  patronage,  and  thus  destroy  our  institutions." 

Dr.  Burleson  argued,  with  the  University  worthy  of 
existence  this  would  not  be  the  case.  That  a  system  of  public 
education  among  the  masses  would  stimulate  the  desire  for 
high  scholarship,  and  that  the  common  schools  would  act  as 
feeders  to  these  Universities.  After  thirty  years'  experience, 
this  has  been  demonstrated  to  be  the  result. 

He  therefore  stands  out  as  perhaps  the  only  example  in 
history,  of  the  President  of  a  denominational  University,  can- 
vassing, without  pay  to  induce  the  people  to  adopt  a  system  of 
free  education,  and  when  it  was  adopted,  he  rendered  valuable 
and  active  service  in  perfecting  it. 


360  The  Life  and  Writings  of 


CHAPTER  XLllI. 


A  Beief  Review  of  the  Administrations  of  Governors 
Coke  and  Hubbard,  with  Reference  to  Education — 
Governor  Roberts'  First  Administration — State 
Teachers'  Convention  at  Austin — Dr.  Sears'  Proposi- 
tion FOR  A  ITORMAL  INSTITUTE Dr.  BuRLESOn's  LeTTER 

to  Governor  Roberts  on  Free  Schools — The  Public 
ON  Governor  Roberts,  and  Dr.  Burleson  Because  of 
the  Veto — Dr.  Burleson's  Reply  to  a  Newspaper 
Attack,  on  His  Letter  to  Governor  Roberts. 


¥  J  NDER  the  administration  of  Governors  Coke  and  Hub- 
^^  bard  embracing  a  period  of  five  years,  wonderful  im- 
^^1  provement  was  manifested  in  all  the  departments 
and  functions  of  the  State  government,  and  a  good  foundation 
laid  for  continuous  development.  Under  their  influence  a 
splendid  prosperity  dawned  upon  the  country,  and  the  people 
of  the  State  were  inspired  with  general  gratification  at  the 
restoration  of  good  government  finally  established. 

During  Governor  Coke's  administration  the  Legislature 
adopted  a  resolution  ISTovember  1st,  1876,  accepting  the  pro- 
visions of  the  Federal  grant  for  the  creation  of  the  Agricul- 
tural and  Mechanical  College,  and  they  also  made  especial  pro- 
visions for  this  institution.  The  Federal  grant  was  a  permanent 
endowment  of  $209,000  from  the  proceeds  of  the  Federal  land 
grant  which  produces  an  annual  interest  of  $14,280.00. 
Brazos  county  voted  a  donation  of  land  valued  at  $18,000.00 
to  secure  the  location  of  the  College  at  Bryan. 

The  constitution  of  1876  made  the  college  a  branch  of 
the  State  University.     The  first  Board  of  Directors  met  July 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  361 

26th,  1875,  and  it  was  formally  opened  for  the  reception  of 
students  October  4th,  1876. 

On  January  21st,  1879,  O.  M.  Roberts  was  inaugurated 
Governor  of  Texas.  Two  of  the  requirements  in  the  Demo- 
cratic platfonn  stipulated  that  the  annual  expenses  of  the 
State  government  must  not  exceed  the  annual  income;  and 
that  a  system  of  public  free  schools  must  be  maintained.  Before 
the  meeting  of  the  Legislature  as  we  have  seen,  the  Governor 
invoked  the  aid  of  Dr.  Burleson,  and  the  teachers  to  improve 
the  school  law.  This  forsight  resulted  in  great  improvements 
in  the  schools,  as  well  as  reducing  the  expenses  of  them 
through  the  adoption  of  the  measures  recommended  by  the 
committee. 

Dr.  Sears,  General  Financial  Agent  of  the  Peabody 
Fund,  who  was  present,  acted  with  the  committee  and  made 
the  following  proposition : 

To  His  Excellency,  0.  M.  Roherts,  Governor  of  Texas : 

Sir: — I  beg  leave  to  address,  and  through  you  to  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  State,  the  following  proposition,  to- 
wit:  If  the  legislature  shall  see  fit  to  establish  a  first  class 
iN'ormal  School,  and  to  appropriate  for  its  expenses  $6,000  per 
annum,  the  Trustees  of  the  Peabody  Education  Fund  will 
duplicate  that  sum  for  tHe  same  purpose,  for  a  period  of  two 
years,  with  the  expectation  of  renewing  the  arrangement  frona 
year  to  ,year  after  that  period,  during  the  pleasure  of  both, 
parties. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

B.  SEARS,  General  Agent. 

The  governor  advocated  the  measure  in  a  special  message, 
and  a  law  to  that  effect  was  accordingly  passed  making  an 
annual  appropriation  of  $14,000.  A  large  school  building  and 
surrounding  grounds  were  donated  by  the  citizens  of  Hunts- 
ville  for  the  proposed  Normal  School,  and  it  was  established 
and  the  school  opened  October  10,  1879,  with  Professor  Ber- 
nard Mallon  as  Principal. 

It  is  a  living  monument  to  the  hero  of  Texas  and  was 
named  in  his  honor,  Sam  Houston  Normal  Institute.  The 
Houston  Memorial  Hall  in  the  new  building,  is  one  of  the 


362  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

largest  and  best  audience  halls  in  tlie  State.  It  is  ninetj-eiglit 
feet  long,  seventy-one  feet  wide,  and  Avill  seat  comfortably 
1,500  people. 

In  August,  1892,  Professor  H.  C.  Pritckett  resigned  the 
office  of  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  to  accept  the 
principalship  of  the  Institution.  Under  his  able  management 
the  school  has  continued  to  prosper,  and  is  in  the  highest  sense 
a  State  school  for  educating  and  training  teachers  for  our  pub- 
lic schools. 

The  following  letter  from  Dr.  Burleson  to  Governor 
Roberts,  and  published  in  circular  form  sets  forth  his  views 
on  the  subject  of  free  schools : 

Waco  University,  Waco,  Texas,  April  29,  1879. 
Governor  0.  M.  Roherts,  Austin,  Texas: 

Dear  Sir  : — Your  telegram  requesting  the  public  use  of 
my  letter  on  free  schools  was  received  yesterday  at  Dallas. 
You  are  fully  authorized^o  use  any  letter  of  mine  which  you 
think  will  inure  to  the  public  good.  I  never  write  anything 
I  am  not  ready  to  avow  and  defend  semper  et  uhiqur.  But  as 
that  letter  is  a  mere  outline  or  summary  of  conclusions  reached 
in  our  protracted  interview,  it  may  be  liable  to  misconstruc- 
tion; hence  I  send  you  a  fuller  statement  of  my  views  on  this 
great  subject: 

Pirst — I  am  profoundly  concerned  for  our  educational 
interest,  and  as  free  schools  lie  at  the  foundation  of  practical 
and  universal  education,  as  well  as  the  prosperity  of  our  col- 
leges and  universities,  I  am  their  friend  and  advocate.  The 
history,  constitution  and  laws  of  Texas  for  forty  years  demand 
free  schools;  the  highest  interests  of  Texas,  socially,  politically 
and  financially  all  demand  an  efficient  system  of  public  edu- 
cation. 

Second — But  the  present  system  of  free  schools  is  not 
what  the  interests  and  the  constitution  of  Texas  demand.  It 
is  a  failure  and  a  prodigal  waste  of  at  least  $800,000  of  the 
peoples'  money;  and  if  continued,  "vvill,  in  a  few  years,  dis- 
grace the  Democratic  party  and  destroy  our  hopes  of  making 
Texas  the  banner  State  between  the  oceans. 

Third — Some  of  us,  at  your  request,  have  strained  every 
nerve  and  spent  days  and  nights  of  toil  to  remodel  the  system 


Dk.  Kufus  C.  Bueleson.  363 

and  make  it  economical,  efficient  and  a  blessing  to  Texas. 
Such  a  system  as  your  Excellency  could  approve,  and  the  peo- 
ple gladly  sustain.  But,  alas !  Many  of  our  people,  and  some 
of  our  officials,  have  no  higher  idea  of  free  schools  than  a  cheap 
charity  school,  paid  for  by  other  peoples'  money.  They  seem 
not  to  know  that  the  only  system  of  Free  Schools  a  State  can 
sustain  in  ]aw  or  justice,  must  have  these  four  essential  ele- 
ments. 1.  Thorough  combination  or  association.  2.  Rigid 
economy.     8.   Strict  supervision.     4.   Great  efficiency. 

Another  great  aim  of  Free  Schools  must  be  to  improve 
teachers  in  the  science  and  art  of  teaching  and  elevating  the 
profession  of  teaching.  All  these  great  ends  I  find  fully  at- 
tained in  the  Public  Schools  of  St.  Louis,  Cincinnati,  Charles- 
ton, Richmond,  Philadelphia,  J^ewark,  ISTew  York  and 
Boston. 

But  who  will  dare  claim  that  a  single  one  is  attained  in. 
our  system  ?  Our  system  has  no  combination,  no  adaptation, 
no  economy,  no  supervision,  and  consequently  no  efficiency; 
and  instead  of  elevating  the  character  and  profession  of  teach- 
ing, is  drawing  from  the  State  and  profession  our  best  teachers, 
and  raising  up  an  army  of  "pedagoging  tramps,"  as  numerous 
and  as  hungry  as  the  locusts  of  Egypt.  Our  people  do  not 
comprehend  what  that  great  and  good  man.  Dr.  B.  Sears,  who 
traveled  1,000  miles  to  help  us  renovate  our  system,  said: 
"Have  good  Free  Schools  or  none.  Poor  Free  Schools  destroy 
private  schools  and  supply  nothing  in  their  place." 

I  feel  personally  sensitive  in  the  failure  of  our  Free 
School  system.  For  on  the  accession  of  the  Democrats  to 
power  by  the  election  of  our  friend.  Governor  Coke,  I  found 
the  people  chafing  and  maddened  under  the  Davis-DeGress 
system,  and  ready  to  proclaim  an  elimination  of  the  whole 
system  as  an  off-shoot  of  radical  misrule. 

Wishing  to  remove  such  false  views  and  utilize  the  grand 
fund  which  our  hero  founders  and  fathers  had  provided  for 
the  youth  of  Texas,  I  consented  to  leave  my  home  and  my  life 
work  in  Waco  University.  I  pled  for  Free  Schools  in  the 
county  seats,  and  in  the  Colleges  and  Universities  of  over  100 
counties  in  Texas,  I  everywhere  pledged  the  people  that  the 
party  in  power  would  remodel  the  whole  system  and  so  adapt 


364  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

it  to  Texas,  as  to  make  it  a  blessing  to  the  360,000  children  of 
Texas  within  the  scholastic  age. 

But  these  pledges  have  not  been  redeemed,  yet  I  never 
despair  of  the  Republic  or  any  good  cause.  Rome  was  not 
built  in  a  day,  nor  have  our  majestic  live  oaks  grown  up  like 
Jonah's  gourd  in  a  night.  It  took  centuries  to  develop  their 
giant  girth.  We  must,  with  God-like  patience,  learn  to  labor 
and  to  wait. 

But  I  utterly  despair  of  any  legislative  body  in  Texas, 
in  the  next  twenty-five  years,  giving  us  just  the  school  system 
adapted  to  our  diversified  wants. 

This  work  can  only  be  done  by  selecting  a  committee  of  at 
least  three  of  our  greatest  practical  educators,  three  of  our  most 
eminent  jurists,  three  of  our  most  eminent  bankers  or  finan- 
ciers, and  give  them  time  and  power  to  remodel  the  whole 
system  from  turret  to  foundation  stone;  give  them  means  to 
procure  books  and  school  reports,  and  visit,  if  need  be,  the  most 
successful  free  schools  in  the  United  States,  especially  the 
West,  where  the  sparseness  and  diversity  of  population  is  sim- 
ilar to  ours. 

Such  a  committee,  if  wisely  selected  can,  with  one-tenth 
of  the  State  revenue,  and  with  provision  for  local  taxation, 
inaugurate  a  system  of  free  schools  adapted  to  Texas,  and 
capable  of  enlargement  as  our  population  becomes  denser. 

Such  a  system  in  five  years  Avill  be  the  pride  of  all  Texas 
and  repay  the  expenses  of  such  a  committee  even  in  the  item 
of  immigration. 

ISTeither  the  present,  nor  the  Davis-DeGress  system,  is  so 
well  adapted  to  Texas  as  the  old  system  prior  to  1861. 

That  was  wholly  inexpensive  and  did  educate  every 
orphan  and  every  indigent  child  in  a  good  private  school  ten 
months  in  the  year.  Yet  our  present  wants  demand  some- 
thing more  than  that  system.  But  what  to  do  in  the  present 
attitude  of  affairs  is  the  vexed  problem. 

If  you  veto  the  present  school  appropriation  bill  a  wild 
clamor  will  be  raised  against  you,  and  the  "Oemocratic  party. 
And  besides,  it  would  be  a  real  public  calamity  to  withdraw 
all  aid  from  such  cities  as  Denison,  Brenham,  Houston,  San 
Antonio  and  others,  where  the  free  schools  by  local  legislation 
have  become  the  blessing  and  pride  of  the  people.     But  still 


Dk.  Kufus  C.  Buklesoi\".  365 

the  stern  old  maxim  confronts  us,  that  "It  is  a  robbery  and 
fraud  to  tax  a  man  and  take  away  his  money  for  any  other 
purpose  than  the  public  good." 

]^o  man  can  defend  public  schools  sustained  by  taxation 
except  on  the  ground  that  they  increase  the  virtue  and  intelli- 
gence of  the  people,  and  thereby  give  greater  security  to  life, 
liberty  and  the  pursuits  of  happiness,  and  that  it  is  cheaper  to 
build  school  houses  to  restrain  crime  than  it  is  to  build  jails 
and  gallows  for  criminals.  I  advocated  free  schools  solely  as 
a  police  force  to  prevent  crime  and  thus  protect  the  lives, 
property  and  liberties  of  the  people.  And  I  hold  it  evident, 
that  the  history  of  Germany,  France,  England  and  America 
demonstrates  the  great  fact,  that  the  schools,  if  properly  con- 
ducted, afford  a  cheaper  and  safer  protection  against  crime 
than  sheriffs,  standing  armies,  jails  and  penitentiaries. 

The  State  has  no  right  to  tax  one  man  to  bestow  a  charity 
on  another  man's  child,  nor  to  waste  it  on  a  doubtful  scheme. 
But  the  State  has  "a  divine  right"  to  tax  every  man  to  so 
educate  the  rising  generation — to  insure  every  man's  property, 
person  and  liberties,  to  protect  them  more  securely.  This  is 
old-fashioned  democracy  as  taught  by  Jefferson  himself.  But 
the  sentimental  cant  about  "the  State  owing  to  every  child 
an  education"  savors  of  agrarianism  and  would  plunge  this 
nation  into  the  vortex  of  communism  in  twenty-five  years. 
And  it  is  high  time  to  eliminate  from  government  all  these 
dangerous  tendencies. 

The  logical  question  then  remains,  does  the  $100,000 
expended  annually  on  our  free  schools  so  educate  the  rising 
generation  as  to  protect  the  life,  liberty  and  property  of  the 
taxpayer? 

It  is  confessed  on  all  hands,  that  three-fourths  to  nine- 
tenths  are  wasted  on  a  defective  system.  Then  it  ought  on 
every  principle  of  logic  and  good  government  to  cease.  It 
may  not  be  good  "party  policy"  to  veto  the  bill.  It  may  be 
dangerous  to  arouse  the  prejudices  of  the  three  great  classes : 
First.  The  demagogue;  second,  the  unthinking,  and  lastly, 
the  sincere  but  mistaken  advocates  of  Free  Schools.  But  in  a 
public  life  of  nearly  forty  years  I  have  found  it  safe  to  ask 
but  one  question :  Is  it  right  ?  And  then  do  right  and  leave 
the  consequences  to  God. 


366  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

Trusting  you  will  be  able  to  do  all  that  will  promote  ttie 
good  of  the  State  we  love  so  well  and  have  served  so  long. 
I  am,  as  ever,  yours  truly, 

EUFUS  C.  BURLESON". 

A  great  amount  of  undoubted  proof  is  in  existence  that 
the  closest  relationship  existed  between  Governor  Roberts  and 
Dr.  Burleson,  and  that  they  consulted  freely  on  the  subject  of 
Free  Schools  and  labored  together  with  great  earnestness  for 
their  betterment. 

On  account  of  their  opposition  to  the  adoption  of  the 
proposed  defective  school  law,  which  partially  perhaps  through 
Dr.  Burleson's  advice  the  Governor  vetoed,  both  were  roundly 
abused  by  many  persons  in  public  life  as  well  as  numbers 
of  papers. 

To  one  of  these  papers  (The  Waco  Telephone)  he  replied 
as  follows : 

Waco  University,  May  27,  1879. 
"In  an  editorial  in  your  issue  of  May  20th,  you  pro- 
nounce my  letter  to  Governor  Roberts  on  Free  Schools  *  * 
*  *  "one  of  the  most  inconsistent  documents  that  ever 
emenated  from  the  pen  of  an  intelligent,  practical  man."  The 
article  denounces  my  plan  as  "Utopian  and  dreamy,"  and 
finally  prays,  "God  forbid  that  Texas  should  ever  be  forced 
to  adopt  the  views  of  Dr.  Burleson."  All  this  you  call  "frank 
criticism."  I  would  modestly  suggest  that  the  whole  editorial 
is  a  medley  of  blunders  and  hasty,  illogical  conclusions,  the 
work  of  a  short-sighted  young  man.  But  I  will  not  do  this,  for 
I  learned,  probably  long  before  the  writer  of  the  editorial  in 
question  was  born,  that  hard  words  and  strong  arguments  are 
two  very  different  things.  That  a  newspaper,  in  the  Gem  City 
of  Texas,  should  denounce  my  views  as  inconsistent,  dreamy 
and  Utopian,  might  have  mortified  me  greatly,  but  for  this 
consolation :  The  Galveston  News,  the  prince  of  Southern 
journals,  and  many  of  the  finest  legal  and  losdcal  minds  of  this 
State  have  praised  my  letter  highly.  Others  declare  it  the 
finest  argument  they  ever  read  in  favor  of  free  schools.  But- 
you  say:  "Analyze  his  long  letter,  and  what  are  his  deduc- 
tions ?  Dr.  Burleson  is  opposed  to  the  present  system  of  free 
schools  and  yet  what  does  he  offer  in  its  stead?     A  Utopian 


Dk.  Eufus  C.  Bukleson.  367 

scheme,  that  may  be  practicable  when  Texas  has  five  or  ten 
million  inhabitants.  When  Galveston,  Houston,  Austin,  San 
Antonio  and  Waco  rival  his  ideal  cities  of  ISTew  York,  Philadel- 
phia, Boston  and  St.  Louis  in  wealth  and  population." 

"iN'ow,  if  the  writer  of  the  above  will  put  on  a  pair  of 
magnifying  glasses,  he  will  see  he  has  misconstrued  my  whole 
letter.  Where  did  he  learn  that  ]!Tew  York,  etc.,  were  my 
"ideal  cities?"  I  have  ever  regarded  them  as  very  real  and 
not  at  all  '"ideal."  I  found  the  free  schools,  too,  not  "ideal," 
like  ours,  but  real  blessings,  and  the  pride  of  all  the  people. 
And  my  plan  can  be  inaugurated  on  the  1st  of  September  next, 
and  as  I  told  Governor  Roberts,  in  a  few  years,  it  will  be  the 
pride  of  all  Texans. 

"It  is  true  I  have  despaired  of  any  legislative  body  devis- 
ing in  the  next  twenty-five  years,  such  a  school  law  as  will 
meet  all  the  diversified  wants  of  this  Empire  State.  I  do  not 
believe  this  work  can  be  done  by  any  legislative  body  on  the 
continent.  Hence,  I  propose  a  special  committee  composed  of 
eminent,  practical  teachers,  jurists  and  financiers.  I  propose 
this,  not  because  I  doubt  the  patriotism  and  general  intelli- 
gence of  Texas  legislators,  for  I  have  praised  them  in  100 
speeches,  from  San  Antonio,  Texas,  to  Tremont  Temple,  Bos- 
ton. 'No  man  has  a  higher  opinion  of  the  morality,  patriotism 
and  general  intelligence  of  the  last  legislature  than  I  have. 
But  the  wisdom  of  managing  a  fund  soon  to  reach  $30,000,- 
000;  and  nicely  adjusting  a  common  school  system  to  our 
densely  populated  towns  and  sparsely  settled  pastoral  settle- 
ments; and  to  our  African,  Bohemian,  Spanish,  French,  l^or- 
wegian,  German,  Southern  and  Yankee  population,  is  a  her- 
culean task;  and  it  can  never  be  wisely  done  by  any  legislative 
body  assembled  to  legislate  on  1,000  other  pressing  interests. 
Such  a  work,  I  repeat,  can  only  be  wisely  and  safely  done  by 
such  a  committee  as  t  suggest.  However  you  denounce  my 
scheme  as  "Utopian."  But  the  Hon.  Richard  Coke,  who  is  a 
grand  embodiment  of  common  sense,  integrity  and  statesman- 
ship has  pronounced  my  plan  as  eminently  practical,  and  just 
the  thing  we  need.  But,  lest  Governor  Coke,  Governor  Rob- 
erts and  myself  should  be  deemed  old  fogys,  I  will  state  that 
Texas  has  really  twice  adopted  this  very  plan. 


368  The  Life  and  Writings  op 

Bj  an  act  of  the  legislature  of  Texas,  February  11,  1854. 
John  W.  Harris,  O.  C.  Hartly  and  James  Willie  were  ap- 
pointed commissioners  to  prepare  a  code  amending,  revising, 
digesting,  supplying  and  arranging  the  laws,  civil  and  crimi- 
nal, of  the  State  of  Texas. 

"By  an  act  of  the  legislature  July  28,  187 — ,  Messrs.  Ben 
H.  Bassett,  C.  S.  West,  George  Clark,  J.  W.  Ferris  and  S.  A. 
Wilson  were  appointed  to  digest  the  laws,  and  for  this  great 
work  $25,000  was  appropriated. 

So  it  seems,  if  I  am  "Utopian"  and  a  "dreamer,"  I  have 
blundered  into  good  company,  for  I  propose  just  such  com- 
missioners to  revise,  amend  and  adjust  our  school  laws.  The 
''Telephone'^  tries  to  convict  me  of  being  illogical  and  incon- 
sistent, because  in  one  sentence  I  say :  "The  State  has  no  right 
to  tax  one  man  to  bestow  a  charity  upon  another  man's  child," 
and  in  the  very  next  I  say,  "But  the  State  has  a  divine  right  to 
tax  every  man  to  so  educate  the  rising  generation  that  every 
man's  person,  property  and  liberty  will  be  protected  more  se- 
curely." If  you  cannot  see  the  sound  logic  and  true  statesman- 
ship of  these  postulates,  I  would  advise  you  to  study  Whately's 
logic  and  Wayland's  political  economy  before  you  ever  perpe- 
trate another  "frank  criticism."  If  you  contend  that  the  State 
has  a  right  to  tax  one  man  to  bestow  a  charity  on  another  man^s 
child,  you  yield  the  whole  controversy  to  the  Communists  and 
Nihilists,  and  must  advocate  their  damnable  theory  of  dividing 
out  the  property  of  the  rich  among  the  poor.  But  the  most 
hopeful  sign  I  see  in  your  whole  editorial  is,  that  you  have 
betaken  yourself  to  prayer.  It  is  a  good  sign  to  see  a  news- 
paper man  engaged  occasionally  in  '^a  season  of  prayer."  But 
I  predict  that  with  a  little  more  experience  in  prayer,  you 
will  be  less  dictatorial  in  your  devotions,  and  will  add  some 
such  adjunct  as :  "Oh  God  forbid  (if  consistent  with  Thy 
will)  that  Texas  should  ever  be  forced  to  adopt  Dr.  Burleson's 
views."  But  what  are  my  views,  against  which  you  clamor 
and  invoke  the  interposition  of  Heaven?  My  views  are  the 
result  of  forty  years'  study  and  reading.  I  have  studied  the 
history  of  school  systems  from  the  days  of  Plato,  Aristotle 
and  Socrates,  down  through  all  the  nations  of  Europe  and 
every  State  in  America.  My  views  are  not- merely  the  result 
of  ray  reading  and  reflections,  but  the  most  illustrious  gov- 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Bukleson.  369 

ernors  of  Texas,  for  the  last  thirty  years,  have  honored  me  with 
their  confidence  and  asked  my  views  on  education.  I  have 
made  two  long  and  expensive  tours  of  observation  to  the  older 
States  to  see  the  practical  working  of  all  the  great  free  schools 
and  Universities  in  America.  The  President  and  Professors 
of  Harvard,  and  Brown,  and  Madison,  and  Vassar  and  West 
Point,  and  the  Superintendent  of  Free  Schools  and  iSTormal 
Institutes  of  all  the  great  cities  and  states  offered  me  the 
most  ample  means  of  studying  profoundly  the  organization 
and  worldngs  of  their  institutions.  In  1872  I  spent  three 
months  in  this  work,  so  that  my  views  are  but  the  views  of 
such  great  free  school  men  as  Dr.  B.  Sears,  Dr.  AYickerman, 
Dr.  Ilovey,  Professor  Stoddard  and  others,  moulded  and 
adapted  to  Texas.  My  views  and  theirs  are  in  perfect  har- 
mony. I  do  not  differ  from  them  a  single  iota.  We  all  believe 
a  free  school  system  should  have  combination,  adoption,  super- 
vision, economy  and  efficiency.  They  all  warned  me  to  have 
"good  schools  or  none,"  and  never  to  waste  a  dollar  of  the 
public  money,  otherwise  we  will  destroy  the  whole  system  in  a 
few  years.  We  want  an  efficient  system  of  free  schools, 
and  we  want  never  to  waste  one  dollar  of  the  peoples' 
money.  In  conclusion,  I  can  only  say  my  views  and  plans 
may  not,  after  all,  be  correct.  I  claim  no  infallibility,  but 
certainly  no  man  has  greater  reason  to  love  Texas  than  I  have. 
My  family  have  been  identified  with  Texas  for  fifty  years. 
My  kindreds'  blood  has  crimsoned  every  battlefield  in  Texas. 
My  blood  flows  to-day  in  the  veins  of  1,200  Texas  voters.  I 
have  given  thirty-one  years  of  unremunerated  toil  to  Texas, 
and  am  sad  because  I  have  not  thirty-one  more  to  give  to  a 
State  I  love  more  than  life. 

Yours  respectfully, 

RUFUS  C.  BURLESOjS^. 

He  adds:  "Lest  your  allusion  to  our  conversation  on 
Mr.  Hurst's  letter  may  do  Governor  Roberts  injustice,  allow 
me  to  say  that  the  only  reasons  for  my  belief  were  these : 

First — Governor  Roberts  for  the  last  thirty  years  has 
done  his  own  writing  and  thinking. 

Second — ^He  is  a  stern  old  Jackson  Democrat,  and  be- 
lieves in  the  doctrine  pay  as  you  go. 


370 


The  Life  and  Whitings  of 


Third — ^He  has  always  contended  the  constitution  de- 
manded an  efficient  system  of  free  schools.  This  is  not  effi- 
cient, and  is  therefore,  unconstitutional.  It  wastes  prodigally 
the  peoples'  money,  which  I  would  never  allow,  if  I  had  the 
power  to  prevent  it. 

KUFUS  C.  BUELESON"." 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  BuRLESoisr.  371 


CHAPTER  XLIV. 


Texas  State  Educational  Association — Texas  Teachees' 
Convention  Organized  at  Mexia — An  Impoktant 
Called  Meeting  at  Mexia  August  9th,  1879 — A  Con- 
vention OF  Teachers  at  Austin — ^Dr.  Burleson's 
Statement  of  Convention's  Work — The  Teachers' 
Recommendations  to  the  Legislature — Committee 
Report  on  University  of  Texas,  Dr.  Burleson  Chair- 
man— Last  Meeting  of  Texas  Teachers'  Convention 
— Ceased  to  Exist  Where  it  was  Organized  June 
30th,  1880 — Merged  into  the  Texas  State  Educa- 
tional Association — Gov.  O.  M.  Roberts  Addressed 
the  Meeting — Organization  of  the  T.  S.  E.  A.,  July 
1st,  1880 — Its  Continued  Success. 


T  a  meeting  of  the  State  Teachers'  Conventioii  held 
in  Galveston  in  1890,  Dr.  Burleson  was  requested 
by  that  body  to  write  a  history  of  the  Texas  State 
Educational  Association,  but  there  is  no  evidence  among  his 
papers  that  he  ever  commenced  the  work,  except  in  fragmen- 
tary form.  The  following  letter  from  Professor  W.  H.  Cole- 
man, dated  July  16th,  1890,  leads  to  the  inference  that  Dr. 
Burleson  made  an  effort  to  collect  data  for  the  purpose : 

"I  have  been  trying  to  recall  to  my  memory  the  events 
connected  with  first  meeting  of  the  State  Teachers'  Associa- 
tion, and  find  my  recollection  is  very  dim.  I  can  not  even 
determine  the  year  mthout  my  diary  which  is  now  in  Ken- 
tucky. 


372  The  Life  and  Weitixgs  of 

"If  my  memory  serves  me  correctly,  the  first  meeting  oi 
the  Association  was  held  in  Mexia,  some  time  in  the  '70s.  You 
were  the  first  President.  A  Teachers'  Convention  was  held 
the  same  year  at  Dallas,  called,  perhaps,  the  North  Teachers' 
Convention.  I  was  the  only  person  who  attended  both  of  these 
conventions.  I  remember  your  inaugural  address  was  quite 
lengthy  and  that  3^ou  took  severely  to  task  the  "godless  in- 
fluence exerted  by  some  of  the  Colleges  and  Universities  of  the 
country,"  which  aroused  the  indignation  of  Gathright  and 
Hogg  and  they  expressed  themselves  quite  vigorously  concern- 
ing the  matter. 

Another  prominent  event  was  that  Governor-elect  O.  M. 
Roberts  sent  a  communication,  which  was  read,  in  which 
he  requested  the  association  to  take  action  for  the  improvement 
of  the  Public  School  system  of  the  State  and  promising  his 
co-operation  in  regard  to  such  measures  as  they  might  adopt. 
I  think  a  committee  was  appointed  to  meet  at  Austin  the  fol- 
lowing winter  in  the  interest  of  education. 

"Subsequently,  the  ISTorth  Texas  Teachers'  Association, 
Dr.  Malone,  President,  and  the  State  Association,  Dr.  Crain, 
President,  met  at  Mexia  and  consolidated."  In  conclusion  he 
says :    "I  regret  my  inability  to  give  you  fuller  data." 

With  this  imperfect  outline  to  follow  we  shall  attempt  to 
fill  in  the  "missing  links,"  and  endeavor  to  preserve  the  pro- 
ceedings of  this  influential  body  which  labored  so  earnestly 
to  improve  the  educational  interests  of  the  State.  Their  zeal- 
ous work  was  manifested  a  little  later  on  in  moulding  the 
legislation  which  hastened  the  present  public  school  system 
throughout  Texas. 

The  earliest  proceedings  at  hand  show  that  a  Teachers' 
Convention  was  held  at  Mexia,  August  0,  1878.  Rev.  R. 
C.  Burleson  being  President,  and  Professor  M.  Park,  Sec- 
retary. After  a  song  by  the  church  choir  and  prayer  by  the 
Rev.  IT.  Bishop,  its  labors  were  inaugurated  by  an  address 
from  the  President,  which  lasted  an  hour  and  twenty  minutes. 
The  substance  of  the  address,  and  also  a  list  of  those  who 
enrolled  as  members  is  badly  mutilated  and  can  not  be  given. 

A  committee  reported  in  favor  of  an  address  to  be  issued 
to  the  teachers  of  Texas,  requesting  them  to  meet  in  conven- 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  BuKLEso^f.  373 

tion  at  Austin  on  the  second  Tuesday  after  the  assembling  of 
the  Legislature,  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  a  State  Educa- 
tional Convention,  and  the  President  appointed  a  committee 
of  eleven  to  issue  such  an  address. 

Professor  Smith  delivered  an  address  upon  Public  Free 
Schools  and  their  relation  to  Colleges  and  Universities,  after 
other  questions  had  been  discussed.  The  convention  tendered 
the  President  its  thanks  for  his  able  address,  and  requested 
its  publication. 

The  following  day  after  the  usual  proceedings.  Professor 
Gathright  spoke  on  a  question  of  privilege  in  reply  to  certain 
points  in  the  President's  address,  and  a  number  of  important 
subjects  were  discussed  at  length  and  some  pertinent  resolu- 
tions were  passed. 

After  a  learned  address  from  Dr.  Crane,  that  ripe  scholar, 
and  hero  of  Texas  education  whose  efforts  in  behalf  of  the 
cause  deserve  a  better  fate,  than  the  ruins  at  Independence, 
a  letter  from  Judge  O.  M.  Roberts  to  the  convention,  through 
Dr.  Burleson,  was  read  in  which  he  suggested  that  the  associa- 
tion should  take  active  steps  towards  influencing  State  legisla- 
tion in  behalf  of  education. 

The  following  committee  of  eleven  were  appointed  to 
meet  in  Austin :  H.  H.  Smith,  of  Houston;  J.  T.  S.  Park,  of 
Mexia;  W.  H.  Coleman,  of  Dallas;  W.  F.  Packard,  of  Mil- 
ford;  C.  P.  Estill,  of  Mexia;  A.  J.  Roberts,  of  Belton;  Geo. 
Hogue,  of  Brownwood;  R.  C.  Burleson,  of  Waco;  J.  J.  James, 
of  Bryan;  J.  A.  Craig,  of  Mexia;  W.  C.  Crane,  of  Inde- 
pendence. 

The  convention  adjourned  to  meet  at  the  Agricultural 
and  Mechanical  College  in  Brazos  county,  the  second  Tuesday 
in  July,  1879. 

To  unearth  the  truth  of  its  proceedings  at  Austin,  we 
must  quote  from  an  unpublished  defense  of  Governor  Roberts, 
written  by  Dr.  Burleson,  after  that  statesman's  death,  in  which 
he  refers  to  his  own  work  as  State  Lecturer  for  the  Peabody 
Fund :  ''After  the  most  painful  and  laborious  efforts  of  my 
long  life  of  toil  for  Texas,  I  was  almost  in  despair  of  correcting 
the  terrible  abuses  and  saving  the  school  lands;  but  Judge 
Roberts,  then  a  candidate  for  Governor,  came  nobly  to  the 
front.     He  suggested  that  as  President  of  the  Association,  I 


37-i  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

might  call  an  extra  session  to  meet  in  Austin  during  the  sit- 
tings of  the  legislature  so  that  the  teachers  and  politicians 
might  confer  freely  and  wisely  together  and  devise  the  best 
plan  possible  for  the  great  question  so  universally  discussed. 
I  saw  the  profound  wisdom  of  the  suggestion.  I  presented  the 
subject  before  the  Texas  Educational  Association  at  Mexia, 
and  a  called  session  to  meet  at  Austin  during  the  session  of  the 
legislature  was  agreed  upon.  We  so  arranged  to  have  the  oldest 
and  wisest  educators  of  Texas,  with  a  few  from  elsewhere  and 
also  the  great  Dr.  Sears,  to  meet  and  consult  Avith  us.  We  were 
invited  to  go  before  the  legislature  and  deliver  addresses  on 
the  great  subjects  dear  to  the  hearts  of  all  true  Texans.  We 
were  also  invited  to  embody  our  views  in  regard  to  school 
laws,  which  we  did  after  hours  and  I  may  say  days  of  intense 
toil.  But  alas,  we  found  that  the  Constitution  adopted  to  cor- 
rect the  evils  of  the  Davis,  or  radical  Constitution,  was  so 
framed  that  no  efficient  law  for  Free  Schools  could  be  enacted, 
and  that  the  only  hope  for  correcting  those  evils  was  through 
amendments  to  the  Constitution.  The  addresses  of  the  teach- 
ers before  the  legislature  had  profoundly  impressed  that  body 
of  man  that  the  Constitution  should  be  so  amended,  but  that 
would  require  time  and  it  was  utterly  impossible  to  have  any 
system  of  Free  Schools  until  the  Constitution  could  be  re- 
modeled. Dr.  Sears  was  the  saddest  man  I  have  ever  seen  in 
Texas.  He  said,  "This  is  my  third  trip  to  Texas,  at  great 
labor  and  expense,  and  yet  it  is  an  utter  failure,  and  I  shall 
die  without  accomplishing  the  last  request  of  the  great  George 
Peabody,  which  was  to  use  his  funds  freely  to  lay  the  grand 
foundation  for  a  Texas  system  of  Free  Schools,  for  Mr.  Pea- 
body  believed,  that  Texas  was  destined  to  become  one  of  the 
grandest  States  in  the  Union,  and  he  wanted  to  see  a  splendid 
system  of  Free  Schools  established  here."  After  he  and  I  had 
discussed  the  matter  until  midnight,  I  suggested  that  there 
never  was  a  grand  thing  to  be  done,  but  what  there  was  at 
least  seven  ways  to  do  it,  and  that  there  was  a  way  in  which 
we  could  use  the  Peabody  Fund  at  once  in  the  grand  work 
of  establishing  Free  Schools  in  Texas.  I  said,  if  we  had 
$5,000,000  in  the  Texas  treasury  to-day,  we  would  have  no 
teachers  who  understood  the  system  of  successfully  organizing 
and  conducting  Free  Schools.     The  grand  thing  is,  if  we  wish 


De.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  375 

to  make  Free  Schools  in  Texas  a  success,  we  want  a  ISTormal 
College  to  prepare  our  teachers,  and  if  you  will  give  us  as 
much  as  you  gave  Tennessee,  $25,000,  our  governor  will 
recommend  to  the  legislature  to  appropriate  an  equal  amount 
and  we  will  establish  a  jSlormal  School  and  name  it  for  our 
grand  old  hero,  Sam  Houston,  and  then,  by  the  time  we  get  our 
Constitution  changed  and  ready  for  work,  we  will  have  a 
splendid  corps  of  teachers.  The  grand  old  man's  eyes  wert? 
radiant,  and  he  said,  "Bless  God  for  the  light  of  that  sug- 
gestion;" and  then  asked,  "AVlll  your  governor  recommend 
to  the  legislature  to  appropriate  $25,000?  I  am  afraid  he  is 
not  as  much  in  favor  of  Free  Schools  as  you  think  he  is." 
I  said,  he  may  not  be,  but  he  is  a  grand  old  and  conscientious 
judge,  and  the  Constitution  says,  "It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
legislature  to  establish  as  early  as  -practicable  a  system  of  Pub- 
lic Free  Schools,"  and  he  will  carry  out  his  oath  to  support 
that  Constitution  to  the  letter,  and  you  may  be  perfectly  cer- 
tain that  he  will  issue  a  special  message  to  the  legislature  to 
appropriate  at  least  $25,000  for  a  Normal  College."  Kext 
morning,  as  soon  as  breakfast  was  over,  I  hurried  away  to 
meet  Governor  Roberts  at  the  governor's  mansion  before  he 
became  engaged  with  the  politicians.  I  met  him  as  he  was 
leaving  and  I  laid  the  plan  before  him.  His  eyes  brightened 
with  joy  as  he  said,  "Certainly,  certainly,  there  is  glory  in  that 
thought,  and  I  will  not  only  recommend  the  legislature  to  ap- 
propriate $25,000,  but  I  will  also  recommend,  that  they  add 
a  sum  sufficient  to  pay  the  board  and  all  necessary  expenses 
for  a  certain  number  of  students  from  each  county,  and  I  will 
be  glad  to  see  Dr.  Sears  in  person  and  confer  with  him."  The 
two  grand  old  men  met  together  and  it  was  a  feast  to  hear  their 
deliberations  on  this  great  question.  Through  the  statesman- 
ship of  Governor  Roberts  a  plan  was  formulated  which  was 
intended  to  correct  all  the  terrible  evils  which  had  been 
brought  on  our  system  of  Free  Schools,  and  to  recover  the 
county  school  lands  from  the  railroads  and  the  speculators, 
and  which  would  lay  the  grandest  foundation  for  Free 
Schools  of  any  nation  on  this  planet." 

The  convention  of  teachers  met  in  Austin  January  28th, 
18Y9,  and  continued  in  session  three  days.  These  teachers 
recommended : 


376  The  Life  and  Weiti]\"gs  of 

1.  That  the  State  accept  the  proposition,  that  $6,000 
be  accepted  from  the  Peabody  Fund  with  as  much,  to  be  added 
by  the  State,  to  establish  a  first  class  jSTormal  School. 

2.  That  $20,000  be  appropriated  by  the  State  to  estab- 
lish a  practical  course  in  Agriculture. 

3.  That  not  more  than  two  school  communities  be  es- 
tablished in  any  city  taking  charge  of  its  own  schools,  and 
that  one  of  these  be  white  and  the  other  for  colored  children. 

4.  That  three  grades  of  certificates  be  given  to  teachers. 

5.  That  pupils  under  the  instructions  of  a  teacher  hold- 
ing a  third  grade  certificate  receive  $1;  second  grade,  $1.50; 
and  first  grade,  $2  per  month. 

6.  That  six  district  superintendents  be  appointed  with  a 
salary  each  of  $2,300. 

There  were  other  recommendations  made  by  the  teachers 
referring  to  the  duties  of  the  superintendents,  and  to  the 
manner  in  which  teachers  should  be  paid  by  the  county 
treasury.  The  legislature  complied  with  these  suggestions  in 
all  their  essential  features.  We  have  every  reason  for  believ- 
ing that  it  was  a  wise  suggestion  which  brought  the  Teachers' 
Convention  together  as  an  advisory  board  and  that  they  ac- 
complished a  great  deal  of  good  in  suggesting  legislation  on 
the  subject  of  education  which  eradicated  existing  evils  and 
provided  future  benefits. 

All  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Teachers'  Convention  are 
not  available,  but  it  is  presumed  that  the  following  report  of 
a  committee  submitted  to  the  Teachers'  Convention  in  Jan- 
uary, 1879,  relative  to  the  University  of  Texas  was  adopted. 
"Your  committee  belicA^e  the  time  has  came  to  take  measures 
to  inaugurate  the  Texas  State  University.  Texans  have  felt 
for  forty  years,  a  deep  interest  in  this  question,  and  that  desire 
was  never  more  intense  than  at  this  moment. 

The  Constitution  of  the  Republic  requires  a  first  class 
University.  The  Congress  of  1836,  set  apart  fifty  leagues 
(221,400  acres)  of  land  for  two  colleges  or  Universities.  The 
present  value  of  this  land  is  $3.50  per  acre,  or  $777,760.  Of 
this  sum  $222,125  is  now  in  the  state  treasury  drawing  inter- 
est, and  nearly  $40,000  is  ready  for  investment. 

All  of  this  $262,000  could  be  used  at  once  to  inaugurate 
"The  Texas  State  University."     The  legislature  of  1876  set 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burlesox.  377 

apart  1,000,000  acres  of  land  additional,  and  also  set  apart 
every  tenth  section  of  land  surveyed  by  railroads  for  school 
purposes  for  "The  Texas  State  University."  This  whole  fund 
is  at  least  $1,500,000.  The  annual  interest  at  8  per  cent,  will 
be  $120,000.  The  same  Constitution  made  the  "Agricultural 
and  Mechanical  College,  a  branch  of  the  University,  for  in- 
struction in  agriculture  and  mechanical  arts,  and  natural 
sciences  conducted  therewith."  Over  300  young  men  are  sent 
out  of  Texas  annually,  thus  losing  to  Texas  $250,000,  .besides 
the  loss  of  that  State  pride  and  aifection  so  necessary  for  the 
future,  glory  and  greatness  of  Texas.  The  State,  to  attain  to 
the  highest  greatness  and  glory,  must  be  controlled  and  guided 
by  sons  ''to  the  manor  educated,"  as  well  as  to  "the  manor 
born." 

But  how  shall  we  organize  our  State  University  so  as  to 
combine  the  greatest  economy,  the  greatest  harmony  and  the 
greatest  efficiency?  It  is  a  melancholy  but  well  established 
fact,  that  the  majority  of  State  Universities,  have  proved  sad 
and  expensive  failures.  Texas  cannot  afford  to  waste  $1,500,- 
000,  and  sacrifice  the  previous  and  undying  interests  of  her 
sons  in  following  the  unsuccessful  methods  of  other  States. 
But  fortunately  the  State  of  Xew  York  and  the  City  of  Lou- 
don present  us  with  a  general  outline  of  a  plan  which  will 
utilize  Qv&rj  dollar  of  the  vast  fund  and  make  "The  University 
of  Texas,"  the  pride  and  glory  of  every  Texan  and  a  rich  bless- 
ing to  generations  to  come. 

Your  committee  would  therefore  respectfully  suggest, 
that  the  "Texas  State  University"  be  organized  on  the  general 
plan  given  by  the  Empire  State  of  America,  and  by  the  great- 
est city  on  the  globe. 

Tirst — That  every  chartered  College  and  University  in 
the  State  having  $100,000  in  cash  invested  in  endowments  for 
professorships,  and  library  apparatus  and  buildings,  shall  be  a 
branch  of  the  State  University,  provided  nothing  sectarian  in 
religion  or  any  skepticism  shall  be  taught  in  connection  with 
any  of  said  branches. 

Second — That  a  "Board  of  Regents,"  with  a  chancellor, 
eminent  for  learning,  shall  be  appointed  by  the  governor  and 
confirmed  by  the  Senate,  who  shall  sacredly  and  wisely  dis- 
tribute the  annual  interest  of  the  Universitv  Fund  to  all  the 


378  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

branches  of  the  University  for  the  payment  of  professors  ac- 
cording to  the  actual  capital  owned  and  employed  by  them 
in  education.  The  chancellor  and  regents  shall  discharge  such 
other  duties  as  the  Legislature  may  direct. 

Third — There  shall  be  erected  at  the  capital  a  suitable 
building,  etc. 

Fourith — The  chancellor  and  regents  shall  provide  a 
course  of  lectures,  etc. 

The  adoption  of  these  general  outlines,  with  such  addi- 
tions as  the  wisdom  of  the  legislature  may  suggest,  will  have 
the  following  great  advantages : 

First- — Its  great  economy.  It  never  cost  the  State  a 
dollar  for  building  and  supervision.  ^ 

Second — It  will  bind  all  sections  and  all  denominations 
in  love  and  sympathy  and  enthusiasm  for  "The  State  Uni- 
versity." 

Third — It  will  banish  from  higher  education  and  culture 
all  sectarianism  and  skepticism. 

Fourth — It  will  arouse  the  hopes  and  stimulate  the  zeal 
of  all  sections  and  denominations,  so  that  in  twenty-five  years, 
Texas  will  have  facilities  for  higher  education,  unsurpassed  by 
any  State  in  America,  or  the  world. 

Fifth — It  will  avoid  all  jealousies  and  wrangling  of  the 
sections  and  denominations  and  institutions  which  have  ruined 
so  many  splendidly  endowed  State  Universitiea, 

These  reasons  are  so  great  and  so  self-evident,  they  must 
commend  themselves  to  every  candid  man  who  can  lift  him- 
self out  of  the  grooves  and  currents  in  which  so  many  State 
Universities  have  run  to  ruin  and  failure.  All  of  which  is 
respectfully  submitted." 

KUFUS  C.  BURLESOlSr,  Chairman. 

There  is  no  evidence  at  hand  to  show  that  these  sugges- 
tions met  with  legislative  action  at  the  time,  but  there  is  no 
doubt  of  its  influence  in  hastening  the  establishment  of  the 
University  or  that  many  of  the  views  were  embodied  in  the 
laws  regulating  the  institution. 

The  last  meeting  of  the  State  Teachers'  Convention  was 
held  at  Mexia  June  30,  1880,  when  the  following  report  was 
adopted : 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  BuELESOiSr.  379 

"The  committee  appointed  by  Dr.  Grain,  President  of  the 
Texas  Teachers'  Association  and  this  association,  would  re- 
spectfully report  that  the  association  which  met  at  Austin 
January,  1879,  be  invited  to  participate  in  the  discussions  of 
this  convention  until  the  program,  as  previously  arranged, 
be  carried  out,  and  then,  that  this  association  be  merged  in  the 
State  Association  and  that  then  a  new  set  of  officers  be  elected 
for  the  ensuing  year." 

R.  C.  BURLESON,  Chainnan. 

Previous  to  this.  Rev,  Wm.  Gary  Grane,  stated  the  object 
of  the  convention  and  Rev.  R.  C.  Burleson  made  the  intro- 
ductory address.  His  Excellency,  O.  M.  Roberts,  was  present 
by  special  invitation  and  delivered  an  address  in  which  he 
dwelt  long  on  the  importance  to  the  State  of  a  thorough  system 
of  public  education.  He  represented  their  condition,  Eis 
course  towards  them  and  the  policy  which  the  State  should 
sustain.  He  advocated  the  policy  of  liberally  supporting  them 
as  far  as  the  means  of  the  State  would  allow,  after  defraying 
other  needful  expenses. 

The  two  conventions  having  united,  an  election  was  held 
jointly.  Dr.  Anderson  of  Trinity  University  was  elected 
President,  Professor  Hammond  of  Mexia,  Secretary,  Professor 
Park  of  Mexia,  Treasurer,  and  six  Vice-Presidents  residing  in 
different  portions  of  the  State.  Dr.  Oscar  H.  Gooper,  that  ac- 
complished scholar,  successful  educator,  and  learned  gentle- 
man who  succeeded  Dr.  Burleson  in  the  Presidency  of  Baylor 
University,  fixed  himself  in  the  educational  history  of  Texas, 
as  a  wise  friend  of  public  education  by  strongly  recommending 
in  the  consolidated  convention,  that  the  next  legislature  be 
urged  to  take  the  steps  necessary  to  organize  the  University  of 
Texas,  which  induced  the  passage  of  a  ringing  resolution  to 
that  effect.  A  committee  of  nine  distinguished  teachers  was 
appointed  by  the  convention,  of  which  Dr.  Cooper  was  made 
chairman  to  prepare  a  plan  of  organization.  The  report  of  Dr. 
Cooper's  committee  in  1881  was  instrumental  in  the  passage 
of  the  act  introduced  in  the  seventeenth  legislature  by  Col.  J. 
C.  Hutchinson  of  Harris  county,  approved  March  30th,  1881, 
providing  for  the  establishment  of  the  University  of  Texas,  the 
success  of  which  has  exceeded  perhaps  the  expectations  of  its 
friends.    This  bill  passed  the  house  with  only  seven  dissenting 


3 so  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

votes,  and  in  the  same  liall  where  twenty  years  before  seven 
votes  har  been  cast  against  the  secession  ordinance. 

It  is  thus  seen,  that  Baylor  University  having  passed 
through  all  the  successive  stages  of  birth,  growth  and  develop- 
ment, and  having  became  one  of  the  fixed  educational  institu- 
tions of  the  world,  was  not  so  selfish  as  to  desire  to  occupy  the 
field  alone,  but  reached  out  through  Dr.  R,  C.  Burleson,  its 
renowned  President,  who  devoted  his  wisdom  and  experience 
in  establishing  this  institution  for  the  State. 

It  will  also  be  observed  as  an  historical  fact,  no  less  re- 
markable, important  and  interesting,  that  Dr.  Oscar  H.  Cooper, 
who  twenty  years  later  was  to  succeed  Dr.  Burleson  ,in  the 
Presidency  of  Baylor  University,  was  his  valuable  co-laborer 
in  this  great  work,  and  though  not  much  more  than  a  boy, 
divided  the  honor  and  glory  with  him.  Dr.  Burleson  and  Dr. 
Cooper  being  the  only  men  who  have  ever  filled  the  Presi- 
dential chair  of  the  University  at  Waco,  it  may  be  justly 
claimed,  that  in  a  sense,  among  other  distinctions,  Baylor 
University  has  also  the  honor  of  being  the  mother  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Texas.  This  is  unparalleled  by  any  known  scrap  of 
educational  history. 

At  the  night  session  of  the  convention  Governor  Roberts 
again  took  the  floor  to  develop  his  Adews,  and  to  show  his 
interest  in  public  education.  He  stated  in  his  address,  the  only 
reason  why  he  had  not  endeavored  to  render  greater  assistance 
to  public  schools  was  because  he  doubted  the  ability  of  the 
State  to  do  so  without  violating  its  duties  to  creditors  or  crip- 
pling the  machinery  of  government.  The  meeting  closed  with 
a  benediction  by  Dr.  Burleson. 

The  next  day,  July  1,  1880,  the  first  meeting  of  the  Texas 
State  Teachers'  Association  convened.  The  following  resolu- 
tions were  adopted.  To  memorialize  the  legislature  in  favor 
of  the  State  University.  On  change  of  school  law.  On  gov- 
ernor's address.  On  validity  of  claim  on  treasurer  for  Univer- 
sity fund.     On  appropriation  of  land  to  chartered  colleges. 

The  Executive  Committee  announced  that  the  next  meet- 
ing would  be  at  Corsicana  the  last  Tuesday  in  June,  1881,  and 
a  called  meeting  would  be  held  at  Austin,  during  the  session 
of  the  next  legislature.     The  meeting  held  at  Corsicana  was 


Dr.  Eufus  C.  Burleson. 


381 


one  of  much  importance,  but  not  more  so  perhaps  than  those 
since  held. 

It  would  be  pleasant  to  record  more  detail  of  this  conven- 
tion, but  we  refrain  from  doing  so  except  to  show  Dr.  Burle- 
son's active  participation  in  tlie  movement  designed  solely  to 
promote  the  cause  of  public  education  in  Texas. 

The  personnel  of  this  convention  was  a  high  standard  of 
manhood.  In  fact  these  are  few,  if  any  higher  callings  than 
the  profession  of  teaching;  and  those  who  are  engaged  in  it, 
if  qualified  to  properly  discharge  its  duties,  represent  the  most 
cultured  class  of  the  country's  citizenship.  They  are  the 
guides  who  awaken  intellects,  latent  powers  of  mind,  and 
direct  them  toward  the  pure  light  of  knowledge,  and  only  turn 
to  do  battle  against  the  hosts  of  ignorance  and  indifference. 


^.^jSi>^.'M' 


382  The  Life  and  Wkitings  of 


CHAPTER  XLV. 


Dr.  R.  C.  Bueleson's  Address  Before  the  Texas  Teachers* 
CoxvENTiOF  IN  Galveston  June  30th,  1890 — Pithy 
AND  Pointed — Breezy  and  Bright — Witty  and  Wise 
— Learned  and  Logical — Education,  Public  and  Pri- 
vate— The  Sam  Houston  Normal  Institute  Suggested 
for  the  First  Time — Other  Matters. 


jyi   R.     PRESIDENT,     Ladies     and     Gentlemen,     and 

—-—J       Teachers  of  Texas: 

)sS^  A  good  man  has  said,  "not  to  know  what  has  hap^ 

pened  before  I  was  born,  is  to  remain  always  a  child."  A 
greater  man  has  said,  "History  is  Philosophy  teaching  by  ex- 
ample." A  great  Philosopher  and  Theologian  has  said,  "His- 
tory is  God  teaching  by  example."  Then  if  we  would  not  all 
be  babes,  and  listen  to  the  teachings  of  History,  and  God  Him- 
self, we  ought  to  Mnderstand  History — not  only  history 
in  general,  but  as  teachers,  and  leaders  of  thought,  we 
ought  to  know  the  history  of  higher  education  in  our 
State.  I  know  there  is  a  thought,  a  general  impression, 
that  old  Texans  were  a  wild,  semi-savage  people,  who 
had  no  grand  thought,  no  grand  purpose,  and  that  they 
did  nothing,  planned  nothing  that  is  worthy  for  us  to  re- 
member. That  only  shows  that  we  have  fallen  into  the  second 
division;  for  not  to  know  the  men,  the  grandeur  of  their  souls, 
the  sublimity  of  their  purpose,  the  wisdom  of  their  plans — not 
to  know  this,  is  to  show  that  in  thought  we  are  children.  I 
am  here  to  show,  to  demonstrate  that  of  the  men  who  formed 
the  Constitution  of  the  old  Republic  of  Texas,  there  were  more 
college  men,  men  educated  in  colleges,  college  graduates,  than 


Dk.  Eufus  C.  Bukleson.  383 

ever  assembled  in  any  similar  convention  on  this  continent. 
IvTot  even  Massachusetts  excepted.  I  repeat  it — the  men  who 
formed  the  constitution,  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and 
the  Constitution  of  the  old  Republic  of  Texas  were  more  of 
them  college  men,  college  graduates,  than  ever  assembled  for 
any  similar  purpose  on  this  continent.  The  man  that  wrote 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  mapped  out  the  Con- 
stitution, George  C.  Childress,  was  a  graduate  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  ISTorth  Carolina.  That  grand  man  who  founded  the 
first  colony  and  was  the  ISTestor,  the  path-finder  that  opened  the 
way  for  civilization  in  this  country,  Stephen  F.  Austin,  was  a 
student  of  Transylvania  University.  Even  though  he  prided 
himself  in  letting  people  believe,  and  though  it  was  believed 
that  Sam  Houston  himself,  was  a  rought,  wild,  untutored,  half- 
savage  man,  without  any  means  of  knowledge  or  means  of  cuJ- 
ture,  yet  the  men  who  knew  him,  who  knew  his  secret  thougMs, 
knew  that  for  three  years  he  was  intimately  associated  with  Dr. 

Anderson,  President  of  College,  Tennessee,  and  at 

night  after  the  duties  of  his  clerkship  were  over,  he  would  go 
and  sit  down  by  that  grand  old  man,  that  grand  thinker,  who 
knew  how  to  interpret  thought,  how  to  guide  thought,  and  any 
man  who  was  intimate  with  Houston  long,  in  all  the  great  pur- 
poses of  life  would  hear  him  quote  Dr.  Anderson;  and  while 
he  was  not  in  the  college  list  he  had  really  a  better  college 
education  than  probably  nine-tenths  of  the  graduates  of  our 
country.  Anson  Jones  is  another,  and  Henry  Smith,  the  first 
governor,  a  school  teacher  by  profession,  was  a  college  grad- 
uate. 

When  teachers  go  into  politics  they  generally  make  a  bad 
failure,  but  Henry  Smith,  that  teacher,  wrote  the  first  declara- 
tion of  purposes  declaring  the  duty  of  Texas  to  form  a  Repub- 
lic, and  the  first  resolutions  ever  read  in  Brazoria  county  were 
written  by  him. 

But  these  men  were  not  only  educated  men,  but  they 
planned  for  education.  Scarcely  had  the  smoke  of  battle 
cleared  away  from  San  Jacinto,  scarcely  had  they  got  through 
driving  the  Mexicans  out  of  Texas  and  scaring  the  red  men 
from  the  frontier,  when  they  assembled  and  resolved  that 
Texas  should  have  a  grand  University,  and  they  donated  fifty 
leagues  (222,000  acres)  of  land  for  that  purpose.    They  met, 


384  The  Life  axd  Writings  of 

those  men,  there  without  money  enough  to  buy  sugar  to  put  in 
their  coffee,  and  many  of  them  with  brogans  and  unbhicked 
shoes  on,  yet  they  formed  the  plan  for  a  grand  University. 

Look  at  it  from  a  denominational  standpoint.  For  I  lay 
down  this  as  a  grand  principle — that  God  is  wise,  all  wise,  and 
that  he  never  expects,  never  intends,  to  achieve  any  great  end 
that  he  does  not  select  suitable  agencies;  and  every  Texan 
knows  that  this  is  to  be  the  grandest  State  that  the  sun  in  his 
long  journey  round  the  globe  looks  down  upon. 

When  Jesse  Mercer  in  1838  said :  "Texas  is  to  be  the 
grandest  State  on  this  continent  and  we  must  send  men  and 
women  there  to  take  and  plant  the  standard  of  the  cross  or  it 
will  be  like  a  millstone  on  the  moral  agencies  of  this  country." 
They  raised  $2500  to  start  the  mission,  and  that  sent  the  mis- 
sionary here  who  baptized  the  first  couple  ever  baptized  in  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico — -Gail  Borden  and  wife,  who  was  the  niece  of 
Jesse  Mercer.  And  not  only  Jesse  Mercer,  but  George  Pea- 
body  was  interested  in  our  great  State.  He  said :  "Dr. 
Sears,  at  your  age  I  want  you  to  canvass  but  one  State.  I 
want  you  to  look  well  to  the  great  State  of  Texas.  Found 
well  and  thoroughly,  a  system  of  public  free  schools.  I  give 
it  to  you  as  my  last  and  perchance  my  dying  charge."  Well, 
if  this  is  to  be  a  grand  State — and  all  know  this  to  be  its  des- 
tiny, and  as  the  good  Mercer  and  Peabody  said  it  would  be — 
would  not  God  select  grand  agents  to  prepare  it.  Why,  it 
would  be  an  impeachment  of  the  wisdom  of  the  Almighty  not 
to  understand  that  these  pathfinders  of  the  greatest  State  be- 
tween the  oceans  were  graifd  men.  They  were.  Look  at  it. 
The  Methodists,  who  were  the  pioneers  of  civilization  every- 
where on  the  Western  Continent,  in  1837  sent  Dr.  Martin, 
the  first  D.  D.  it  is  said  ever  made  on  this  continent,  to  Texas 
as  a  pathfinder,  to  lay  the  foundation  of  Methodism;  and  in 
1837,  one  year  after  the  battle  of  San  Jacinto,  he  came  in 
the  greatness  of  his  integrity  and  the  order  of  his  piety,  and 
the  first  thing  he  did  was  to  write  and  obtain  a  charter  for  the 
college  that  was  after  his  death  named  for  him,  and  in  that 
college  he  began  to  instruct  many  of  the  leading  men  of  Texas. 

In  the  strange  providence  of  God  he  died  but  his  work 
will  never,  never  die.  Three  years  later  a  man  came  to  Texas 
broken  in  health,  J.  B.  McKenizie,  who  had  been  a  circuit 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burlesox.  385 

rider  among  the  Choctaw  Indians.  He  had  been  educated  in 
one  of  the  leading  scliools  in  Tennessee.  Tiiat  grand  old 
leader  and  general,  for  he  was  a  general — a  great  many  men 
are  educated  but  not  generals — came  to  Texas,  believing,  a= 
Mercer,  Peabody,  and  all  the  leaders  did,  that  it  was  to  be  a 
glorious  State.  He  did  not  see  much  prospect,  and  went  out 
four  miles  south  of  Clarksville  and  opened  a  little  school. 
The  work  enlarged  upon  him,  enlarged  until  it  became 
McTvenzie  Institute,  McKenzie  College,  and  on  that  very  spot 
between  3,000  and  4,000  young  men  have  been  instructed, 
men  who  have  been  the  grand  men  of  Methodism,  the  banner 
bearers  of  the  great  ci\dlization  of  Texas. 

Well  the  Baptists,  they  sent  two  grand  men  that  old 
Jesse  Mercer  selected,  William  M.  Try  on  and  James  Huckins. 
They  came  and  gathered  a  little  feeble  flock  on  Clear  Creek. 
Of  course  you  can't  get  Baptists  far  from  where  there  is  much 
water.  In  1842  they  went  there  w^ith  only  six  hundred  of 
them  and  formed  an  educational  society  and  resolved  to  found 
a  great  university.  Think  of  six  hundred  men  starting  at  this 
and  having  to  keep  the  savages  off.  In  those  days  preachers 
went  armed,  not  only  in  Texas,  but  in  Georgia  and  the  other 
States.  In  Georgia  they  went  with  a  Bible  and  hymn  book 
in  one  hand,  and  in  the  other — no,  in  their  saddlebags — 
something,  I  am  ashamed  to  tell  what  it  was,  but  instead  of 
carrying  that  in  Texas  they  carried  in  the  other  saddlebag  a 
shot  gun.  Well,  some  of  them  may  have  been  like  one  old 
Hardshell.  They  said  to  him :  "Brother  Doodlee,  don't  you 
believe  that  everything  is  ordained,  and  that  it  will  be  just 
as  it  is  ordained  ?"  ''Yes."  "Then,  what  do  you  always  carry 
your  gun  for  ?  If  your  timje  has  not  come  the  Indians  can  not 
kill  you."  "Well,"  he  says,  "I  know  that  is  the  way,  that  my 
time  is  fixed,  but  now,  brother,  what  if  I  should  be  going  to 
a.n  appointment  and  meet  an  Indian  and  I  did  not  have  my 
gun,  and  his  time  had  come;  what  a  great  pity  that  would  be." 
So  these  brothers  who  carried  shot  guns  for  fear  they, might 
meet  an  Indian  whose  time  had  come  to  die,  met  on  Clear 
Creek  and  resolved  to  found  a  grand  university,  and  that  re- 
sulted in  the  founding  of  Baylor  University  four  years  after- 
wards.    It  has  gone  on  from  1846  to  1800  without  ever  slack- 

25 


386  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

ing  the  traces,  and  in  that  University  have  been  educated  be- 
tween five  and  six  thousand  young  men. 

Well,  this  is  the  beginning.  Other  denominations  acted 
wisely.  Dr.  Daniel  Baker,  a  worthy  compeer  of  Huckins, 
Tryon,  and  McKenzie,  came  and  said,  "What  is  the  matter 
with  you  Presbyterians?  The  Baptists  have  the  rich  lands 
where  there  is  much  water  and  we  do  think  the  Presbyterianis 
ought  to  have  the  cities  and  schools."  He  got  the  charter  for 
Austin  College,  located  first  at  Huntsville,  afterwards  at 
Sherman.  He  traversed  not  only  Texas,  but  this  continent, 
and  everywhere  he  stirred  up  the  sons  of  Calvin  to  act  in 
founding  a  great  University  in  the  Empire  State  of  the  world. 
And  the  Episcopalians,  under  the  leadership  of  my  dear  friend. 
Dr.  Charles  G.  Gillette,  founded  their  school  at  Anderson — 
St.  Paul's  College.  They  struggled  nobly,  but  circumstances 
of  an  untoward  character  occurred,  which  resulted  in  the  fail- 
ure of  their  effort.  But  these  were  the  early  movements.  I 
am  talking  about  the  early  history.  And  the  Cumberland 
Presbyterians  have  their  schools  and  colleges,  and  a  school  of 
which  any  people,  any  denomination,  might  be  proud.  I  have 
thus  briefly  given  an  outline  of  the  denominational  work  in 
the  State.  I  glory  in  the  State  University,  and  I  glory  in  our 
Agricultural  College,  and  our  N^ormal  School;  but  that 
agency  upon  which  three-fourths,  if  not  four-fifths  of  the 
youth  of  Texas  will  depend,  is  the  denominational  colleges, 
and  woe  be  the  day  when  there  shall  be  a  conflict,  a  collision 
between  State  institutions  and  denominational  colleges.  They 
ought  to  be  parts  of  one  perfect  whole,  and  hence  I  have  re- 
ferred to  the  work  of  the  denominations  in  the  early  history 
of  the  education  of  Texas. 

As  I  have  said  the  early  leaders  determined  in  1837  to 
have  a  grand  university  and  appropriated  fifty  leagues  of  land. 
In  1858  the  Legislature  of  Texas  set  apart  $100,000  in  State 
bonds,  derived  from  the  sale  of  Santa  Fe  territory,  to  the  Uni- 
versity fund.  In  1876  the  State  donated  1,000,000  acres  of 
land  more,  and  to-day  the  lands  unsold  amount  to  2,022,978 
acres;  in  State  bonds  $523,511 ;  land  notes  $106,810,  with  an 
actual  annual  income  of  $47,942 — a  sum  amply  sufiicient  to 
educate  a  thousand  young  men  and  young  ladies.  The  State 
University  has  been  inaugurated  and  in  active  operation,  and 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Bukleson".  387 

I  rejoice  to  say,  from  announcements  made  by  one  of  the  offi- 
cers, that  that  school  is  to-day  doing  a  noble  work,  and  I  wish 
it  God-speed  and  abundant  and  glorious  success. 

But  the  Agricultural  College  deserves  notice.  You  are 
aware  that  in  1862,  when  the  terrible  battle  of  Bull  Run,  the 
terrible  battles  of  the  Confederacy  were  being  fought,  the 
United  States  Assembly  appropriated  an  amount  of  land,  I 
believe  180,000  acres  to  each  state  to  found  an  agricultural 
college,  for  they  found,  as  all  educators  did,  that  there  was  a 
great  tendency  to  make  education  impracticable;  and  while  I 
never  had  a  particle  of  patience  with  this  idea  of  saying  every- 
thing must  be  utilitarian  in  the  sense  it  is  understood,  and  it 
was  a  fearful  mistake  that  cui  hono  was  not  written  on  nine- 
tents  of  the  curriculums  in  use.  But  some  went  to  the  other 
extreme,  and  the  agricultural  colleges  were  a  grand  desider- 
atum in  the  educational  wants  of  the  country,  and  the  State 
of  Texas  has  appropriated  until  this  institution  founded  near 
Bryan  at  College  Station  has  $225,000;  other  stock,  $35,000; 
permanent  fund  from  sale  of  United  States  educational  lands, 
$200,000.  Thus  our  Agricultural  College  is  upon  a  basis  and 
foundation  of  future  and  glorious  prosperity. 

Then  there  is  the  colored  college;  for  whoever  shall 
ignore  the  colored  man,  is  not  a  patriot,  or  if  so  he  is  fearfully 
misguided.  The  colored  man  is  here,  was  brought  here  in  the 
wise  providence  of  God  for  his  good ;  and  if  we  had  had  sense 
enough  to  have  taken  it  right,  and  like  Washington  and  Jef- 
ferson, accepted  the  fact  that  he  was  placed  here  for  his  chris- 
tianization  (he  is  to  be  christianized)  and  christianized  him, 
by  that  time  Stanley  would  have  discovered  that  immense 
country  and  sent  them  all  back  there,  but  we  have  defeated 
the  plan.  But  we  are  to  educate  the  colored  man;  we  are  to 
take  him  by  the  hand  and  help  him.  But  I  will  never  ask 
him  to  sit  down  at  my  table  or  to  come  to  see  my  daughter; 
never  in  the  world.  I  will  take  him  by  the  hand,  provide 
him  with  his  college,  and  help  to  educate  him.  You  will 
say,  "that  is  cheap  talk."  I  will  tell  you  what  I  did.  When 
in  ISTew  York  I  went  to  Judge  Jessup  and  said :  "We  want 
a  grand  college  for  teachers  and  preachers  of  the  colored  race. 
Can  not  you  give  us  $25,000  to  start  the  enterprise?"  He 
sat  down  and  figured  it  up,  and  said  I,  "if  you  will,  I  promise 


388  The  Life  aist>  Wkitixgs  of 

you  before  God  that  every  true  Texas  Baptist  will  see  that 
your  fund  is  not  squandered;"  and  after  a  few  weeks  he  said: 
"Wife  and  I  have  decided  to  give  $25,000  for  founding  a 
college  for  colored  education."  And  that  college  is  founded, 
and  whenever  I  have  heard  of  their  being  in  trouble — there 
are  grand  and  noble  men  at  Marshall,  men  who  can  be  relied 
upon — and  whenever  they  are  in  trouble,  I  don't  care  what 
evils,  what  mistakes  they  make,  I  have  seen  that  they  got  out 
of  that  trouble.  I  promised  Judge  Jessup  and  his  wife  that 
I  would  look  after  them.  And  1  ask  you,  Mr.  President,  and 
every  brother  and  sister  here  to  educate  the  colored  man  and 
get  him  wise  enough  and  good  enough  to  go  back  to  Africa 
and  civilize  that  country;  for  there  won't  be  room  enough 
for  him  in  this  country  Then  we  have  Prairie  View  College, 
Pisk  IJni^'ersity,  Tillotson  College,  and  this  is  what  we  are 
doing  for  the  colored  man,  and  let  us  push  on  and  press  on. 
Isow  I  come  to  Paul  Quin  College  at  Waco,  They  are  of  a 
different  denomination  but  educators  should  always  work 
together  and  should  all  go  the  same  road.  I  want  you  to  come, 
and  A\dll  not  insist  on  your  coming  into  the  water.  I  am  going 
certain,  and  if  you  want  to  take  less  water  in  yours,  why  come 
that  way;  but  for  the  glory  of  Texas  and  the  uplifting  of 
Texas  for  the  colored  man  let  us  stand  as  a  glorious  unit. 

When  Judge  Roberts  was  nominated  for  Governor  he 
wrote  me  a  letter  as  president  of  this  convention  (I  was  then 
president  of  the  meeting  at  Mexia),  and  he  said:  "Will  you 
call  a  convention  of  your  wisest  teachers  ?  I  want  the  wisest 
heads  and  the  most  comprehensive  brains  in  Texas  to  help  us 
in  recommending  a  school  law  for  Texas."  I  read  his  letter 
before  the  convention  of  school  teachers  in  Mexia,  and  accord- 
ingly we  assembled  there  and  wrote  out  a  report  like  school 
masters  often  do,  and  it  sounded  well;  would  have  sounded 
well  if  put  to  music,  and  if  it  had  been  played  and  sung  on 
water  it  would  have  sounded  beautifully.  I  did  not  know 
much  about  law,  and  do  not  now,  but  I  did  know  something 
about  a  system  of  public  schools,  for  I  had  gone  to  Boston  and 
Rhode  Island  and  almost  every  place  on  this  continent  where 
they  had  grand  free  schools  and  colleges;  and  I  said,  "Let  us 
call  in  the  lawyers  and  see  if  it  is  in  accordance  with  law." 
I  said,  "I  will  never  sign  my  name  to  that  document  unless  one 


Dr.  Kufus  C.  Burlesox.  389 

of  the  supreme  judges  or  the  attorney  general  comes  in  and 
says  it  is  according  to  law."  And  we  found  where  it  was  in 
conflict  with  about  eleven  points  of  the  Constitution.  I  am 
a  Democrat,  understand,  I  did  not  go  down  when  the  Democ- 
racy went  down  into  that  sour  mash,  but  I  will  stand  by  the 
edge  of  the  bucket  and  when  the  Democracy  comes  out  I  will 
be  there.  But  there  were  enough  mistakes  there  to  horn  oif 
the  free  school  in  about  eleven  dift'erent  ways.  There  was  not 
a  point  where  you  could  run  a  free  school  that  it  did  not 
horn  it.  We  saw  it.  Dr.  Sears  hung  down  his  head  and  says, 
''This  is  a  failure."  We  went  up  to  the  elegant  home  of  Mrs. 
Anderson,  where  we  staid,  and  he  said,  "This  is  my  third  trij) 
to  Texas  and  it  is  a  failure."  I  have  been  married  36  years, 
and  I  write  a  letter  to  my  wife  every  night  when  I  am  away 
from  home.  So  Dr.  Sears  laid  down,  and  I  went  to  write  to 
my  wife,  like  all  good  husbands  do,  for  I  tell  you  that  a  good 
husband  must  next  to  God  worship  his  wife,  and  you  good 
ladies  will  please  take  note  of  that,  for  of  course  it  is  a  mutual 
affair.  Well,  the  Doctor  was  lying  there  groaning,  and  I  said, 
"Doctor,  I  am  sorry  you  can  not  sleep,"  "Oh,"  he  says,  "it 
is  a  failure."  "Why,"  says  I,  "a  failure?  I  have  heard  you 
say,  and  your  old  president,  there  never  was  a  grand  thing 
that  there  was  not  seven  ways  to  do  it  if  you  were  smart  enough 
to  find  it  out."  "Well,"  he  said,  "what  way  is  there  to  do 
this?"  "Why,"  says  I,  "the  most  beautiful  way  you  ever 
thought  of."  That  was  midnight,  and  I  was  writing  to  my 
-^vife  and  he  was  groaning.  I  said,  ''If  we  had  a  million  dol- 
lars we  have  no  teachers  to  carry  the  schools  on  to-day — that 
is,  teachers  who  know  how  to  teach  school.  IS^ow,  we  will 
have  that  constitution  changed;  and  if  you  will  give  us 
$6,500,  Governor  Eoberts  will  give  $6,000,  and  we  will  found 
a  normal  school  and  prepare  teachers  for  Texas."  He  said, 
"Will  your  Governor  do  it?  He  is  not  heartily  in  favor  of 
a  free  school  system,  and  I  know  it,  but  he  is  a  grand  lawyer 
and  will  carry  out  the  constitution  or  die.  The  constitution 
says,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Legislature  to  inaugurate  an 
efficient  system  of  free  schools,  and  I  will  risk  my  life  on  Gov- 
ernor Roberts  carrying  out  that  very  thing."  He  raised  up 
and  said,  "Bless  God,  there  is  daylight  ahead." 

Right  there  in  the  hour  of  defeat,  the  hour  of  midnight, 
this  grand  normal  of  Texas  was  conceived.     T  saAV  the  Gover- 


390  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

nor  aud  it  was  all  right.  I  am  giving  history  just  as  modestly 
as  if  I  was  neither  here  nor  there.  Thus  we  organized  our 
denominational  schools,  our  State  University,  our  Agricul- 
tural school,  our  ISTormal  school,  and  our  teachers  convention, 
and  Texas  is  organizing  for  grand  work.  I  might  say  a  few 
sad  things  on  the  other  side  of  it.  Well,  now,  I  am  afraid 
this  will  spoil  it,  and  I  am  ashamed  of  this  part  of  it.  Do 
you  know  that  Baylor  University  is  the  only  college  now  in 
existence  and  I  am  the  only  living  man  that  was  reaching  in 
1851?  The  colleges  are  all  dead  and  the  teachers  are  all  dead. 
There  have  been  fifty-seven  colleges  chartered,  and  military 
schools,  great  brass  buttons  all  round  the  arms,  and  they  have 
passed  away  like  shadows  on  the  lake.  I  am  a  little  more 
ashamed  that  our  Baptist  brethren  have  wasted  $157,000, 
upon  a  grand  college  at  Benton,  Red  Sulphur  College  Insti- 
tute in  Tarrant  County.  We  have  a  grand  college  at  Ba.ylor 
and  $157,000  has  been  wasted;  and  how  much,  Brother 
McLean,  you  Methodists  have  wasted,  I  do  not  know.  I  hope 
you  have  been  wiser  than  we.  The  Episcopal  college  that 
friend  Gillette  organized  at  Anderson — and  they  boastfully 
said  that  St.  Paul's  College  would  turn  all  the  other  colleges 
into  village  academies,  that  the  wealth  and  intelligence  would 
flock  to  St.  Paul's — three  years  after  it  was  a  grand  stack  of 
fodder.  St.  Paul  had  departed  and  the  fodder  had  entered. 
I  could  tell  you  some  worse  things  than  that  on  the  Baptists. 
But  what  is  the  point  of  giving  this?  Why  these  mistakes? 
Alas !  alas !  we  never  counted  up  the  cost.  Why  when  Judge 
Baylor,  and  Judge  Horton  came  to  me  and  said,  "We  have 
elected  you  president  of  Baylor  University,  and  it  is  a  dreary 
prospect  just  now;  but  in  ten  years  you  can  build  it  up 
grandly,  and  you  will  have  nothing  to  do  through  your  life 
but  to  fold  your  arms  and  sit  down  and  live  at  ease."  I  looked 
at  them  to  see  if  they  were  trying  to  fool  me  or  were  fooling 
themselves.  They  did  not  count  up  the  cost.  I  could  give 
instances  of  how  we  toiled  and  fought.  Why  a  man  came  to 
Waco  and  representing  five  men  he  said,  "If  you  adopt  co- 
education we  will  break  you  up.  We  have  got  the  money 
and  the  men."  I  said,  "My  friend,  you  can't  break  me  up; 
and  all  I  ask  of  you  is,  when  you  fail  don't  get  mad,  just  come 
into  line  and  come  back."     And  they  got  their  school  and 


De.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  391 

their  teacher,  and  elegant  man  with  brass  buttons,  and  my 
brother  was  a  despondent  man,  and  said,  "Brother  Rufus,  we 
may  as  well  give  up;  we  can't  compete."  I  said,  "We  stand 
upon  the  eternal  rock."  And  in  three  years  there  was  not  a 
brass  button  or  a  stripe  there.  I  say  nothing  against  military 
colleges,  but  that  was  not  the  way  to  build  up  a  college. 

A  college  is  like  a  live  oak;  it  must  grow  and  grow,  and 
when  it  has  defied  the  storms  of  500  winters,  when  it  is  once 
established,  it  is  the  most  indestructible  thing  under  the  sun. 
If  the  State  of  Massachsusetts  were  to  grapple  with  Harvard, 
or  Rhode  Island  with  Brown  University,  the  State  would  go 
down  in  the  struggle.  And  if  to-day  the  State  of  Connecticut 
was  to  say,  we  will  Avipe  out  old  Yale,  Yale  would  wipe  out 
Connecticut.  And  the  college  is  established  and  it  takes  what  ? 
— a  lifetime !  Yes,  a  lifetime  to  lay  the  foundation  for  it. 
I  shall  begin  my  fortieth  annual  session  next  September,  and 
we  have  been  going  steadily  on.  Last  year  we  had  685  stu- 
dents, and  next  year,  by  the  help  of  God,  we  intend  to  have 
815,  and  here  is  a  head  that  is  always  thinking,  a  hand  that 
is  always  executing,  a  tongue  that  is  always  explaining.  I 
have  visited  and  preached  in  every  old  town  in  Texas  except 
Burksville,  and  I  am  going  there  before  the  summer  closes. 
And  this  is  what  it  takes  to  build  up  a  college,  and  if  you  are 
not  willing  to  pay  the  cost,  do  not  waste  your  money;  and 
when  you  have  built  it  up,  build  up  a  thing  of  glory  forever. 
I  have  seen  the  colleges  all  die,  seen  the  presidents  all  die — 
and  now,  if  it  is  the  will  of  God,  I  want  to  outlive  this  old  cen- 
tury, and  at  the  end  of  the  century  I  want  to  see  the  magnifi- 
cent building,  and  stand  upon  the  grand  tower  there,  and  if 
the  angel  chariots  will  meet  me  when  this  old  century  dies,  I 
am  willing  to  say,  "Come,  Lord  Jesus;  my  eyes  have  seen 
it."  And  then  I  have  only  laid  the  foundation,  and  other 
men,  wiser  and  better  men,  must  carry  it  on.  I  must  make 
one  other  point.  I  glory  in  every  institution  that  has  for  its 
end  education  in  Texas,  and  in  connection  with  this  is  another 
mistake.  Colleges  think  to  build  themselves  up  they  have 
got  to  tear  each  other  down.  That  is  one  of  the  terrible  mis- 
takes. God  is  my  judge  that  I  have  never  laid  the  weight  of 
that  little  finger  on  any  college  or  teacher  in  Texas,  but  you 
had  better  believe  I  am  going  to  build  up  what  has  been  left 


392 


The  Life  A^'D  "\Ykitixg3  of 


in  my  charge.  But  we  are  not  in  each  other's  way.  Brother 
McLean,  if  yon  have  1,000  stndents  help  me  to  get  1,500. 
There  are  to-day  6,000  young  men  and  women  in  Texas  who 
ought  to  be  in  the  Texas  colleges,  and  we  want  to  work  to- 
gether, to  encourage  each  other,  to  stand  by  each  other,  and 
if  you  fail,  try,  try  again.  If  you  are  pressed  to  the  earth  or 
ever  overwhelmed,  say  "God  is  overhead,"  and  glory  will 
follow. 


De.  Rufus  C  BuRLESo:jr.  1393 


CHAPTER  XLVI 


Peogeess  of  Educatiox  IX  Texas — Developmext  of  State 
IxsTiTi'Tioxs — De.  B.  Seaes'  Report  for  1879 — ESTAB- 

LISHMEXT    OF    StATE    UnIVEESITY CORXEE    StOXE    LaID 

XovEMBEE  17th,  1883 — Educatioxal  jMeasuees  Passed 
DuEixG  Gov.  Roberts'  AD^^rixiSTEATiox  - — -  Prairie 
View  Made  a  Braxch  of  the  Uxiversity — ^]\Iedical 
Uxiversity  at  Galyestox  Opexed  October  1st,  1891 
— Summer  Xormals — Value  of  School  Property — 
Charitable  Ixstitutioxs — Gexerosity  of  the  People 
IX  Payor  of  Educatiox". 

jHE  C'ulniinatiou  of  all  the  trials  and  coutiicts  of  Dr. 

Barnas  Sears,  Agent  of  the  Peabody  Eund,  and  Dr. 

Riifiis  C.  Burleson,  his  faithful  representative  and 
coadjutor  in  Texas  brieflj  recited  in  the  last  ten  chapters, 
forms  a  storv  of  much  value,  and  possesses  much  interest  to 
the  student  of  the  educational  history  of  Texas.  Some  other 
facts  will  be  merely  touched,  and  then  the  results  of  their 
labors  given. 

Dr.  Sears  in  his  report  to  the  Trustees  of  the  Peabody 
Eund  in  1879  says,  ''We  learn  from  a  special  paper  prepared 
by  the  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Education  dated  June  2d, 
1879,  that  the  expenses  of  this  Department  were  for  the  year 
1874,  $703,117;  for  1875,  $767,052;  for  1876,  the  office 
was  closed  and  there  was  no  report  but  they  were  not  less  than 
$500,000;  for  1877,  the  amount  paid  to  teachers  was 
$500,000;  for  1878,  it  was  $750,000.     Of  the  children  of  the 


394  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

State,  only  tkose  between  tlie  ages  of  eight  and  fourteen  were 
enumerated.  The  whole  number  is  194,353,  of  whom  149,- 
T19  are  white  and  44,636  colored.  There  were  enrolled  in  the 
public  schools  in  all  146,936.  Of  this  number  111,038  were 
white  and  35,898  were  colored. 

Since  the  opening  of  the  year  1879,  there  has  been  in  all 
Texas  a  constant  contention  in  regard  to  school  funds.  The 
general  assembly  at  its  last  session,  early  in  the  year,  passed 
a  law  making  very  liberal  provisions  for  schools.  The  Gover- 
nor vetoed  the  act  and  there  was  an  adjournment  leaving  the 
whole  question  of  finance  unsettled.  All  parties  plunged  into 
the  controversy.  The  men  who  secured  the  passage  of  the 
law  and  their  numerous  sympathizers  commented  on  the 
action  and  views  of  the  Governor  in  no  gentle  terms.  The 
supporters  of  the  veto  pleaded  the  financial  embarrassment 
of  the  State,  and  the  prior  claims  of  its  creditors,  and  those  of 
the  Departments  of  the  Government  for  their  expenses.  A 
third  party  smaller  in  numbers,  but  louder  in  utterance,  de- 
nounced the  whole  theory  of  public  education  as  unwise  and 
unjust.  A  special  session  of  the  Assembly  was  called,  and  the 
Governor  in  several  messages,  explained  his  view  more  fully, 
and  endeavored  to  correct  the  impression  that  he  was  not 
friendly  to  free  schools,  adding  that  the  existing  schools  were 
of  little  value,  and  that  they  could  not  be  much  improved 
until  the  l^ormal  Schools  should  train  a  better  class  of  teach- 
ers. The  advocates  of  the  bill  that  was  vetoed  argued  that  the 
constitution  was  mandatory,  making  it  the  duty  of  the  Leg- 
islature to  maintain  an  efficient  system  of  free  schools,  and 
that  the  pressing  necessities  of  the  people  in  regard  to  the  edu- 
cation of  their  children,  the  swelling  tide  of  immigration  of 
mixed  races,  the  dangers  of  barbarism,  and  the  immense  un- 
developed natural  resources  of  the  State,  rendered  it  doubly 
unwise  and  unjustifiable  to  evade  the  plain  meaning  of  the 
constitution. 

The  present  school  law  is  indeed  defective,  and  most  of 
the  public  schools,  except  those  of  a  few  cities,  are  of  an  in- 
ferior character.  Of  those  who  claim  to  be  friendly  to  free 
schools,  one  party  admitting  the  imperfections  of  the  law, 
desired,  nevertheless,  to  work  under  it  as  best  they  might  till 
they  could  improve  it;    the  opposite  party  objected  to  this 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Bukleson.  395 

course  as  a  waste  of  the  public  money,  and  insisted  on  waiting 
till  a  better  system  could  be  devised  and  put  in  operation. 

After  a  severe  and  protracted  struggle  the  party  lead  by 
the  Governor  prevailed,  and  only*  one-sixth  of  the  general  rev- 
enue, instead  of  one-fourth,  was  appropriated  to  schools. 

The  most  hopeful  step  that  was  taken  by  the  Legislature 
at  its  regular  session,  was  that  of  establishing  two  jSTormal 
schools,  one  for  each  race.  I  visited  the  State  last  winter,  and 
after  many  interviews  with  leading  men,  proposed  to  the  Leg- 
islature, through  the  Governor,  to  make  a  donation  of  $6,000, 
to  be  continued  during  the  pleasure  of  this  Board,  if  the  State 
would  establish  and  maintain  a  first-class  N^ormal  school.  The 
Governor  advocated  the  measure  in  a  special  message,  and  a 
law  to  that  eifect  was  accordingly  passed,  making  an  annual 
appropriation  of  $14,000.  The  location  of  the  school  was 
fixed  at  Huntsville.  There  has  been  some  objection  made  to 
the  location,  yet  as  an  offer  of  its  college  building  was  mada 
free  of  charge,  it  was  accepted.  But  for  this  offer  the  bill 
might  not  have  passed.  Provision  is  made  for  paying  all  the 
expenses  of  seventy-four  State  pupils.  The  colored  Normal 
school,  established  at  the  same  time,  is  to  be  at  Prairie  View, 
with  an  annual  appropriation  of  $6,000,  and  a  given  number 
of  scholarships. 

In  a  message  to  the  Legislature  at  its  special  session,  the 
Governor  expressed  his  views  respecting  IsTormal  schools  in  the 
following  manner : 

"The  importance  of  these  Normal  schools  as  a  necessary 
incident  to  an  efficient  system  of  public  free  schools  in  this 
State,  can  not,  as  I  believe,  be  well  over-estimated.  They  are 
simply  indispensable  in  the  effort  gradually  to  attain  that  de- 
sirable object.  ISTo  efficient  system  can  ever  be  attained  in 
Texas,  whatever  else  may  be  done,  without  the  aid  of  Normal 
schools.  I  regard  it  as  the  first  step  in  the  right  direction, 
which,  if  persisted  in,  will,  above  all  else,  to  the  extent  of  its 
expenses,  aid  in  the  consummation  of  the  final  success  of  the 
undertaking  to  establish  a  system." 

The  foregoing  is  the  last  report  but  one  from  the  lamented 
Dr.  Sears.  In  February,  1880,  his  report  is  brief  and  relates 
exclusively  to  the  successful  establishment  of  the  Sam  Hous- 
ton Normal  Institute  at  Huntsville. 


39 G  The  Life  aj^d  AVkitixgs  of 

i)r.  Bariias  Sears  died  at  Saratoga,  July  0,  1880,  after  a 
brief  illness.  He  M'as  a  great  and  good  man  and  was  cut  down 
in  the  midst  of  his  usefulness. 

At  the  regular  meeting  of  the  Trustees  in  February, 
1881,  Dr.  J.  L.  M.  Cuitv  Avas  unanimously  chosen  General 
Agent  of  the  Peabody  Fund,  Avho  ably  and  conscientiously  con- 
tinued to  work  for  his  predecessor.  Dr.  Curry,  who  is  a  Bap- 
tist minister,  was  United  States  Embassador  to  Spain  during 
Cleveland's  lirst  administration,  and  has  few  superiors  as  an 
author  and  scholar. 

Governor  Eoberts'  A^eto  of  the  Appropriation  Bill"  of- 
fered by  the  Sixteenth  Legislature  has  been  sufficiently  A^en- 
tilated  as  it' regards  the  subject  of  free  schools.  ''Pay  as  you 
go"  became  the  popular  motto  of  his  administration.  The 
usual  plans  Avere  resorted  to  by  ambitious  politicians  to  arouse 
an  opposition  to  his  re-nomination  in  1880,  principally  through 
garbled  extracts  from  his  veto  message  Avith  reference  to  pub- 
lic free  schools.  GoA-ernor  Roberts  Avas  easily  nominated  on 
the  first  ballot.     His  second  term  began  January  11,  1881. 

Early  in  the  Legislative  session  of  1881,  the  committee 
appointed  by  the  State  Teachers'  Association,  of  Avliich  Dr. 
O.  H.  Cooper  Avas  chairman,  presented  an  able  memorial  to 
the  GoA?-ernor  for  the  establishment  of  the  '"LTniA^ersity  of 
Texas,"  AA-hich  Avas  transmitted  by  him  to  the  Legislature  Avith 
his  message  on  education.  "The  act  to  establish  the  Univer- 
sity of  Texas  Avas  passed  by  the  Legislature  as  stated  and  ap- 
proA^ed  March  30,  1881.  It  proA^ided  for  the  manner  of  its 
location,  and  generally  for  its  government  and  regulation,  and 
that  its  institution  might  not  be  delayed,  another  act  Avas 
passed  and  approAxd  April  1,  1881,  proA'iding  for  the  appoint- 
ment by  the  Governor,  Avith  the  consent  of  the  Senate,  of  a 
Board  of  Regents,  to  be  chosen  from  the  different  parts  of  the 
State.  "The  attempt  had  been  made  in  1858,  under  GoA^er- 
nor  Pease,  to  inaugurate  this  institution,  but  the  Avar  and  its 
distressing  accompaniments  liad  postponed  the  great  Avork 
nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century." 

"Among  the  important  economic  changes  adopted  by  the 
State  in  remedying  the  expensiA^e  school  system  instituted  dur- 
ing the  "period  of  reconstruction,"  AA'as  one  recommended  by 
Governor  Roberts,  classifying  the  teachers  into  several  grades 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Buklesox.  397 

so  that  great  saving  was  effected  in  the  salaries,  instead  of  pay- 
ing the  teachers  all  alike.  The  prices  of  sale  of  the  public 
lands  were  reduced  and  various  measures  were  taken  for  the 
more  rapid  disposition  of  them  to  produce  greater  funds  for  the 
support  of  the  free  schools  and  establishment  of  the  University. 
What  was  known  as  the  ''fiftv  cent's  -act,"  reducing  the  price 
of  the  public  lands  to  that  figure,  was  suggested  ht  Governor 
Roberts. 

The  location  of  the  Academic  and  Law  Departments  of 
the  University  was  established  at  Austin  and  the  Medical 
branch  at  Galveston  by  a  vote  of  the  people.  Austin  was  also 
chosen,  as  the  law  required,  for  the  branch  for  the  education 
of  the  colored  youth  of  the  State.  The  Agricultural  and  ]\fe- 
chanical  College  at  Bryan  had  already  been  designated  in  the 
Constitution  as  a  branch  of  the  Universit3^  The  Twenty- 
third  Legislature  of  1891  also  made  Prairie  Yiew  College  a 
branch  of  the  University. 

The  Academic  and  Law  Departments  having  been  pre- 
viously organized,  the  University  was  formally  opened  in  the 
•main  building  September  15,  1883.  The  University  is  con- 
ducted on  the  simple  co-educational  plan  which  admits  stu- 
dents of  both  sexes  on  equal  terms.  A  popular  provision  has 
been  adopted  for  correlating  the  University  with  the  public 
schools  by  admitting  graduates  of  the  school  without  special 
examination  at  the  University  when  the  applicants  are  from 
approved  schools.  This  action  had  a  tendency  to  better  feel- 
ing between  the  friends  of  the  free  school  and  the  L^niversity." 
(Lane.) 

"The  inauguration  of  the  Medical  College  at  Galveston, 
as  a  branch  of  the  University  is  the  result  of  liberality  on  the 
part  of  citizens  of  Galveston,  and  of  the  city  authorities  in 
co-operation  with  the  action  of  the  State,  whereby  the  Medical 
Department  has  not  only  been  put  into  operation  sooner  than 
it  otherwise  would  have  been,  but  the  University  has  secured 
an  elegant  property,  known  as  the  "John  Sealy  Hospital." 
The  conditions  proposed  were  accepted  on  the  part  of  the  State, 
and  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Legislature,  in  1889,  Galveston 
offered  to  donate  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  upon  the  further 
condition  that  the  State  would  appropriate  a  like  amount  for 
the  purposes  of  the  institution,  wliicli  proposition  was  accepted, 


398  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

and  all  that  the  terms  required  was  consummated.  The  first 
annual  session  of  the  college  began  October  1,  1891. 

An  act  of  the  Legislature  in  1876,  entitled  ''An  Act  to 
Establish  an  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College  for  Colored 
Youths,"  and  twenty  thousand  dollars  was  appropriated  for  the 
purpose.  It  was  located  in  Waller  County,  where  a  site  with 
suitable  agricultural  lands  was  purchased.  As  the  patronage 
it  received  did  not  warrant  its  being  maintained  as  a  school 
of  industrial  training,  it  was  converted  into  a  State  Normal 
to  meet  the  demand  for  trained  colored  teachers.  Its  indus- 
trial features  have  since  been  restored  and  the  Legislature  of 
1891  constituted  Prairie  View  College  a  branch  of  the  Univer- 
sity. The  College  receives  direct  appropriations  from  the 
State  and  gets  annually  one-fourth  of  the  Congressional  pro- 
vision of  $15,000  for  the  Agricultural  Experiment  Station  in 
Texas.  Students  of  both  sexes  are  admitted  to  the  school. 
As  a  ISTormal  school  it  has  been  very  successful. 

Summer  ISTormals  are  a  feature  in  the  educational  system 
of  the  State,  and  they  render  valuable  assistance  to  teachers. 
They  are  located  and  the  conductors  of  them  are  appointed  by 
the  State  Superintendent  of  Instruction. 

Formally  the  State  made  appropriations  for  the  support 
of  Summer  ISTormal  schools  for  the  benefit  of  teachers  and 
others,  but  the  appropriations  were  eventually  discontinued, 
and  they  and  teachers  institutes  are  held  in  such  cities  and 
towns  as  provided  for  them. 

1^0  statistics  have  been  compiled  from  which  to  ascertain 
the  total  value  of  public  and  private  school  property  in  Texas, 
but  it  must  amount  in  the  aggregate  to  many  millions  of  dol- 
lars. Baylor  Universiy  and  many  of  the  denominational  col- 
leges own  valuable  buildings  and  other  property,  and  possibly 
altogether  the  school  property  of  the  State  represents  an  in- 
vestment of  $20,000,000.  Many  city  school  buildings  are 
expensive  structures  and  are  now  found  in  almost  every  town 
of  any  si.ze  and  importance  in  the  State. 

In  addition  to  the  State  educational  institutions  already 
cited,  eleemosynary  and  charitable  institutions,  public  and 
private,  possess  an  educational  feature,  and  are  conducted  most 
liberally  and  in  the  most  perfect  manner. 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  399 

In  concluding  the  eniimeration  of  the  educational  fea- 
tures of  Texas  the  newspaper  is  a  factor  which  can  not  be 
justly  ignored.  As  disseminators  of  knowledge,  as  agents  for 
moulding  public  opinion,  arresting  crime  and  the  spread  of 
intelligence  their  value  could  scarcely  be  overestimated.  The 
prostitution  of  this  medium  of  intelligence  to  subserve  sordid 
and  unworthy  purposes,  as  has  been  done  in  some  instances  in 
the  State,  by  those  who  conduct  them,  should  forever  entail 
on  the  offender  the  odium  merited  by  the  offense.  The  Press 
is  a  powerful  projector  for  good  or  evil  according  to  the  dispo- 
sition of  those  who  are  in  control.  Texas  owes  much  to  her 
newspapers,  and  especially  to  those  that  were  established  early 
in  its  history,  and  struggled  for  life  during  the  adverse  condi- 
tions which  encompassed  her  infancy  and  youth,  because  they 
did  much  to  hasten  the  day  of  her  deliverance  from  Mexican 
depotism. 

This  reference  to  newspapers,  and  placing  them  in  the 
category  of  educational  enterprises,  is  made  for  the  reason  that 
Dr.  Burleson  was  a  sincere  friend  of  the  Press,  and  believed 
in  its  potency  and  power.  The  young  men  in  Baylor  were  en- 
couraged to  establish  college  journals,  as  a  means  of  mental 
training. 

Having  now  concluded  an  enumeration  of  all  the  institu- 
tions of  Texas  possessing  an  educational  feature,  a  brief  recap- 
itulation will  explain  the  plan  we  have  had  in  contemplation 
throughout  the  story. 

We  have  viewed  Texas  as  a  wild  Avilderness  inhabited  by 
a  rude  and  savage  people.  We  have'  witnessed  the  desires  and 
struggles  of  the  early  settlers  to  encourage  education,  both  the 
founders  of  Baylor  University,  and  the  friends  of  public 
schools.  We  have  seen  how  by  means  of  law,  under  the  fos- 
tering care  of  the  government  enterprises  launched  resulting 
in  failure;  and  then  noticed  the  more  successful  efforts  of  the 
colonists  to  foster  schools  amid  the  dangers  of  frontier  life.  We 
have  observed  school  enterprises  under  five  governments  and 
collected  the  record  of  their  demands  for  the  education  of 
their  children. 

In  some  instances  the  liberality  of  the  people  was  carried 
to  an  extreme,  and  in  both  public  and  private  enterprises 
amounted  to  prodigality.     Texas  has  donated  nearly  all  its 


400  The  Life  axd  AVkitixgs  of 

splendid  pidjlic  doniaiu,  to  the  value  of  untold  millions  to  the 
education  of  its  children.  Xo^yhere  more  than  in  Texas  has 
the  M'ovld  witnessed  such  devotion  to  knowledge  and  educa- 
tion. 

In  all  the  campaigns  made  in  Texas  from  1848  to  1901 
for  better  educational  facilities,  Dr.  Burleson  has  been  a  con- 
spicuous figure.  He  was  among  the  first  to  take  the  field  in  ad- 
vocacy of  a  system  of  common  schools. 

By  reference  to  his  first  report  as  Lecturer  for  the  Pea- 
body  Fund  it  may  be  ascertained  that  he  was  the  first  to  recom- 
mend the  holding  of  teachers  institutes  by  the  teachers  of  Gral- 
veston  and  they  have  continued  since  to  grow  in  favor.  With 
the  members  of  the  profession. 

He  was  among  the  first  to  insist  on  the  enforcement  of 
that  clause  in  the  State  constitution  providing  for  the  Univer- 
sity of  Texas. 

He  was  the  first  teacher  in  Texas  to  suggest  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  jSTormal  Institute  in  which  to  train  teachers. 

It  is  to  Dr.  Burleson's  credit,  that  the  present  free  scliool 
system  of  the  State,  the  system  of  holding  teachers  institutes, 
the  Sam  Houston  ]!*^ormal  Institute  at  Huntsville,  and  the 
State  University  at  Austin,  are  all  largely  the  result  of  his 
earnest  work  and  love  for  education  in  its  broadest  sense.  All 
of  this  service  he  performed  while  President  of  Baylor  Uni- 
versity, and  that  he  did  so  without  neglecting  his  official  duties, 
shows  his  wonderful  capacity  for  work. 

One  other  statement,  and  letter  will  show  the  breadth  of 
Dr.  Burleson's  interest  in  the  cause  of  education.  He  was 
President  of  a  denominational  school,  but  felt  the  keenest  in- 
terest in  the  schools  of  all  other  churches,  and  rendered  them 
aid  and  encouragement,  rather  than  treating  them  as  competi- 
tors and  rivals,  as  the  following  communication  will  show : 

Add-Ran  Christian"  Univeesity, 

Hekmoson,  Texas,  l^ov.  24th,  1900. 

Pr.  R.  C.  Burleson,  Waco,  Texas: 

Honored  Sir: — I  am  told  that  Add-Ran  has  heretofore 
bad  the  pleasure  and  honor  of  your  presence  on  all  public 
occasions  of  special  interest.    I  take  this  means  of  assuring  you 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burlesoa'. 


401 


of  our  hearty  appreciation  of  your  interest  in  our  welfare,  and 
in  behalf  of  Add-Ran  Christian  University.  I  cordially  invite 
you  to  be  with  us  on  Thanksgiving  day.  Our  program  con- 
sists of  a  Thanksgiving  service,  dinner,  and  dedication  of  our 
new  building  at  3  :30  p.  m. 

Most  respectfully  and  cordially  yours, 

E.  C.  S^OW, 
Chairman  Faculty. 


26 


402  The  Life  axd  Wettings  of 


CHAPTER  XLVII. 


Resolution  of  the  East  Texas  Convention  October  12Tir, 
1867 — Organization  of  the  Baptist  General  Asso- 
ciation of  Texas  July  17th,  1868 — Gen.  James  E. 
Harrison,  of  Waco,  Elected  President — R.  C.  Burle- 
son, Corresponding  Secretary  —  Gen.  Joseph  W. 
Speight,  Chairman  of  Committee  to  REiiODEL  Consti- 
tution— Dr.  Burleson  Moves  to  Send  Fraternal 
Delegates  to  State  Convention  —  Dr.  Burleson 
Elected  Corresponding  Secretary  for  the  Fourth 
Time. 


r\  1^  the  12tli  of  October,  1867,  the  Baptist  Convention 
frmrS  of  East  Texas,  assembled  in  a  special  session  in 
f^fil  Tyler,  at  which  time  a  resolution  was  Introduced, 
debated  and  adopted,  changing  the  name  of  that  body  to  the 
Baptist  General  Association  of  Texas.  The  matter  had  been 
previously  canvassed  among  the  churches,  associations  and 
individuals  composing  the  East  Texas  Convention,  and  the 
question  predetermined.  The  adoption  of  the  resolution  was 
merely  pro  forma. 

The  East  Texas  Convention  had  confined  its  operations 
entirely  to  the  Eastern  portion  of  the  State,  and  the  reason  for 
making  this  change  in  the  designation  of  the  convention,  was 
to  give  the  body  a  name  of  more  general  significance,  that  it 
might  with  unquestioned  propriety,  enlarge  the  scope  of  its 
activities. 

The  State  convention  was,  and  had  been  from  the  date 
of  its  formation  in  1848,  extending  fostering  care  over  Baylor 


Dr.  E.UFUS  C.  Burleson.  403 

University  at  Independence,  and  the  real  reason  for  changing 
the  name  of  the  East  Texas  Convention,  and  extending  the 
area  of  its  jurisdiction,  was  that  it  might  include  the  territory 
of  Waco  Association,  which  would  give  the  new  body  the 
undisputed  right  to  foster  Waco  University,  and  assume  all 
the  authority  over  it,  that  the  genius  of  Baptist  Ecclesiasticism 
would  allow.  The  data  and  facts  to  hand  does  not  justify  this 
statement,  but  speaking  from  behind  the  scenes  for  a  moment, 
it  can  be  safely  asserted,  that  Dr.  R.  C.  Burleson  was  largely 
instrumental  in  inducing  the  East  Texas  Convention  to  prac- 
tically dissolve,  and  surrender  the  situation  to  the  new  organi- 
zation. 

The  Baptist  General  Association  of  Texas,  held  its  first 
annual  session  at  Chatfield,  JSTavarro  county,  July  17,  1868. 
General  James  E.  Harrison,  of  Waco,  was  elected  President; 
W.  B.  Eeatherstone,  W.  C.  Buck  and  E.  C.  Burleson,  Vice- 
Presidents;  Prof.  J.  T.  Hand,  Recording  Secretary,  and  Gen- 
eral Joseph  W.  Speight,  Treasurer.  Very  few  religious  bodies 
have  ever  been  launched  with  a  more  distinguished  corps  of 
ofiicials. 

Dr.  Burleson  expressed  a  preference  for  the  position  of 
Corresponding  Secretary,  a  position  he  filled  as  we  have  seen 
in  the  State  Convention.  He  therefore  tendered  his  resigna- 
tion as  Vice-President,  W.  G.  Caperton  was  chosen  to  fill  the 
vacancy,  and  Dr.  Burleson  unanimously  elected  to  the  i)osi- 
tion  for  which  he  had  expressed  some  preference.  He  was 
made  chairman  of  a  committee,  with  General  Joseph  W. 
Speight,  W.  B.. Eeatherstone,  W.  C.  Buck  and  W.  L.  Foster 
as  associates,  to  revise  and  remodel  the  constitution  so  as  to 
make  it  provide  more  fully,  for  the  enlarged  territory,  in- 
creased demands,  greater  operations  and  new  interests  and 
enterprises  of  the  body. 

This  committee  prepared  and  presented  a  constitution, 
using  the  constitution  of  the  erstwhile  East  Texas  Conven- 
tion, as  a  basis,  which  was  a  substantial  reproduction  of  the 
constitution  of  the  old  State  Convention.  It  stated:  "This 
body  shall  be  called,  The  Baptist  General  Association  of 
Texas." 


404  The  Life  and  Wkitings  of 

"The  objects  of  this  association  shall  be  Missionary  and 
Educational,  the  promotion  of  harmony  of  feeling,  concert  of 
action  among  Baptists,  and  a  system  of  operative  measures 
for  the  promotion  of  the  Eedeemer's  Kingdom." 

"This  Association  shall  be  composed  of  messengers  chosen 
annually  by  Baptist  churches,  not  exceeding  two  from  any  one 
church,  and  by  associations,  not  exceeding  four  from  any  one 
association,  and  one  additional  messenger  from  every  church 
that  shall  contribute  $10  annually,  and  one  additional  mess- 
enger for  every  $20  contributed  annually  by  any  association, 
and  such  members  of  Baptist  churches  as  shall  contribute 
annually  the  sum  of  $5." 

The  constitution  goes  on  to  re-affirm  the  principle  of 
church  sovereignty,  so  tenaciously  clung  to  by  the  Baptists 
of  the  world,  from  the  time  Paul  declared  it  to  be  "the  ground 
and  pillar  of  the  Truth." 

Section  1,  Article  III.,  of  the  constitution  says:  "This 
association  shall  never  possess  a  single  attribute  of  power  or 
authority  over  any  church,  or  association  of  churches;  but  it 
disclaims  absolutely  any  right  of  this  kind,  or  any  other 
ecclesiastical  authority,  hereby  avowing  that  every  church  is 
sovereign  and  independent." 

The  constitution  offered  by  the  committee  having  been 
adopted,  the  association  was  now  in  the  field  for  Divine  and 
denominational  favor.  To  assure  the  friends  and  constituency 
of  the  convention,  that  the  spirit  of  the  association  was  not 
antagonistic,  but  fraternal,  the  following  resolution  was 
adopted : 

"Besolved,  That  the  following  messengers  be  appointed 
to  the  Baptist  State  Convention :  J.  Beall,  W.  A.  Dunklin, 
M.  B.  Hardin,  R.  C.  Buckner,  J.  B.  Link,  and  that  they  be 
instructed  to  assure  our  dear  brethren  of  our  highest  Christian 
regard,  and  our  desire  to  be  co-laborers  with  them,  in  the  gre^t 
work  of  promoting  our  Redeemer's  Kingdom  in  Texas. 
"Respectfully  submitted, 

"R.  C.  BURLESON." 

The  extent  and  condition  of  the  territory  to  be  covered 
by  the  General  Association,  and  the  leading  objects  to  which 
its  energies  and  resources  would  be  devoted,  are  stated  in  a 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  405 

most  interesting  way  by  Kev.  R.  C.  Buckner,  in  a  report  on 
Home  Missions,  and  Rev.  M.  B.  Hardin  in  a  report  on  Educa- 
tion. 

To  say  that  the  General  xVssociation  prospered  beyond 
the  expectations  of  those  who  projected  it,  would  not  prehaps 
be  a  correct  statement,  because  great  things  were  planned  and 
great  results  were  expected.  But  that  its  growth  was  rapid 
cannot  be  doubted.  At  the  first  session  there  were  eighteen 
churches  represented.  At  the  second  session  held  in  Tyler, 
July  23,  1869,  thirty-eight  churches  and  eleven  district  asso- 
ciations sent  delegates  to  the  meeting. 

Rev.  Thomas  F.  Lockett,  chairman  of  the  committee  on 
Education,  made  this  reference  to  Waco  University  in  his 
report : 

"Waco  University,  a  regular  chartered  Institution,  under 
the  Presidency  of  Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson,  has  been  in  success- 
ful operation  for  about  nine  years,  sending  forth  its  graduates 
to  take  their  places  among  the  great  Baptist  family  of  Texas. 
This  Institution  is  now  putting  forth  efforts,  through  its 
Financial  Agent,  to  place  itself  with  the  very  best  Institutions 
of  our  land.  We  cordially  recommend  it  to  the  sympathies 
and  support  of  our  churches  and  brethren." 

Corresponding  Secretary  Burleson,  presented  and  re- 
viewed the  work  of  the  year,  and  made  suggestions  for  future 
operations. 

Dr.  Burleson  was  re-elected  Corresponding  Secretary  at 
this  session  and  also  at  the  sessions  held  in  Paris  July  22,  1870, 
and  Fairfield  in  1871.  Here,  Waco  University,  and  the 
cause  of  higher  education  in  Texas,  received  a  large  share  of 
attention  from  the  association. 

Dr.  Burleson  was  re-elected  Corresponding  Secretary  at 
the  annual  session  of  the  Association  held  at  Rowlets  Creek, 
July  26,  1872.  In  his  report  for  this  year,  he  deplores  the 
fact  that  the  operations  of  the  body  had  not  been  so  successful, 
or  actively  prosecuted  as  they  deserved  to  be,  notwithstanding 
which,  the  churches  already  established,  and  the  cause  in  gen- 
eral, was  flourishing. 

"Your  Corresponding  Secretary  has  received  important 
communications  from  the  Home  Mission  Board,  at  Marion, 


406 


The  Life  and  "Wkitixgs  of 


Alabama,  and  from  the  Foreign  Mission  Board,  at  Riclimond, 
Virginia.  Texas  Baptists  have  received  over  $30,000  from 
the  Southern  Baptist  Convention  in  their  early  struggles,  and 
we  should  now  show  our  gratitude,  by  fully  co-operating  with 
her  Boards,  in  their  glorious  work.  We  would  call  especial 
attention  to  Missions  in  Home,  which  is  worthy  of  our  sup- 
port.'' 

He  then  proceeds  in  a  gladsome,  joyous  strain  to  sum  up 
the  situation : 

"Dear  Beetiiken  : — Our  Savior  has  blessed  us  with 
ample  means,  to  respond  to  all  these  calls." 

"ISTever  have  our  fields  yielded  such  abundant  increase; 
never  have  our  churches  been  blessed  with  greater  revivals; 
never  have  our  District  Associations  been  more  -successful  in 
their  Mission  work;  nei^er  have  our  Institutions  of  learning 
been  so  prosperous." 

Concluding,  he  remarks  with  that  confidence  born  of  a 
broad  purpose,  and  a  willingness  to  work : 

"All  that  is  now  wanting  is,  for  the  General  Association 
to  do  her  duty,  and  the  desert  shall  blossom  as  the  rose." 


Dr.  Eufus  C.  Burleson.  407 


CHAPTER  XLVIII. 


Growth  of  the  Gea^eral  Association — Dr.  Burleson 
Elected  President  at  Jefferson  July  25th,  1873 — 
Re-elected  at  Dallas,  1874;  Sherman,  1875;  Waco, 
1876;  Paris,  1877;  Fort  Worth,  1878;  Pittsburg, 
1879 — Served  the  Association  as  Corresponding 
Secretary  and  President  Eleven  Consecutive  Years 
— Movement  to  Establish  Organic  Connection  Be- 
tween General  Association  and  Waco  University — 
The  Pott's  Besolution — Movement  Consumated  at 
Sulphur  Springs  in  1882 — A  Sketch  of  the  Con- 
solidation Movement  Resulting  in  the  Union  of  all 
the  General  Baptist  Conventions  in  the  State. 


MULTITUDE  of  great  Baptist  preachers,  and  cUs- 
tingiiislied  laymen  contributed  of  tlieir  wisdom  and 
work,  to  the  phenomenal  growth  and  strength  of  the 
Baptist  General  Association  of  Texas,  during  its  brief  but 
vigorous  existence  of  seventeen  years.  The  reports  of  the 
various  committees  on  the  various  departments  of  work  are 
literary  productions  of  a  high  order  of  excellence,  and  are 
worthy  of  being  placed  in  more  enduring  form  and  being  pre- 
served forever.  It  would  be  delightful  to  perform  this  task 
now,  and  give  just  and  merited  recognition  to  the  noble  hosts, 
who  made  this  short  but  glorious  chapter  in  the  history  of 
Texas  Baptists. 

"Oh!  your  merit  speaks  loud;  and 'tis  wrong- 
To  lock  it  in  the  wards  of  covert  bosom; 
When  it  deserves,  with  characters  of  brass, 
A  forted  residence  'gainst  the  tooth  of  time, 
And  razure  of  obUvion." 


408  ■       The  Life  and  Writings  of 

This,  however,  would  be  entirely  beyond  the  scope  of  this 
work,  and  only  such  men  and  measures  are  noticed,  as  touch 
him,  the  story  of  whose  life  we  are  telling. 

Dr.  Burleson  was  elected  President  of  the  General  Asso- 
ciation at  the  annual  session  held  in  Jefferson,  July  25,  1873, 
and  re-elected  for  seven  consecutive  years;  namely:  At 
Dallas,  July  24,  1874;  Sherman,  July  23,  1875;  Waco,  July 
20,  1876;  Paris,  July  20,  1877;  Fort  Worth,  July  26,  1878; 
and  Pittsbui-g,  July  25,  1879.  After  this  session,  while  he 
continued  to  attend  the  annual  meetings,  he  was  not  an  officer 
of  the  body.  His  official  connection  with  the  association 
embraced  a  period  of  eleven  consecutive  years.  It  is  a  fact 
deserving  mention,  that  his  official  connection  with  the  General 
Association  was  almost  an  exact  reproduction  of  his  official 
capacity  mth  the  old  State  Convention,  the  only  difference 
being,  he  served  the  Association  three  years  longer.  He  was 
Corresponding  Secretary  and  President  of  the  Convention, 
from  its  organization  in  1848  to  1856;  and  Corresponding 
Secretary  and  President  of  the  Association  from  its  organiza- 
tion in  1868  to  1879. 

Up  to  this  session  of  the  Association,  there  had  been  much 
private  discussion  indulged  in  by  the  members  as  to  the  desira- 
bility of  organic  connection  between  the  Association  and  Waco 
University,  but  the  question  had  never  come  before  the  body 
until  now. 

A  committee  on  Schools  and  Colleges  was  appointed, 
consisting  of  J.  L.  Whittle,  L.  W.  Coleman,  L.  H.  Tilman,  D. 
1.  Smith,  W.  H.  Parks,  E.  F.  Brown,  G.  W.  Good,  and  J.  E. 
Johnson.  In  its  report,  which  is  an  eloquent  document,  the 
committee  declared  that  after  the  Ministry,  and  pious  family 
training,  nothing  transcended  in  vital  religious  culture  the 
Christian  College  or  School,  used  this  language : 

"These  premises  considered,  your  committee  would  earn- 
estly recommend  that,  as  an  auxiliary  to  the  mission  work  in 
our  bounds,  schools  and  colleges  controlled  by  pious  Baptists, 
wherever  located,  should  be  heartily  approved  and  encouraged. 
But  we  especially  recommend  that  this  Association  should  join 
hands,  hearts  and  purses,  in  the  establishment,  upon  a  firm, 
immovable  basis,  within  our  bounds,  one  first-class  university. 


Dr.  Kufus  C.  Bueleson.  409 

for  tlie  culture  of  all  our  boys  and  girls,  second  to  no  other 
university  from  Maine  to  Mexico,  and  from  the  Gulf  coast  to 
British  America,  to  the  end  that  Texas  parents  will  not  be  en- 
ticed out  of  our  State,  seeking  a  place  for  the  education  of  her 
children,  but  that  we  may  have,  as  we  can,  if  we  will,  a  grand 
educational  center,  around  wliich  we  can  rally  our  forces,  led 
by  Christian  men  and  women  to  wage  a  successful  aggressive 
and  gloriously  triumphant  warfare  against  Ingersollism,  free- 
lovism  and  all  other  God-dishonoring  isms  that  infest  and  eat 
upon  our  common  country. 

Brethren,  we  have,  in  this  struggle  for  educational  su- 
premacy in  Texas,  much  to  encourage  us.  We  have  our  Sher- 
man school,  presided  over  by  our  noble  and  worthy  Brother 
Nash,  and  others  of  equal  merit;  but  we  have  a  school  at 
"Waco,  known  as  Waco  University,  which  has  stood  the  pelting 
storms  of  adversity  and  the  cyclones  of  opposition  for  years, 
which,  instead  of  superinducing  a  failure  in  its  work,  has 
caused  its  roots  to  deepen  and  its  top  to  grow  taller  and  wider 
until  it  has  gained  the  sympathy  and  admiration  of  a  host  of 
friends,  and  put  to  silence  its  most  determined  and  merciless 
enemies.  Here  we  have  a  nucleus  around  and  upon  which  we 
may  lay  our  educational  sacrifices  with  the  full  assurance  that 
we  shall  reap  lasting  benefits  both  for  time  and  eternity  for  our 
children  and  our  children's  children,  and  for  generations 
along  the  ages  to  come.  Waco  University  comes  to  us  em- 
balmed in  the  tears  and  prayers  and  toils  and  hopes  of  our 
fathers  in  Israel,  some  of  whom  have  passed  over  to  God  to 
rest  from  their  labors,  others  nearing  the  shores  and  will  soon 
step  off  the  old  tempest-tossed  ship  into  the  serene  haven  of 
rest;  and  if  there  is  such  a  thing  as  commiinicating  scenes  of 
earth  in  heaven,  let  those  who  have  gone  before  have  the  joy 
of  hearing  that  we  who  are  left  behind,  still  to  toil  in  labors 
of  love,  appreciate  the  foundation  of  an  educational  institu- 
tion laid  by  them  in  the  Waco  University.  This  University, 
along  with  Georgetown,  Mercer,  Howard,  Richmond,  Brown, 
etc.,  can  truthfully  boast  of  children,  young  in  years,  but  old 
and  rich  in  wisdom,  piety  and  toils  for  the  cause  of  Christ's 
religion  and  general  progress  among  men,  for  their  promo- 
tion, usefulness  and  happiness  on  earth  and  their  everlasting 
joy  in  heaven. 


410  The  Life  akd  Wettings  of 

AVe  recommend  that  our  Baptist  brethren  and  sisters  in 
all  our  bounds  resolve  themselves  into  one  grand  committee 
on  schools  and  colleges,  and  that  if  they  hear  of  any  one,  and 
especially  of  Baptists,  who  design  sending  their  sons  or 
daughters  to  college,  that  they  urge  the  claims  of  AVaco  Uni- 
versity as  our  school,  emphatically  a  Baptist  school,  belonging 
to  the  great  Baptist  family  of  Texas,  with  Brother  Burleson 
and  others  to  do  our  bidding  in  its  faithful  and  efficient  man- 
agement, whose  faithfulness  deserves  to  be  held  in  sacred 
memory." 

This  report  was  read  by  J.  L.  Whittle,  and  discussed  by 
W.  J.  Brown,  K.  C.  Burleson,  B.  H.  Carroll,  J.  K.  Bumpass, 
W.  H.  Park,  and  resulted  in  the  adoption  of  the  appended 
resolution : 

Eesolved,  That  a  committee  of  five  be  appointed  by  this 
body  to  confer  with  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Waco  University 
and  with  Waco  "Association  with  reference  to  organic  connec- 
tion of  this  General  Association  with  Waco  University  as  her 
denominational  school  provided  such  transfer  of  property  as 
shall  be  satisfactory  to  all  parties  can  be  secured  and  report 
to  this  body  at  its  next  annual  meeting. 

Provided  further,  this  General  Association  assumes  no 
pecuniary  obligation. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Association  held  in  Waco,  July  22, 
1881,  the  question,  "Shall  there  be  organic  connection  be- 
tween this  body  and  Waco  University?"  received  a  double 
affirmative  reply. 

The  committee  on  Schools  and  Colleges,  of  which  W.  A. 
Jarrel,  S.  B.  Maxey,  E.  C.  Burleson,  W.  H.  Parks,  W.  G. 
Calloway,  G.  D.  Fulton  and  T.  PI.  Compere  were  members, 
after  emphasizing  the  value  of  Christian  schools,  reported  in 
part  as  follows : 

"We  are  rejoiced  to  hear  of  the  success  of  the  Baptist 
schools  in  the  bounds  of  our  General  Association.  Among 
the  many  we  feel  that  we  must  call  especial  attention  to  Waco 
University  so  long  and  widely  known.  Waco  has  four  brick 
buildings  completed,  and  matriculated  last  year  about  300 
students.  Waco  University  was  never  so  justly  the  pride  of 
her  friends  and  worthy  of  their  confidence  and  patronage  r^s 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Bueleson.  411 

now.  We  trust,  therefore,  that  the  organic  connection  of  the 
University  with  the  General  xissociation  as  recommended  at 
the  last  session  of  that  body,  will  be  taken  under  prayerful 
consideration." 

The  com]  nit  tee  on  the  organic  connection  between  the 
Association  and  University,  appointed  at  Ennis,  through  L. 
IT.  Tilman  and  W.  K.  Posey,  after  reciting  the  history  of  the 
lii;-titution,  expressed  themselves  in  these  terms : 

"At  the  organization  of  this  General  Association,  the 
lamented  I).  B.  Morrill  and  others  urged  that  an  organic 
connection  be  formed  with  Waco  University.  This  was  .op- 
posed by  the  President  and  officers  of  Waco  University,  solely 
on  the  ground  that  it  might  injure  the  General  Association  as 
a  missionary  organization;  but  after  twelve  years'  experience, 
Ave  find  the  enemies  of  Waco  University  just  as  bitter  against 
the  General  Association  as  though  organic  connection  did 
exist,  and  as  they  have  ceased  their  connection  with  our  body, 
it  is  believed  that  organic  connection  should  be  formed." 

At  Sulphur  Springs  in  1882,  the  transfer  of  the  property 
of  Waco  University  was  accepted  by  the  Association,  and  a 
Commission  appointed  to  raise  an  endowment  of  $60,000,  the 
citizens  of  Waco  to  add  $20,000  to  a  building  fund  of  $20,000 
already  on  hand. 

The  school  at  Waco,  it  may  be  said,  had  all  along  been  the 
protege  of  the  Association  practically,  but  it  now  became 
so  legally  and  technically,  and  this  body  was  in  the  arena  with 
all  the  appendages,  accessaries,  missionary  and  educational  en- 
terprises, as  a  rival  and  competitor  with  the  State  convention, 
the  Association  covering  jSTorth  Texas,  and  the  convention  the 
southern  portion  of  the  State.  There  were  other  bodies  in  the 
State,  LO  be  sure,  but  their  operations  were  feeble,  and  their 
territory  incognizable.  At  Cleburne  on  July  20,  1883,  Dr. 
B.  H.  Carroll  presented  the  report  to  the  Association  on  "The 
Eelation  to  other  Bodies."  He  stated  the  subject  to  be  one 
of  great  delicacy  and  difficulty.  There  were  the  North,  East, 
Central  an  South  Texas  Conventions,  having  in  a  measure 
vague  and  undefinable  boundaries.  "Associations,"  he  said, 
"have  been  divided  in  counsel,  some  rent  asunder;  churches 
have  been  torn  bv  factions,  brethren  alienated  and  strife  en- 


412  The  Life  and  Writiis'GS  of 

gendered."  It  was  decided  in  view  of  these  facts  to  appoint  h 
committee  of  five,  whose  business  it  was  made,  to  convey 
fraternal  greetings  to  all  the  bodies,  to  confer  with  them  on 
the  subject  of  unification,  under  three  heads.  1st.  Is  it  de- 
sirable and  expedient.  2d.  Is  it  practicable.  3d.  If  so, 
under  what  form? 

Unification  was  comparatively  a  new  word  in  Baptist 
literature  up  to  this  time,  but  now  it  became  the  slogan  of  a 
mighty  campaign,  and  was  on  all  tongues.  It  became  the 
subject  of  newspaper  articles,  the  text  of  sermons,  the  theme 
of  debate,  and  the  subject  of  general  conversation. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  association  in  Paris,  July  24th, 
1885,  Rev.  T.  S.  Potts  introduced  the  following  resolution, 
wliich  was  unanimously  passed : 

^'Resolved,  That  it  is  the  sense  of  this  association  that, 
under  existing  circumstances,  the  interest  of  our  denomina- 
tion in  Texas  would  be  best  subserved  by  the  existence  of  one 
General  Body,  and  that  this  Association  is  willing  to  co-operate 
with  other  general  bodies  for  the  accomplishment  of  this  end 
on  terms  honorable  and  equal  to  all." 

L.  L.  Foster,  H.  M.  Purman  and  S.  L.  Morris  were 
authorized  to  convey  this  resolution  to  the  State  Convention 
in  Lampasas. 

This  resolution  was  presented  October  3d,  1885,  and 
responded  to  by  the  passage  of  the  subjoined  preamble  and 
resolutions,  introduced  by  G.  W,  Smith : 

"Whereas,  a  desire  has  been  widely  expressed  for  the 
consolidation  of  our  missionary  bodies  in  the  State ;  therefore, 
be  it 

"Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  five  be  appointed  to  con- 
fer with  any  like  committee  that  may  have  been  or  may  be 
hereafter  appointed  by  other  bodies,  and  report  some  suitable 
expression  to  this  body  on  this  subject." 

This  committee  was  appointed,  and  consisted  of  G-.  W. 
Smith,  J.  B.  Link,  A.  S.  Broadas,  Abram  Weaver  and  R.  T. 
Hanks,  who  reported  as  follows: 

"The  Baptist  State  Convention,  having  considered  the 
importance  of  consolidating  our  general  bodies,  and  believing 
that  the  interest  of  our  educational  and  missionary  work,  as 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Buelesox.  413 

well  as  the  peace,  harmony  and  prosperity  of  our  denomina- 
tion in  the  entire  State,  will  be  promoted  thereby,  we 
announce  our  readiness  to  meet  like  committees  from  the 
General  Association  and  East  Texas  Convention,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  securing  organic  unity  on  terms  of  equity  and  fairness' 
to  all  parties;  and  we  hereby  authorize  our  committee  to  meet 
with  committees  named  from  other  bodies  for  like  purposes, 
and  to  enter  upon  terms  of  consolidation;  and  if  these  terms 
are  endorsed  by  these  bodies,  or  either  of  them,  the  same  to  be 
reported  back  for  our  ratification." 

A  joint  meeting  of  the  committees  from  the  State  Con- 
vention and  General  Association  met  in  Temple,  December 
9th,  1885,  and  adopted  the  following  basis  of  union: 

First — That  the  Baptist  General  Association  of  Texas  be 
consolidated  with  the  Baptist  State  Convention  of  Texas. 

Second — That  the  name  of  the  consolidated  body  be  The 
Baptist  General  Convention  of  Texas. 

Third — That  the  basis  of  representation  in  the  first  meet- 
ing of  the  consolidated  body  shall  be  the  same  as  heretofore. 
Those  coming  from  the  State  Convention  territory  enter  the 
consolidated  body  on  the  same  terms  they  formerly  entered  the 
State  Convention,  and  those  from  the  General  Association 
have  membership  upon  the  same  terms  upon  which  they  for- 
merly entered  that  body. 

Fourth — That  the  mission  work  be  continued  until  the 
first  meeting  as  heretofore,  under  the  direction  of  the  two  Gen- 
eral Bodies,  respectively,  and  be  reported  to  that  meeting. 

Fifth — That  the  first  meeting  of  the  consolidated  body 
be  held  at  Waco,  beginning  Tuesday  after  the  first  Sunday  in 
July,  1886." 

Unification  had  now  swept  the  State  like  fiames  of  fire 
across  a  dry  mow,  and  every  Baptist  State  organization  in 
Texas  fell  into  the  mighty  folds  of  consolidation  and  unifica- 
tion, and  thus  forever  disappeared  from  view.  "We  shall  not 
•give  the  details  of  the  adoption  of  the  onward  movement  by 
other  bodies,  but  dispose  of  it  in  a  few  sweeping  sentences. 

The  East  Texas  Convention  was  organized  at  Overton 
December  12th,  187Y,  worked  with  some  success  for  eight 
years,  and  merged  itself  into  the  General  Convention  at  Cen- 
ter in   July,    1885. 


414 


The  Life  and  AVritings  of 


The  i^orth  Texas  Convention  was  formed  at  Piano,  July 
3d,  1879,  and  at  a  meeting  held  at  Bells,  August  3d,  1883, 
resolved  to  unite  with  the  Baptist  State  Convention,  and  thu.- 
dropped  into  consolidation  indirectly. 

The  Central  Texas  Convention  was  organized  at  Dublin, 
ISTovember  12th,  1880.  The  fifth  session  was  held  at  Hico,  in 
August,  1885,  at  which  time  a  resolution  was  passed  to  enter 
the  consolidation  movement,  and  the  organization  dissolved. 

The  five  missionary  and  educational  conventions  in  the 
State  thus,  and  in  this  way,  became  one,  but  this  was  not  the 
last  to  be  heard  of  unification.  It  touched  some  other  inter- 
est over  which  Dr.  Burleson  presided,  which  will  be  duly 
noticed  when  that  period  is  reached. 


THE  K.  C.  AND  R.  A.  BURLESON  HOME,  WACO. 

(This  is  "  Tlie  Old  Home  Place"  of  Dr.  Burleson  located  on  Tenth  and  Baylor 
Streets.  The  present  house  is  the  work  of  Mr.  R.  A.  Burleson,  who  entirely  remod- 
eled and  greatly  improved  the  place  in  July  and  August,  1900.  The  house  is  a  sub- 
stantial brick  and  frame  structure  containing  ten  rooms.  It  is  located  on  a  plot  of 
land  containing  four  lots  and  when  entirely  completed  will  be  among  the  best  homes 
in  the  city.    Here  Dr.  Burleson  lived  until  his  death  in  1901.) 


De.  Kufus  C.  Buklesox.  415 


CHAPTER  XLIX. 


FiEST  Session  of  the  Consolidated  Convention  in  Waco, 
June  26th,  1886 — Dk.  Burleson  Member  of  the  Board 
OF  Directors — Constitution  of  the  Convention — Dr. 
Burleson  Continued  on  the  Board  of  Directors  at 
Dallas  in  1887^  and  ]\L\.de  Chairman  of  Committee  on 
Colored  Population — Bishop  College — Vice-Presi- 
dent IN  1889  AND  1890 — Elected  President  in  1892 
AT  Belton  and  Re-elected  at  Gtainesville  in  1893. 

IXCE  the  State  Convention  was  one  of  the  largest 
components  of  the  consolidated  or  composite  body. 
Dr.  Burleson,  it  may  be  said,  had  returned  to  liis 
first  love,  or,  rather,  his  first  love  had  returned  to  him.  He 
had  been  separated  from  the  convention  since  1861,  twenty- 
four  years,  and  while  devoting  himself  to  accomplish  substan- 
tially the  same -great  purpose,  still  his  co-laborers  from  1848  to 
1861  were  in  another  portion  of  the  State,  building  on  founda- 
tions he  had  helped  in  laying  and  developing  plans  he  had 
helped  to  formulate,  l^ow,  however,  after  a  separation  of  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  they  were  supposed  to  be  reunited,  but 
when  he  came  to  survey  the  personnel  of  the  new  body  scores 
of  the  familiar  forms  and  faces  and  noble  spirits  with  whom 
he  had  affiliated  in  past  years  were  gone.  Huckins,  Hayno:!. 
Baylor,  Holmes,  Shannon,  Creathe,  Houston,  Jackson  and 
others,  numbering  hundreds,  had  crossed  to  the  other  shore. 

Dr.  Burleson  loved  the  past,  felt  an  undying  attachment 
for  those  who  had  worked  with  him  on  the  outposts  in  the 
early  days  in  Texas;  he  was  also  proud  of  recurring  to  past 
events  and  recounting  bygone  achievements;  but  this  in  no 


416  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

way  affected  liis  interest  in  the  present  or  future,  as  is  the 
case  with  some  persons.  He  missed  these  old  men,  and  sor- 
rowed because  they  were  not  present  to  join  their  shouts  with 
his,  while  the  Baptists  of  Texas  were  unfolding  plans  for 
grander  triumphs ;  but  this  was  neither  discouraging  or  demor- 
alizing in  its  effects  on  his  disposition.  The  command  was 
forward,  upward  and  higher,  and  he  obeyed  without  hesita- 
tion or  reluctance,  but  with  caution,  and  moved  well  toward 
the  front  of  the  advancing  column. 

The  first  session  of  the  Baptist  General  Convention  of 
Texas,  the  consolidated  body,  was  held  in  Waco,  June  the 
26th,  1886. 

Dr.  A.  T.  Spalding  has  the  honor  of  being  the  first  Presi- 
dent, and  Judge  O.  H.  P.  Garrett  and  Dr.  S.  J.  Anderson, 
Secretaries.  Dr.  Eeddin  Andrews,  Dr.  Frank  Kiefer  and 
Rev.  Tully  Choice  were  Vice-Presidents.  Dr.  A.  J.  Holt 
was  elected  Corresponding  Secretary  and  Superintendent  oi: 
Missions.  The  first  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Convention  was 
composed  of  Dr.  R.  C.  Burleson,  B.  H.  Carroll,  Warwick  H. 
Jenkins,  J.  B.  Link,  F.  L.  Carroll,  J.  S.  Allen,  A.  W.  Dunn, 
C.  Faulkner,  S.  B.  Humphries,  J.  T.  Battle,  G.  W.  Pickett, 
F.  M.  Law,  M.  V.  Smith,  J.  H.  Stribling,  E.  E.  Clemmons,  J. 
T.  Harris,  W.  E.  Tynes,  R.  T.  Hanks,  W.  L.  Williams,  R.  J. 
Sledge,  George  Yarborough,  J.  A.  Hackett,  G.  W.  Smith, 
William  Wedemeyer,  W.  H.  Dodson,  S.  L.  Mullins,  J.  M.  C. 
Breaker,  A.  E.  Baten,  B.  W.  N.  Simms  and  F.  S.  Potts. 

The  members  of  the  Board  were  selected  from  the  terri- 
tory of  all  the  bodies  composing  the  convention,  whose  juris- 
diction and  authority  was  now  co-extensive  with  the  State. 
The  officers  of  the  body  were  made  ex-officio  members  of  the 
Board  of  Directors.  The  magnitude  of  the  convention  may 
be  gathered  from  the  statement  that  there  were  two  hundred 
and  fifty  churches  and  twenty-two  associations  represented  in 
the  meeting.  Some  partiality  is  expressed,  for  indicating  the 
growth  of  Texas  Baptists  by  comparison.  By  this  method  it 
is  quickly  grasped  and  without  effort.  An  association,  it  will 
be  borne  in  mind,  is  often  composed  of  fifty  or  more  churches. 
At  this  first  meeting  of  the  consolidated  body  there  were 
twenty-two  associations  represented,  which  is  exactly  the  num- 
ber of  churches  represented  in  the  organization  of  the  State 


Dk.  Eufus  C.  Burleson.  417 

Convention  in  1848,  thirty-eiglit  years  before,  and  wants  only 
six  of  being  twice  the  number  of  churches  represented  in  the 
organization  of  the  General  Association  in  1868,  seventeen 
years  before.  Another  and  a  more  general  and,  therefore, 
more  interesting  comparison  indicative  of  this  increase  may 
be  made.  There  were  twenty-two  churches  in  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  State  Convention  in  1848,  fourteen  in  the  General 
Association  in  1868,  nineteen  in  the  East  Texas  Convention 
in  1877,  seventeen  in  the  Central  Texas  Convention  in  1880, 
and  about  thirteen  in  the  ]^orth  Texas  Convention  in  1879,  a 
total  of  eighty-five,  taking  part  in  the  organization  of  these 
five  bodies.  Two  hundred  and  fifty,  or  within  a  fraction  of 
three  times  this  number,  were  represented  in  the  organization 
of  the  General  Convention  in  Waco  in  1886,  not  to  mention 
the  twenty-two  associations. 

The  constitution  of  the  convention  was  prepared  and 
presented  for  adoption  by  B.  H.  Carroll,  F.  M.  Law,  K.  T. 
Hanks,  W.  H.  Dodson  and  E.  Z.  F.  Golden. 

Article  I. 

Section  1.  The  name  of  this  body  shall  be  the  Baptist 
General  Convention  of  Texas. 

Section  2.  The  object  of  this  convention  shall  be  mis- 
sionary and  educational,  the  promotion  of  harmony  of  feel- 
ing and  concert  of  action  among  Baptists,  and  a  system  of 
operative  measures  for  the  promotion  of  the  interest  of  the 
Redeemer's  kingdom;  but  no  individual  enterprise  shall  be 
formally  entertained  or  acted  on  by  this  body. 

Article  II. 

Section  1.  This  body  shall  be  composed  of  messengers 
from  regular  Baptist  Churches,  and  associations  of  Baptist 
Churches,  and  Baptist  missionary  societies,  co-operating  with 
the  convention. 

Section  2.  Each  church  shall  be  entitled  to  two  messen- 
gers, and  one  additional  messenger  to  each  $25.00  contrib- 
uted to  the  funds  of  the  convention,  and  in  no  case  shall  any 
one  church  be  entitled  to  more  than  eight  messengers. 

27 


418  The  Life  axd  Writings  of 

Section  3.  Each  association  shall  be  allowed  two  mes- 
sengers, and  one  additional  for  each  $100.00  expended  in 
missionary  work,  done  within  its  own  bounds,  and  one  addi- 
tional for  every  $100.00  contributed  to  the  funds  of  this  con- 
vention. 

Section  4.  Every  Baptist  missionary  society  shall  be 
allowed  one  messenger  for  every  $25.00  contributed  to  the 
funds  of  this  body,  and  in  no  case  shall  any  society  be  entitled 
to  more  than  four  messengers. 

Article  III. 
Donations  and  Powers. 

Section  1.  All  donations  to  the  objects  of  this  conven- 
tion shall  be  strictly  applied  according  to  the  expressed  will 
and  direction  of  the  donors. 

Section  2.  The  convention  does  not  have  and  shall  never 
attempt  to  exercise  a  single  attribute  of  power  or  authority 
over  any  church,  but  it  cheerfully  i-ecognizes  the  absolute 
sovereignty  of  the  churches. 

Article  IV. 

Officers  and  Their  Duties. 

The  constitution  proceeds  to  give  a  list  of  the  officers  of 
the  convention  and  defines  their  duties.  The  officers  are  a 
President,  three  Vice-Presidents,  Corresponding  Secretary, 
two  Eecording  Secretaries,  and  a  Treasurer.  The  duties 
imposed  on  these  officers  are  such  as  is  indicated  by  their 
titles. 

Article  V. 

Section  1.  The  convention  shall  appoint  five  Boards,  as 
follows : 

(1)  The  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Baptist  General  Con- 
vention, to  consist  of  thirty  members,  three  of  whom  shall 
be  nominated  by  the  President  and  approved  by  the  conven- 
tion, and  seven  of  the  Board  shall  constitute  a  quorum. 

(2)  A  Board  of  Trustees  of  Baylor  University,  to  con- 
sist of  not  more  than  thirteen. 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  410 

(3)  A  Board  of  Trustees  of  Baylor  Female  College. 

(4)  A  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Baptist  General  Con- 
ventioiij  to  consist  of  five  members,  who  shall  hold  in  trust  all 
properties  and  invested  funds-. 

(5)  A  Ministers'  Belief  Board  of  the  Baptist  General 
Convention,  consisting  of  thirteen  members,  five  of  whom 
shall  be  a  quorum. 

Article  VI. 

The  Board  of  Directors  shall  have  power  to  appoint  an 
Assistant  Superintendent  of  Missions,  to  aid  the  Correspond- 
ing Secretary. 

Article  VII. 

The  convention  shall  meet  annually  at  such  time  and 
place  as  the  convention  may  appoint,  and  the  Board  of  Direc- 
tors shall  have  power  to  call  a  meeting  of  the  convention. 

Article  VIII. 

This  constitution  shall  not  be  changed  or  amended,  unless 
the  change  or  amendment  be  offered  on  the  first  day  of  the 
annual  session,  and  lie  over  to  some  subsequent  day,  and  then 
only  by  a  two-thirds  majority. 

In  Dallas,  in  1887,  Dr.  Burleson  was  continued  on  the 
Board  of  Directors,  and  also  made  chairman  of  the  committee, 
and  presented  a  very  interesting  report  on  the  Colored  Popu- 
lation, from  which  one  paragraph  is  taken  : 

"There  are  at  least  70,000  colored  Baptists  in  Texas. 
They  have  a  Baptist  State  Convention,  a  Sunday-School  Con- 
vention, and  about  thirty  associations.  They  have  also  a  col- 
lege at  Marshall,  sustained  by  the  donations  of  Hon.  and  Mrs. 
ISTathan  Bishop  of  ISTew  York  and  other  IsTorthern  Baptists. 
Bishop  College  is  doing  a  noble  work  in  educating  the  colored 
preachers,  teachers  and  youths  of  Texas." 

It  may  be  stated  in  this  connection  that  Dr.  Burleson 
was  instrumental  in  founding  the  college  mentioned  in  his 
report.  In  1872,  while  in  New  York,  he  presented  the  neces- 
sity for  an  institution  of  learning  for  the  colored  people  of 
Texas  to  Hon.  l^athan  Bishop,  who  donated  $10,000  toward 


420  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

establishing  the  school  at  Marshall,  which  the  Trustees  chris- 
tened "Bishop  College"  in  his  honor.  Mr.  Bishop  afterward 
increased  the  amount  to  $25,000,  which  insured  the  success 
of  the  institution.  The  American  Home  Mission  Society  is 
now  extending  some  aid  to  the  school,  which  is  prosperous  in 
all  departments. 

In  1889,  at  Houston,  Dr.  Burleson  was  left  off  the  Board 
of  Directors,  and  made  one  of  the  Vice-Presidents,  and  con- 
tinued at  the  head  of  the  Committee  on  Colored  Population, 
in  whose  welfare  he  always  evinced  great  interest.  In  the 
report  submitted  at  this  session  of  the  convention  he  takeA 
high  ground  in  favor  of  Christianizing  these  people.  "To  the 
statesmen,"  he  says,  "the  race  problem,  or  the  destiny  of  the 
colored  people,  increases  daily  in  importance.  But  to  the 
Christian  the  salvation  of  these  people  involves  a  responsi- 
bility of  transcendant  importance.  We  rejoice  that  the  glo- 
rious work  of  evangelizing  and  educating  our  colored  people 
is  advancing  rapidly." 

The  report  closes  with  a  statement  of  the  success  of  Rev. 
A.  R.  Griggs,  Superintendent  of  Colored  Missions,  and  the 
prosperous  condition  of  Bishop  College  at  Marshall,  Guada- 
lupe College  at  Seguin,  and  Hearne  Academy  at  Hearne. 

Dr.  Burleson  was  re-elected  to  the  Vice-Presidency  of 
the  convention  at  Waxahachie,  October  10th,  1890,  and  also 
at  Waco,  October  9th,  1891.  At  the  last-named  place,  the 
convention  being  entertained  by  his  home  church,  he  was 
selected  to  deliver  the  address  of  welcome. 

First  place  in  the  official  rank  of  the  convention  was  in 
store  for  him  when  the  seventh  annual  session  of  the  conven- 
tion was  called  to  order  in  Belton,  October  7th,  1892.  He 
was  placed  before  the  convention  for  the  Presidency  by  A.  M. 
Johnson  in  the  following  model  nominating  speech,  every  sen- 
timent of  which  Avas  re-echoed  by  the  large  delegation 
present : 

Brother  President :  I  wish  to  put  in  nomination  for 
President  of  the  Baptist  General  Convention  of  Texas  a 
brother  who  has  been  in  the  State  a  long  time,  and  who,  from 
his  arrival  to  this  good  hour,  has  been  permanently  and 
activelv  connected  with  the  Baptists  of  Texas.     He  has  never 


Dr.  Eufus  C.  Bukleso^^  421 

sought  any  position  which  he  has  filled.  He  does  not  now 
seek  the  honor  which  I  hope  this  convention  will  confer  upon 
him  for  his  great  worth  and  services.  He  is  not  a  place-hunter 
nor  a  time-server.  He  is  a  brother,  who,  by  hard  work,  great 
sacrifice  and  unwavering  trust  in  God,  coupled  with  loyalty  to 
truth  and  righteous  devotion  to  the  highest  interest  of  the 
people,  has  made  a  glorious  record,  which  challenges  compari- 
son with  the  brightest  and  best  lives  of  the  ages.  His  fame 
reaches  almost  the  remotest  bounds  of  civilization,  and  it 
towers  upward  to  the  eternal  throne,  where  it  is  touched  by 
the  hand  of  him  who  confers  eternal  honor.  He  has  moulded 
more  exalted  character  and  developed  more  sparkling  and 
strong  talent  for  church  and  State  in  Texas  than  any  other 
man  who  has  lived  and  worked  by  the  soft,  sweet  light  of  the 
Lone  Star.  His  life  and  spirit  are  mighty  inspirations  to  his 
age.  He  has  glorified  every  interest  which  has  been  com- 
mitted to  his  charge.  One  of  his  great  sermons  is  touching 
many  of  the  homes  of  the  civilized  nations  of  the  earth  and 
molding  them  into  the  likeness  and  beauty  of  the  glorious 
home  above.  His  counsel  has  always  been  the  embodi- 
ment of  love  and  wisdom.  His  name  is  a  household  word  in 
every  home  in  Texas.  His  coming  is  everywhere  hailed  with 
joy.  He  lives  in  the  hearts  of  more  people  than  any  man  on 
this  continent.  This  convention  owes  him  this  honor  as  a 
recompense  of  reward  for  a  long  and  eventful  life  of  willing 
and  efficient  service  to  the  Baptists  of  this  State.  He  is 
nearing  the  portals  of  glory,  and  ere  long  he  will  be  beyond 
the  reach  of  human  preferment.  Let  us  honor  him  while  wo 
may,  and  thus  give  expression  to  our  hearty  appreciation  of 
our  greatest  leader,  whose  labors  of  love  have  made  us  all 
better  than  we  would  have  been  without  him.  I  refer,  sir, 
to  the  venerable  and  renowned  Rufus  C.  Burleson,  President 
of  Baylor  University." 

Immediately  on  the  close  of  this  speech  seconds  to  the 
motion  came  from  every  part  of  the  house,  and  he  was  elected 
President  of  the  Convention  without  dissent  or  negative  vote. 

At  Gainesville,  October  the  6th,  1893,  the  convention 
honored  Dr.  Burleson  the  second  time  by  placing  him  in  the 
Presidency.     Conducting  the   office   of  a   deliberative  body 


422  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

practically  prevents  participation  in  the  proceedings,  and 
hence  Dr.  Burleson,  except  as  the  presiding  officer,  disappears 
from  the  record. 

In  1895,  at  Belton,  Dr.  Burleson  was  placed  on  the  Com- 
mittee on  Sabbath  Observance. 

Touching  this  subject,  it  is  remarked  that  from  the  5th 
day  of  January,  1848,  Dr.  Burleson  has  been  connected  with 
almost  every  Baptist  enterprise  projected  in  Texas. 

From  this  time  on  Dr.  Burleson's  connection  with  the 
convention  was  unimportant,  except  as  it  related  to  matters  of 
education,  which  will  be  given  in  that  relation. 


^    t»^^^/^t^ 


De.  Kufus  C.  Burlesoi!?.  423 


CHAPTER  L. 


De.  Burleson  and  His  School  "VYokk  at  Waco — Trinity 
High  School,  S.  G.  O'Brien,  First  President — Waco 
Classical  School,  J,  C.  West,  President — Dr.  Bur- 
leson Elected  President  and  ISTaime  Changed  to  Waco 
University — Gen.  Speight's  Letter — Dr.  Burleson 
Visits  Waco  April  15,  1861 — Accepts  the  Presidency 
— Civil  War  of  1861  Again — Professors  and  Stu- 
dents Enlist  in  the  Confederate  Army — Dr.  Burle- 
son Chaplain  of  the  Fifteenth  Regiment — Session  of 
1865 — Co-Education — Resolution  of  Trustees. 


\AT  E  NOW  take  up  Dr.  Burleson's  connection  with.  Waco 
^^^— ^  University  and  its  successors,  with  which  this  work 
P^^^^^i  will  be  closed.  ITot  because  we  have  included  every 
act  of  his  busy  life — this  would  fill  several  volumes — but  for 
the  reason  that  the  main  features  of  our  plan  have  been  exe- 
cuted. We  shall  not  give  so  much  detail  as  was  given  in 
regard  to  Baylor  University  at  Independence,  for  the  reason, 
as  has  been  elsewhere  intimated,  education  in  Texas  at  that 
time  was  in  the  chrysalis  state,  and  therefore,  not  only  more 
interesting,  but  also  more  important  by  deduction,  and  in  the 
plain  lessons  it  teaches.  George  Washington's  administra- 
tion as  President  of  the  United  States  is  much  more  import- 
ant than  Theodore  Roosevelt's.  Why?  Because  Washing- 
ton dealt  -vvith  original  principles,  and  established  precedents. 
James  Monroe  was  a  much  more  important  and  interesting 
character  in  American  politics  in  announcing  the  doctrine 
which  bears  his  gi-eat  name,  than  Theodore  Roosevelt,  in  ex- 


424  The  Life  axd  AVritixgs  of 

plaining  wliat  the  Monroe  Doctrine  is,  and  declaring  before 
a  listening  world  that  he  will  enforce  the  principle. 

We  will  not  be  understood  as  minimizing  Dr.  Burleson's 
work  for  higher  education  in  "Waco;  far  from  it,  no  man  has 
accomplished  a  greater. 

In  1855,  Trinity  River  Association  resolved  to  establish 
an  associational  male  and  female  school.  In  1856  the  male 
department  of  the  school  was  located  in  Waco,  Rev.  S.  G. 
O'Brien  being  President,  and  was  called  Trinity  River  High 
School.  The  Female  Department  was  located  in  Hillsboro 
but  never  opened.  This  school  was  kept  up  until  February 
2nd,  1860,  when  it  became  a  chartered  institution  and  known 
as  Waco  Classical  School.  The  school  was  conducted  for 
several  years  in  the  edifice  of  the  Baptist  Church  at  Waco. 
In  1858  seven  acres  of  land  eligibly  located  was  purchased, 
and  steps  taken  for  the  erection  of  suitable  buildings. 

On  the  21st  of  January,  1861,  John  C.  West  tendered 
his  resignation  as  principal  of  Waco  Classical  School,  at  which 
time  the  Board  of  Trustees  authorized  its  President,  Gen. 
Joseph  Speight  to  open  correspondence  with  Rufus  C.  Burle- 
son and  the  Faculty  of  Baylor  University  at  Independence,  to 
learn  upon  what  terms  they  could  be  induced  to  take  charge 
of  the  Institution.  In  executing  this  commission  from  the 
Board,  General  Speight  addressed  Dr.  Burleson  the  following 
letter : 

Waco,  Texas,  Feb.  4th,  1861. 
Prof.  R.  C.  Burleson: 

Dear  Sir:  I  am  instructed  by  the  Board  of  Trustees 
of  Waco  Classical  School  to  inform  you,  that  you  have  been 
by  them  unanimously  elected  President  of  the  Faculty  of  said 
Institution.  Your  associates  selected  are  Professors  R.  B. 
Burleson,  Vice-President;  O.  H.  Leland,  Dr.  D.  R.  Wallace, 
and  G.  W.  Willricb.  The  decease  of  Prof.  Willrich  creates 
a  necessity  for  making  another  selection  to  fill  the  vacancy 
thereby  created.  Any  choice  which  may  be  made  by  the 
remaining  members  of  the  Faculty,  will  be  approved  by  our 
Board,  and  such  choice  be  formally  elected,  provided  it  be 
desired.  I  am  very  respectfully, 

J.  W.  SPEIGHT, 
President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees. 


De.  Rufus  C.  Buelesox.  425 

There  is  an  apparent  discrepancy  between  the  record  and 
General  Speight's  letter  to  Dr.  Burleson.  The  record  states 
that  the  President  of  the  Board  be  instructed  to  open  corre- 
spondence with  the  Faculty  of  Baylor  University  to  learn 
upon  what  terms  they  could  be  induced  to  take  charge  of 
Waco  Classical  School.  General  Speight  states  in  his  letter 
of  notification  that  "they  had  been  elected."  This  dis- 
crepancy is  reconciled  on  the  ground  that  the  discussion  had 
by  the  Board  on  the  resolution  authorizing  the  President  Lo 
open  negotiations  wdth  Dr.  Burleson  brought  out  the  fact 
that  he  would  be  elected  if  he  indicated  his  willingness  to 
accept.  So  General  Speight  took  this  for  granted,  and  sub- 
mitted the  matter  to  Dr.  Burleson  in  a  way  that  would  justify 
him  in  acting. 

This  notice  was  communicated  to  the  members  of  the 
Faculty  at  Independence,  and  after  due  consideration  ac- 
cepted, provided  terms,  which  General  Speight  did  not  state 
in  his  letter,  could  be  agreed  on.  Dr.  Burleson  was  instructed 
by  the  Faculty  to  reply  to  the  letter  and  learn  something  of 
the  condition  and  terms  upon  which  they  had  been  elected. 
At  a  subsequent  meeting  of  the  Faculty  it  was  determined  to 
send  Dr.  Burleson  to  Waco  to  confer  in  person  with  the  Trus- 
tees for  the  purpose  of  acquiring  this  information. 

Dr.  Burleson  therefore  visited  Waco  April  15th,  1861, 
met  the  Trustees,  stated  to  them  the  conditions  of  his  accept- 
ance, and  his  policy  for  the  government  of  the  Institution. 
In  addition  to  his  conference  with  the  members  of  the  Board 
he  met  the  people  in  a  public  gathering,  and  in  an  address 
gave  the  essentials  of  success  in  an  effbrt  to  build  up  a  great 
University,  and  accepted  the  position  to  which  he  had  been 
elected. 

Quite  a  good  deal  of  enthusiasm  characterized  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  meeting,  and  money  was  raised  to  complete  the 
brick  building  that  had  been  in  process  of  erection  since  1857; 
and  the  money  also  raised  to  supply  the  school  with  a  library 
and  apparatus.  Immediate  steps  were  taken  also  to  raise 
$20,000  endowment  Rev.  W.  H.  Bayless  was  appointed  to 
solicit  contributions  to  this  fund. 


426  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

On  the  28th  of  August,  1861,  the  Board  decided  to 
apply  to  the  State  Legislature  for  an  amendment  to  the  char- 
ter of  the  school;  this  amendment  was  granted  and  Waco 
Classical  School  was  rechristened  Waco  University,  and 
started  on  its  career  of  usefulness. 

General  Beauregard  had  battered  down  and  captured 
Fort  Sumpter  April  13th,  so  when  the  first  session  of  Waco 
University  opened  the  first  Monday  in  September,  1861,  the 
country  was  in  all  the  horrors  of  civil  war.  All  plans  for  the 
advancement  of  the  school  for  the  time  were  held  in  abey- 
ance." The  Trustees  held  a  meeting,  and  resolved  to  release 
all  the  professors  and  students  who  desired  to  enter  the  ser- 
vice of  the  Confederacy,  and  to  hold  the  school  together  in  the 
best  possible  way  until  the  cessation  of  hostilities.  Several  of 
the  professors  and  a  large  number  of  students  enlisted  in  var- 
ious Confederate  commands.  On  the  27th  of  May,  1861, 
just  before  the  close  of  his  last  term  at  Independence,  Dr. 
Burleson  received  the  following  petition: 

"Esteemed  Sir  :  In  consideration  of  the  disturbed  con- 
dition of  the  country,  and  the  excitement  consequent  there- 
upon among  both  young  and  old,  and  the  inability  of  all 
classes,  especially  the  young,  to  pursue  quietly  and  success- 
fully the  ordinary  affairs  of  life,  we  the  undersigned  students 
do  most  respectfully  request  that  you  dismiss  us  from  college 
duties.  We  feel  emboldened  to  make  this  request  from  the 
fact  that  the  Faculties  of  Georgetown  and  Union  Colleges 
under  similar  circumstances,  though  of  not  so  pressing  a 
nature,  have  found  it  necessary  to  pursue  a  similar  course; 
and  believing  our  request  is  reasonable,  and  your  action  in 
granting  it  would  result  beneficially  to  ,us,  we  earnestly  request 
a  favorable  consideration  of  our  petition." 

This  petition  which  was  signed  by  51  young  men  whose 
names  have  been  preserved,  was  granted,  and  now  at  the  head 
of  another  school,  in  a  different  portion  of  the  state  he  was 
called  on  to  perform  a  similar  duty  in  response  to  the  patri- 
otic request  of  young  Texans  who  wanted  to  stand  in  the 
ranks  to  maintain  the  constitutional  rights  of  their  country. 
The  attendance  was  thus  greatly  reduced,  and  the  work  greatly 
interf erred  with;    but  the  Trustees  continued  to  meet,  and 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Bueleson.  42T 

Dr.  Burleson  struggled  to  overcome  the  untoward  circum- 
stances, and  accumulating  difficulties.  Whether  upon  his 
own  application,  or  whether  the  authorities  acted  on  their 
own  motion  the  data  at  hand  does  not  show,  but  in  any  case 
he  received  the  following  notification : 

Confederate  States  of  America, 
War  Departaient, 
Richmond,  Va.,  Jan.  10th,  1863. 
Rev.  R.  C.  Burleson : 

Sir  :  You  are  hereby  informed  that  the  President  has 
appointed  you  Chaplain  of  the  Fifteenth  Texas  Regiment,  in 
the  Provisional  Army  in  the  service  of  the  Confederate 
States,  to  rank  as  such  from  April  18th,  1862.  Should  the 
Senate  at  their  next  session  advise  and  consent  thereto,  you 
Avill  be  commissioned  accordingly.  Immediately  on  receipt 
hereof,  please  communicate  to  this  Department,  yoar  accept- 
ance or  non-acceptance  of  the  appointment  .through  the  office 
of  Adjutant  and  Inspector  General;  and  with  your  letter  of 
acceptance,  return  to  the  Adjutant  and  Inspector  Genera!  the 
oath,  herewith  enclosed,  properly  filled  up,  subscribed  and 
attested,  reporting  at  the  same  time  your  age,  residence,  when 
appointed  and  the  state  in  which  you  were  born.  Should  you 
accept,  you  will  report  for  duty  to  Col.  Joseph  W.  Speight, 
commanding  the  Fifteenth  Regiment. 

JAMES  A.  SEDDER, 

Secretary  of  War. 

The  order  to  report  for  diitj  had  been  anticipated  and 
the  commission  found  him  in  the  field  with  his  command. 
The  Trustees  protested  against  this  action  on  Dr.  Burleson's 
part,  arguing  that  he  would  render  his  country  greater  service 
by  instructing  the  few  boys  who  remained  in  school.  They 
passed  a  resolution  memorializing  Col.  Speight  to  accept  his 
resignation  basing  their  reasons  on  the  same  ground,  so  after 
serving  in  the  army  for  nearly  one  year,  he  tendered  his  res- 
ignation and  returned  to  Waco.  The  Board  made  a  similar 
request  of  Prof.  O.  H.  Leland  who  had  enlisted  in  the 
Thirteenth  Texas  Cavalry  October  18th,  1862,  and  was  then 


428  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

Adjutant.  Dr.  Burleson  joined  tlie  Board  in  requesting  Prof. 
Leland  to  return  to  the  University.  Upon  these  importunities 
he  handed  in  his  resignation  August  28th,  1864.  During 
these  years  the  armies  of  the  :N'orth  and  South  were  in  almost 
daily,  deadly  conflict,  and  there  was  nothing  in  the  air,  or 
minds  of  the  people  save  war  and  military  matters.  Almost 
every  man  capable  of  bearing  arms  was  at  the  front  and  those 
under  and  over  age  were  busy  at  home  organizing  Reserve 
Corps.  All  the  schools  were  converted  into  military  train- 
ing schools  for  the  time  being. 

In  an  old  copy  of  the  Houston  Telegraph  the  following 
publication  has  been  found: 

"By  a  recent  order  from  General  Ivirby  Smith,  comman- 
der of  the  Trans-Mississippi  Department,  boys  from  17  to  18 
years  of  age  are  permitted  to  organize  into  companies  and 
remain  in  school.  A  company  is  now  forming  at  Waco  Uni- 
versity, and  will  be  in  command  of  Captain  J.  T.  Daniel,  late 
of  the  Confederate  States  Army.  Boys  wishing  to  avail 
themselves  of  a  year's  instruction  by  an  experienced  Faculty 
will  report  at  once.  K  C.  Burleson,  President;  R.  B.  Burle- 
son, Professor  of  IN'atural  Science;  J.  T.  Strother,  Professor 
of  Mathematics;  W.  H.  Long,  Professor  of  Ancient  and  Mod- 
^  ern  Languages;  Capt.  J.  T.  Daniel,  Assistant  Professor  an  1 
Instructor  in  Military  Tactics. 

RUFUS  C.  BURLESOK. 

AVaco,  Texas,  March  15th,  1865. 

This  company  was  formed  and  was  being  drilled  and 
disciplined  and  would  have  furnished  some  gallant  recruits 
to  the  Southern  forces,  but  just  twenty-five  days  afterward, 
April  9th,  General  R.  E.  Lee  handed  his  sword  to  General 
Grant  at  Appomattox,  and  the  cause  was  lost  that  the  Southern 
soldiers  had  surprised  and  staggered  humanity,  in  a  sanguin- 
ary struggle  to  sustain. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  Trustees  held  after  the  return 
of  peace  was  on  July  19th,  1865.  The  President  made  a  ver- 
bal statement  to  the  effect  that  the  University  had  made  some 
progress  notwithstanding  the  disastrous  consequences  of  war. 
The  college  buildings  were  in  bad  condition  from  long  and 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Bueleson.  429 

unavoidable  neglect,  and  no  money  on  hand  witli  which  lu 
make  needed  repairs.  The  vacancies  on  the  Board  occasioned 
by  deaths  were  filled,  and  both  Trustees  and  Faculty  resolved 
to  raise  the  Institution  from  the  ashes  and  ruin  of  war. 

It  was  during  this  meeting  of  the  Board  that  Dr.  Burle- 
son suggested  a  most  radicaj  departure  from  former  plans. 
When  he  took  charge  of  Baylor  University  at  Independence 
in  1851,  he  was  hostile  to  co-education  and  a  practical,  though 
not  a  technical  separation  of  male  and  female  students  was 
insisted  on.  Boys,  he  thought,  would  never  make  scholars 
if  required  to  pursue  their  studies  in  the  same  class  with  girls. 
Fourteen  years  had  elapsed  during  which  time  he  had  devoted 
himself  to  a  study  of  the  subject,  which  had  produced  a  com- 
plete revulsion  in  his  former  position. 

The  question  was  presented  to  the  Board,  at  a  meeting 
held  July  19th,  1865,  and  after  a  careful,  thoughtful  discus- 
sion of  the  subject,  the  following  preamble  and  resolutions 
were  adopted: 

"Whereas,  It  was  the  original  design  and  intention  of 
the  friends  of  Waco  University  to  provide  for  the  youth  of 
both  sexes;    and 

"Whereas,  In  the  opinion  of  the  Board  the  time  has 
arrived  to  begin  a  Female  Department,  now  therefore  be  it 

"Resolved,  By  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Waco  Univer- 
sity, that  we  believe  the  enterprise  practicable  only  as  com- 
bined with  the  Male  Department,  and  as  such  we  do  resolve 
further  to  organize  a  Female  Department  combined  with  the 
Male,  both  to  be  presided  over  by, the  same  President  and 
taught  by  the  same  teachers." 

The  attendance  during  the  fall  term  of  1865,  and  the 
spring  term  of  1866,  in  spite  of  the  demoralizing  effects  of  the 
war,  and  the  impoverished  condition  of  the  people,  was  very 
gratifying.  The  total  matriculations  for  the  last  named  ses- 
sion was  129;  of  this  number  95  were  males  and  34  females. 
Co-Education  therefore,  while  it  may  have  made  ship^vreck 
of  some  people's  opinions,  evidently  had  not  been  very  hurt- 
ful to  Waco  University.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Trustees  held 
on  the  15th  of  June,  1866,  Dr.  Burleson  urged  the  Board  to 


430  The  Life  and  Wettings  of 

take  action  at  once  to  provide  more  commodious  buildings 
for  the  growing  school.     They  therefore : 

"Resolved,  That  we  deem  it  necessary  to  raise  the  sum 
of  $15,000  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  additional  buildings, 
and  other  purposes,  and  that  the  Executive  Committee,  to- 
gether with  President  Burleson  are  hereby  instructed  to  adopt 
measures  to  raise  the  amount  above  specified."  Eev.  C,  T. 
Teas,  and  Thos.  F.  Lockett  were  appointed  to  canvass  the  State 
for  subscriptions  to  the  proposed  building  fund,  K.  B.  Burle- 
son agent  for  McLennan  County,  and  Dr.  R.  C.  Burleson  to 
solicit  in  any  territory  he  may  visit.  The  money  was  raised 
by  these  agents  with  some  liberal  donations,  and  valuable  as- 
sistance from  the  Trustees,  and  two  well-constructed  and 
neatly  finished  brick  buildings  36x60  feet,  two  stories  high 
were  erected.  These  buildings  were  placed  sixty  feet  apart, 
and  according  to  the  original  plan  were  designed,  to  form 
wings  of  a  splendid  three  story  center  building  60x115  feet. 
This  plan  was  never,  however,  entirely  executed. 

Dr.  Burleson  always  used  adjectives  very  freely,  and  was 
not  proverbial  for  excessive  modesty  when  discussing  his  plans, 
and  the  value  and  importance  of  the  work  under  his  direction, 
but  now  he  speaks  modestly  and  expresses  some  regret  for 
some  things  that  had  been  done. 

"We  adopted,"  he  says,  "with  reluctance  the  title  of  Uni- 
versity. We  would  have  preferred  for  years  to  come,  the 
name  of  Waco  Academy.  And  we  wish  it  distinctly  under- 
stood that  we  use  the  term  University,  not  in  the  general,  but 
in  the  Texan  acceptation;  that  is  an  Academy,  or  High 
School,  which  its  friends  hope  will  become  a  University." 
Having  recovered  from  his  spell  of  modesty,  he  speaks  on. 
This  time  he  stands  up.  "We  challenge  comparison  with  any 
school  in  Texas,  still  we  have  what  Thomas  Jefferson  called 
a  University  in  ovo.  However  we  assure  the  people  of  Texas 
that  the  Institution  is  conducted  by  a  Faculty  of  long  ex- 
perience and  ardent  devotion  to  the  cause  of  education  in 
Texas." 

Dr.  Burleson  then  gives  utterance  to  some  wise  words 
which  should  be  heard  and  heeded  in  Texas  through  all  the 
unnumbered  ages  to  come.     "We  wish  to  remind  the  people 


De.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  431 

of  Texas  of  the  fact,  that  the  only  way  to  make  the  state  great 
intellectually,  morally,  and  politically,  is  to  build  up  our  own 
Institutions." 

"We  wish  also  to  remind  them  of  the  well-known  fact, 
that  colleges  like  states,  usually  produce  their  greatest  intel- 
lects while  young,  and  struggling  for  a  name  and  place." 
"We  wish  also  to  remind  the  people  that  a  young  man  edu- 
cated in  his  own  state  enters  life  with  peculiar  opportunities 
for  success  and  happiness;  for  wherever  he  goes,  he  carries 
with  him  the  support  and  affection  of  the  scores  of  college- 
mates  with  whom  he  attended  school." 

For  some  years  Dr.  Burleson  had  been  filling  the  pastor- 
ate of  the  Birst  Baptist  Church  at  Waco  in  connection  with 
his  work  in  the  school  room.  These  duties  had  so  increased 
that  proper  attention  to  them  required  his  undivided  mind  and 
attention.  In  1868  he  tendered  his  resignation  as  pastor  of 
the  church  on  this  account. 

January  25th  of  that  year  the  Church,  at  a  conference 
meeting  passed  a  long  preamble,  and  some  very  complimentary 
resolutions  to  their  pastor  on  his  retirement.  One  only  of 
these  resolutions  will  be  sufficient  as  serving  to  show  past  and 
present  relations  existing  between  the  pastor  and  members  of 
the  church : 

^'Resolved,  Third.  That  this  church  will  ever  feel  under 
lasting  obligations  to  our  late  devoted  Pastor  for  his  faithful 
services  and  unremitting  labors,  and  will  ever  cherish  his 
name  living,  and  revere  his  memory  dead.  We  will  show  our 
appreciation  of  his  efforts  for  our  spiritual  welfare  and  ad- 
vancement, by  trying  to  emulate  his  virtues  and  to  imitate  his 
zeal  in  the  Master's  cause." 

This  action  of  the  church  was  communicated  to  Dr.  Bur- 
leson in  the  following  letter : 

Waco,  Texas,  January  25,  1868. 
Elder  B.  C.  Burleson: 

My  Dear  Brother  : — It  aifords  me  sincere  pleasure  to 
forward  you  the  accompanying  copy  of  preamble  and  resolu- 
tions adopted  by  the  Baptist  church  at  Waco  at  our  last  stated 
conference  meeting.  In  the  sentiments  therein  expressed 
there  is  not  a  dissenting  voice.    They  are  the  sincere,  heartfelt 


432 


The  Life  and  AVeitings  of 


utterances  of  your  brethren,  and  are  but  an  inadequate  tributs 
to  your  exalted  Christian  excellence  and  superior  intellectual 
endowments.  Long  may  you  live,  my  dear  brother,  to  enjoy 
the  love  and  confidence  of  your  brethren,  and  to  do  efficient 
service  in  the  Master's  cause. 

Affectionately  yours, 

J.  W.  SPEIGHT, 

Church  Clerk. 


■"N,,  -^ 


De.  Kufus  C  Bukleson.  433 


CHAPTER  LI. 


Years  that  Follow  the  War,  a  Crisis  in  the  History  of 
ALL  Enterprises — People  Restless — Changing  Con- 
ditions— Dr.  Burleson  Quick  to  Grasp  the  Situation 
— Knew  "What  to  Do,  and  Did  It — Girded  on  His 
Armor,  Took  the  Field  and  Preached,  Lectured  and 
Wrote — Confidence  in  the  Security  of  Waco  In- 
spired— Elected  President  of  Sheveport  University 
— Degree  of  D.  D.  Conferred  by  Howard  College — 
Dr.  Burleson  Keeps  Track  of  Old  Students — Refer- 
ence TO  THE  Manner  in  Which  He  Marked  Cata- 
logues —  Every  Page  in  His  Working  Testament 
Marked — Address  to  the  Baptists  of  Texas. 


'*'■  *  HE  depressed  and  languishing  condition  of  the  countrv 
^  ■  during  the  years  immediately  succeeding  the  war 
^^^S>^'  between  the  states,  was  a  supreme  crisis  in  the  history 
of  every  interest  in  Texas.  During  that  bloody  period  services 
in  hundreds  of  churches  were  suspended  and  never  resumed. 
The  doors  to  innumerable  school  houses  were  closed  and  never 
reopened.  Plans  for  thousands  of  religious,  educational  and  in- 
dustrial enterprises  were  formulated  that  never  materialized. 
Church  edifices  and  school  buildings  decayed  and  finally  fell 
into  ruin.  Not  only  this,  but  a  new  era  dawned  on  the  country. 
The  changed  conditions  as  a  result  of  the  war,  caused  a  wide 
spread  and  general  remodeling  of  plans,  and  this  was  done  with 
a  view  of  present  and  future  requirements,  and  to  fulfill  post 
and  not  ante-bellum  promises  and  plans.  Again,  while  as 
stated  the  people  were  bleeding  at  heart,  and  the  country 


28 


434  The  Life  atcd  Writings  of 

languislimg,  they  did  not  lose  courage  and  lapse  into  a  con- 
dition of  despair  and  inactivity,  but  realized  that  they  could 
only  rise  from  the  surrounding  desolation  by  the  most  heroic 
effort.  Soj  therefore  powerful  enterprises  were  projected  the 
partial  success  and  promise  of  some  of  which  changed  the 
civilisation  of  the  country.  The  former  centers  of  popula- 
tion in  many  instances  were  abandoned,  and  others  formed. 
This  in  turn  produced  what  at  the  time  was  conceded  to  be  a 
necessity  for  changing  the  location  of  many  time  honored  in- 
stitutions. A  spirit  of  restlessness  and  discontent  with  ex- 
isting conditions  was  apparent  everywhere,  and  among  all 
classes.  We  do  not  claim  to  know  the  number  exactly,  but 
believe  the  statement  to  be  conservative,  that  since  1865 
twenty  colleges  have  been  abandoned  altogether  in  Texas, 
and  the  location  of  not  much  less  than  that  number  changed. 

Dr.  Burleson  was  quick  to  diagnose  the  situation,  and 
knew  that  Waco  University  could  only  be  prevented  from 
going  down  in  the  "wreck  of  matter  and  crush  of  worlds"  by 
exercising  ceaseless  vigilance  and  great  determination. 

He  therefore  girded  on  his  armor  and  took  the  field.  He 
visited  the  people,  distributed  thousands  of  circulars,  contri- 
buted hundreds  of  articles  to  the  Press,  and  attended  hun- 
dreds of  associational  meetings.  He  preached,  lectured  and 
delivered  addresses  wherever  and  whenever  occasion  offered, 
and  made  as  many  opportunities  as  possible.  In  these  public 
addresses  he  was  Avise  enough  to  contend  that  Waco  was 
centrally  situated,  was  in  line  of  several  of  the  proposed  rail- 
roads, the  people  enterprising  and  for  these  reasons  it  was 
secure  in  location  and  one  of  the  coming  cities  of  Texas.  Hav- 
ing succeeded  in  impressing  the  masses  of  the  people  that 
Waco  would  stand  the  shock,  survive  the  ordeal  and  live,  the 
proposition  that  the  location  of  the  University  would  remain 
at  that  place  was  easier  to  maintain.  Confidence  was  thus 
inspired,  some  contributions  were  received,  and  the  patron- 
age increased.  The  buildings  were  repaired  and  added  to, 
and  the  teaching  force  streng-thened. 

There  Avere  some  fortunate  events  that  occurred  about 
this  time  that  aided  Dr.  Burleson  in  the  campaign  for  Waco 
University.     He  had  been  elected  President  of  Union  Uni- 


Dk.  Eufus  C.  Burleson.  435 

versity  in  1859  as  we  liave  seen,  to  succeed  Dr.  Eaton,  and 
urged  by  Dr.  J.  K.  Graves  to  accept  which  was  a  high  en- 
dorsement of  his  qualifications.  July  9,  1867,  the  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Divinity  was  conferred  on  him  by  the  Trustees  of 
Howard  College  at  Marion,  Alabama,  of  which  Dr.  J.  L.  M. 
Curry  was  President.  The  following  year,  June,  1869,  he 
was  elected  President  of  Shreveport  University  at  Shreveport, 
Louisiana,  and  pastor  of  the  Baptist  church  at  that  place. 
These  honors  and  compliments,  and  the  unqualified  endorse- 
ments (of  sulch  renowned  scholars  as  Doctors  Graves  and 
Curry,  were  convincing  in  their  effects  upon  the  minds  of 
the  people  that  he  possessed  the  ability  to  accomplish  all  he 
had  undertaken,  and  were  reassuring  in  the  highest  degree. 

As  a  result  of  Dr.  Burleson's  efforts,  the  co-operation  of 
the  Board  of  Trustees,  and  the  contributary  circumstances 
mentioned,  Waco  University  in  1870,  five  years  after  the 
close  of  the  war  had  a  first-class  Faculty  of  eight  Professors 
and  Instructors,  and  matriculated  105  female,  and  140  male 
students,  a  total  of  245. 

Dr.  Burleson  now  felt  sure  that  the  effect  of  his  cam- 
paign for  the  school  had  removed  any  doubts  or  misgivings 
the  people  may  have  entertained  as  to  its  permanency,  loca- 
tion and  success,  but  as  if  to  clinch  the  nail  he  had  driven  he 
remarks : 

"jSTo  institution  in  Texas  rests  upon  a  surer  foundation 
than  Waco  University.  Over  1,000  young  men  in  Texas  have 
received  instructions  from  the  President  and  Faculty  during 
their  connection  with  Baylor  and  Waco  Universities.  Many 
of  these  students  have  already  become  Judges,  Lawyers,  Gen- 
erals, Physicians,  Professors  and  Clergymen;  and  in  every 
part  of  the  state  there  is  an  earnest  desire  for  the  success  of 
the  Institution.  Its  present  condition  is  in  every  way  gratify- 
ing to  its  friends,  and  promises  a  glorious  future.  Some  im- 
portant additions  will  be  made  to  the  Faculty  at  the  opening 
of  the  next  session,  especially  in  the  departments  of  music, 
modern  languages  and  fine  arts." 

"The  President  of  the  Faculty  wishes  to  return  his  de- 
vout thanks  to  the  people  of  Texas,  who  have  so  liberally  pat- 
ronized and  sustained  him  and  his  associates  during  the  past 


436  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

twenty  years.  He  wishes  especially  to  return  his  acknowl- 
edgments to  his  old  patrons  and  students  who  have  manifested 
so  much  interest  in  an  Institution  around  which  cluster  all 
his  future  hopes  of  usefulness  and  success.  He  invites  tho 
co-operation  of  all  who  wish  to  see  Texas  become  as  illustrious 
in  learning  as  she  is  in  arms.  He  now  enters  upon  the  twenty- 
first  year  of  his  labors  as  President,  and  with  increased  ex- 
perience and  ever  accumulating  zeal  in  the  glorious  mission 
of  Christian  education,  to  which  he  has  solemnly  consecrated 
his  life." 

No  college  President  ever  lived  who  valued  the  friend- 
ship and  co-operation  of  his  old  students  more  highly  than  Dr. 
Burleson;  and  no  college  President  ever  lived  who  kept  in 
closer  touch  with  his  old  students.  He  kept  informed  as  to 
where  they  were,  what  they  were  doing,  and  how  they  were 
succeeding  in  life.  It  is  a  remarkable  statement,  and  will 
perhaps  tax  the  credulity  of  the  reader,  but  it  is  nevertheless 
true,  that  he  knew  the  financial  and  moral  standing  of  nearly 
every  student  who  ever  attended  his  school,  and  knew  also 
where  they  resided.  He  made  it  a  business  to  keep  himself 
thus  informed.  If  he  lost  sight  of  a  former  student  he  would 
institute  a  search  until  he  was  located.  He  has  in  many  in- 
stances written  a  dozen  letters  to  learn  the  present  where- 
abouts of  some  obscure  man  he  had  educated.  Wlien  an  old 
student  met  reverses  he  was  the  first  man  to  offer  condolence 
and  sympathy;  when  he  achieved  some  brilliant  success,  he 
was  first  to  offer  congratulations. 

The  catalogues  of  Baylor  and  Waco  Universities  have 
been  examined  from  the  first  issued  at  Independence  in  1852, 
to  the  last  issued  in  Waco  in  1897.  The  list  of  students  he 
studied  very  carefully,  and  noted  every  change  made.  If  one 
died,  "dead,"  was  written  opposite  the  name.  If  one  changed 
his  place  of  residence;  the  former  place  was  erased,  and  the 
new  one  given.  If  they  married  he  knew  it,  and  in  nearly 
1,000  cases  was  called  on  to  perform  the  ceremony.  Page 
after  page  of  nearly  every  catalogue  issued  during  the  entire 
forty-five  years  is  marked  from  top  to  bottom  with  notes  of 
such  information  as  would  enable  him  to  keep  in  sight  of  those 
who  had  attended  his  school. 


De.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  437 

For  this  reason  the  personal  relations  formed  between 
himself  and  students  in  the  University  were  never  broken. 
These  pupils  felt  a  personal  love  for  Dr.  Burleson,  and  some- 
thing of  a  personal  interest  in  his  work.  This  therefore  be- 
came in  time  a  most  potent  and  powerful  factor  in  his  success. 

Dr.  Burleson  not  only  used  the  catalogues  of  his  school 
in  this  way,  but  he  made  marginal  notes  in  nearly  every  book 
he  read.  If  names,  dates  or  places  were  w^rong  he  made  cor- 
rections. These  marginal  notes  were  frequently  expressions 
as  to  the  impression  made  on  his  mind  as  to  the  statement  or 
principle  discussed.  This  was  especially  true  of  the  JSTew 
Testament  used  in  his  daily  scriptural  readings,  which  noth- 
ing interfered  with  whether  at  home  or  abroad.  This  old 
well  worn  book  has  been  turned  leaf  by  leaf,  and  every  page 
in  it,  without  one  exception  is  marked;  words  underscored; 
and  on  the  margin,  expressions  interpreted,  and  comments 
made.  This  was  considered  a  fact  of  so  much  interest,  that  a 
page  was  lithographed  from  his  w^orking  testament,  selected  at 
random,  and  will  be  found  on  page  67  of  this  book. 

In  1865  it  will  be  remembered  Dr.  Burleson  made  a 
great  innovation  on  established  educational  systems  by  in- 
augurating co-education.  The  success  of  this  departure  is  well 
known.  Seven  years  after  that  time  he  uses  the  following 
language : 

"We  adopted  co-education  seven  years  ago  after  mature 
deliberation.  The  male  and  female  students  now  recite  in  the 
same  classes,  meet  daily  in  the  same  chapel,  but  occupy  sepa- 
rate play  grounds,  buildings  for  study,  and  separate  boarding 
houses.  The  plan  not  only  stimulates  both  sexes  to  greater 
study,  but  it  cultivates  in  young  men  morality  and  true  manli- 
ness, and  in  young  ladies  neatness,  order  and  morality." 

"Frequent  intercourse  and  rivalry  in  study,  by  removing 
the  enchantment  of  distance  and  novelty,  destroyes  in  a  great 
degree  that  foolish  sentimentality  and  clandestine  correspon- 
dence so  common  in  boarding  schools.  After  witnessing 
these  good  results  in  Waco  University  during  the  past  seven 
years,  we  are  not  surprised  to  see  the  Universities  of  Oxford, 
Cambridge,  London,  Edinburg,  Harvard,  Colby  and  Michi- 
gan, adopting  the  co-education  of  the  sexes,  and  are  convinced 


438  The  Life  axd  Wkitixgs  of 

in  a  few  years  the  example  will  be  followed  by  all  the  leading 
institutions  in  the  Protestant  world." 

Dr.  Burleson  who  had  been  representing  the  Board  of 
Trustees  for  some  time,  at  a  meeting  held  July  10,  1873, 
reported  that  the  following  amounts  for  the  various  purposes 
of  the  University  had  been  raised : 

Tor  Presidential  Endowment $10,633  .  50 

For  young  ladies  boarding  hall 8,527 .  74 

Library  and  apparatus 2,129  .  00 

Lie  was  continued  in  the  same  capacity  at  this  meeting 
and  authorized  to  employ  any  number  of  assistants  he  saw 
proper.  His  duties  as  financial  agent  were  still  further  en- 
larged by  being  authorized  to  solicit  donations  for  the  purpose 
of  erecting  a  boarding  hall  for  ministerial  students.  At  a 
meeting  held  on  July  15,  he  was  requested  to  issue  an  appeal 
to  the  people  of  Texas  setting  forth  the  condition  of  the  school, 
and  its  pressing  necessities.  Li  compliance  with  this  request 
the  following  circular  was  issued : 

To  the  Baptists  of  Texas  : 

Dear  Beethrex: — At  the  last  annual  meeting  of  the 
Trustees,  I  was  requested  to  address  you  a  circular  setting  forth 
the  condition  and  wants  of  Waco  University, 

By  the  blessing  of  God,  Waco  University  is  in  a  very 
prosperous  condition.  The  institution  was  never  so  worthy  of 
the  patronage  of  the  people,  nor  so  justly  the  pride  of  her 
friends  and  founders. 

During  the  past  year  295  students  were  matriculated^ 
the  largest  number  ever  matriculated  by  any  Baptist  institu- 
tion west  of  the  Mississippi  river.  Of  this  number  seven  are 
licensed  preachers,  and  four  others  are  studying  with  a  view 
to  the  ministry.  Nine  students  graduated  with  honor  to  them- 
selves and  credit  to  the  University.  The  Faculty  embraces 
eleven  Professors  and  Teachers,  and  is  adapted  to  meet  every 
demand  of  an  education — practical,  classical  and  ornamental. 
Our  departments  of  Music,  Drawing  and  Painting  are  now, 
for  the  first  time  satisfactory,  and  unequaled  in  Texas. 

The  new  and  commodious  boarding  hall  erected  for  young 
ladies,  the  new  Library  donated  bv  jSTew  York  and  Boston 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  439 

merchants,  apparatus,  the  Microscopes,  and  Telescope,  pro- 
cured through  our  friends  in  Louisville,  Kentucky,  are  all  in 
valuable  use. 

During  the  last  eighteen  months,  $23,000  have  been 
added  in  pledges,  notes,  lands,  building  material  and  cash  to 
the  library,  apparatus,  building,  and  endowment  funds:  so  that 
Waco  University  now  has  $53,000  in  pledges,  note?,  lands, 
library,  buildings  and  endowments.  As  soon  as  we  can  raise, 
by  private  donations  $22,000  the  City  of  Waco  -will  add  a 
bonus  of  $25,000,  to  increase  the  sum  to  $100,000.  With 
$100,000,  and  such  a  Faculty  as  ^ve  can  command,  Waco 
University  will  be  an  ornament  to  Texas  and  a  bulw^ark  to 
liberty  and  progress,  and  to  our  venerable  church.  With  such 
a  foundation  laid  we  can  proceed,  as  our  Slate  increases  in 
population  and  wealth,  to  add  whatever  may  be  necessary  for 
a  great  Texas  Baptist  University,  with  literary,  law,  medical 
and  theological  departments,  all  complete. 

All  the  surroundings  are  full  of  glorious  promises.  The 
city  of  Waco  is  within  fifteen  miles  of  the  geographical  center 
of  Texas,  and  is  very  accessible,  and  is  unsurpassed  by  any 
city  in  Texas  of  equal  size  for  wealth,  good  society,  intelli- 
gence and  public  enterprise. 

The  Trustees  representing  every  part  of  Texas,  are  men 
of  high  social  position,  and  have  made  their  mark  on  every 
great  enterprise  in  the  State.  The  Faculty  is  composed  of 
instructors — each  eminent  and  enthusiastic  in  his  department; 
and  for  ability  and  devotion  to  learning  was  never  surpassed 
in  a  new  institution.  The  President  and  Vice-President  are 
well  known  in  Texas.  They  have  instructed  over  2,000  young 
men  and  young  ladies  in  Texas,  and  by  twenty-three  years  of 
success,  amid  fiery  ordeals,  they  have  gained  the  esteem  and 
confidence  of  all  unprejudiced  minds.  And  while  disaffected 
and  envious  men  may  carp  and  find  fault,  the  great  mass  of 
the  people  boldly  say  nothing  succeeds  like  success,  and  twen- 
ty-three years  probation,  where  thousands  have  failed,  is  a 
safe  guaranty  for  the  future.  We  matriculated  295  student.-- 
last  year,  and  we  have  assurances  that  we  will  have  400  stu- 
dents next  session,  thirty-tw^o  of  whom  will  be  young  men 
preparing  fully  to  preach  Jesus. 


440  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

Such,  dear  brethren,  is  the  condition  of  Waco  University; 
such  is  the  result  of  our  toils,  for  twenty-two  years  to  lay  the 
foundation  of  a  great  Baptist  University  in  Texas.  And  have 
we  not  abundant  reasons  "to  thank  God  and  take  courage?" 
We  can  truly  say :    "Hitherto  hath  the  Lord  helped  us." 

Our  buildings  were  crowded  last  session,  and  cannot 
possibly  accommodate  over  300,  and  we  must  provide  for  400 
students — thirty-two  of  whom  are  called  of  God  to  preach. 
We  must  have  $10,000  cash  by  Christmas,  or  suifer  serious 
embarrassment.  We  must  have  $12,000  more  as  early  as 
possible,  added  to  the  endowment  fund  so  as  to  secure  the 
bonus  of  $25,000  from  the  city  of  Waco.  We  want  to  erect 
at  once  a  boarding  hall  for  our  young  preachers  similar  to 
"Paulding  Hall,"  Georgetown,  Kentucky,  With  such  a  hall 
our  young  brethren  can  board  themselves  comfortably  for 
about  $6.00  per  month. 

Dear  Brethren,  are  these  wants  not  enough  to  fire  the 
heart  and  stir  the  purse  nerves  of  every  Baptist  in  Texas? 
Do  you  want  a  great  Baptist  University  in  Texas?  We  pre- 
sent an  institution  worth  $53,000;  we  present  the  fullest  and 
ablest  Faculty  in  the  south;  we  present  the  claims  of  400  stu- 
dents, thirty-two  of  whom  are  studying  for  the  ministry. 
Every  brick,  plank,  shingle  and  book  in  Waco  University,  U 
by  charter  secured  to  the  Baptists,  as  long  as  the  flowers  bloom 
on  our  prairies,  or  the  waves  of  the  Gulf  dash  on  our  shores. 
We  want  every  Baptist  in  Texas  to  have  a  few  brick  in  our 
Paulding  Hall;  $10.00  will  place  1,000  brick  in  the  build- 
ing. Paulding  Hall  was  named  for  the  noble  brother  who  gave 
$10,000  for  its  erection.  Our  hall  will  bear  the  name  of  the 
largest  donor.  We  entreat  each  Baptist,  male  and  female,  who 
reads  this  appeal  to  ask,  "Lord,  what  wilt  Thou  have  me  to  do," 
and  if  you  feel  the  honor  of  Texas,  the  church  of  Jesus  Christ 
will, be  advanced  by  founding  a  great  Baptist  University  in 
the  center  of  the  State.  Give  us  your  aid  at  once.  I  would 
suggest  that  each  church  or  neighborhood,  if  no  agent  shall 
visit  you  soon,  raise  whatever  sum  you  can  and  send  it  to  us  by 
postoflice  money  order,  or  draft  on  Galveston,  Houston  or 
Dallas.  B.  H.  Carroll,  H.  K.  Puryear,  W.  G.  Caperton, 
Josiah  Leak,  T.  H.  Compere,  will  travel  as  much  as  possible 
and  urge  these  claims. 


Dk.  Kufus  C.  Burlesox.  441 

In  conclusion,  brethren,  will  you  turn  a  deaf  ear,  and 
close  your  purses  to  our  crying  wants?  Will  you  allow  all 
that  has  been  done  to  suffer  ?  Will  you,  as  Dr.  Buckner  says, 
grasp  at  a  shadow  and  lose  the  substance?  Will  you  starve 
out  and  scatter  one  of  the  ablest  Faculties  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi river?  Will  you  desert  those  who  have  grown  gray  in 
your  service,  and  who  have  spent  twenty-two  years  of  earnest 
thought  and  prayer  and  toil  in  the  cause  of  education  in  Texas  ? 
We  believe  better  things  of  you.  We  believe  our  400  students, 
thirty-two  young  preachers,  our  able  experienced  and  devoted 
Faculty,  and  above  all  the  cause  of  education  in  Texas  will 
receive  an  early  and  liberal  response. 

EUFUS  C.  BURLESOI^. 

Waco  University  was  now  going  on  from  victory  to  vic- 
tory; not  without  some  friction  at  times  between  the  President 
and  Board.  But  all  were  obviously  inclined  to  do  right,  and 
misunderstandings  were  not  difficult  to  adjust. 

On  the  26th  of  July,  1876,  the  board  adopted  the  plans 
of  the  present  group  of  magnificent  buildings  to  be  erected 
on  a  larger  campus  acquired  by  the  Board.  Dr.  Burleson, 
and  some  half  dozen  appointees  continued  to  press  the  canvass 
for  funds,  and  to  keep  the  Institution  before  the  people  as  a 
candidate  for  public  favor,  patronage  and  benefactions. 


W!iM 


442  The  Life  and  Wkitings  of 


CHAPTER  LIl. 


Reconstruction  of  the  Educational  Affairs  of  Texas 
Baptists — Question  of  Kemoying  the  Schools  from 
Independence  —  Educational  Union  —  Centennial 
Commission — ISTavasota  Resolutions — Dr.  Burleson 
Attends  American  Baptist  Educational  Commission 
in  1874 — ^Receives  the  Degree  of  LL.D.  from  Keachi 
College — Unification — Hayden  Preamble  and  Reso- 
lutions AT  Ennis — Issue  Joined,  Line  Drawn,  and 
Every  Baptist  Steps  on  One  Side  or  the  Other — 
Baptist  State  Convention  at  Lampasas — Resolu- 
tions ON  Removal — Committee  Appointed — Dr.  Bur- 
leson's Position — Joint  Meeting  of  Committees  from 
Convention  and  Association  at  Temple — Plan  of  Con- 
solidation Adopted — Consolidated  University  Goes 
TO  Waco,  Female  College  to  Belton. 

HE  revolution  Avliich.  started  in  the  educational  affairs 
of  the  Baptists  of  Texas  just  after  the  civil  war,  was 
at  first  scarcely  perceptible.  The  men  who  originated 
it  had  not  been  in  the  State  many  years,  and  were  anxious  for 
front  seats.  They  were  scholars  and  men  of  a  high  order  of 
ability  and  proved  themselves  to  be  first  class  diplomats.  But 
so  were  the  men  who  had  been  here  from  the  first.  If  front 
positions  were  changed,  there  must  be  moral  and  educational 
reconstruction  just  as  there  had  been  political.  The  Baptist 
mind  was  soon  reached,  and  new  plans  had  a  large  follomng. 
The  removal  of  Baylor  University  from  Independence  was 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burlesox.  443 

the  first  step  in  the  moral  reconstruction  measures  proposed. 
After  a  private  canvass  for  more  than  a  year,  a  resolution  was 
introduced  in  the  Bap^tist  State  Convention  at  Galveston 
October  2,  1860,  proposing  to  remove  Baylor  University  from 
Independence  to  a  more  favorable  location.  The  resolution 
was  defeated.  The  debate  on  it  was  very  warm,  and  the  lead- 
ers of  those  who  favored  its  passage,  characterized  the  remarks 
of  those  who  opposed  its  passage  as  being  very  bitter.  A 
bitter  argument  is  one  that  defeats  your  proposition.  It  was 
thought  that  the  action  of  the  convention  at  Galveston  would 
settle  the  question,  but  not  so;  the  agitation  was  carried  on 
with  more  earnestness,  but  was  given  a  different  tinge.  In 
1868  tlie  American  Baptist  Educational  Commission  was 
formed  in  the  ISTorth  and  East,  which  under  the  influence  of 
Dr.  Sewell  S.  Cutting  the  Secretary,  an  eminent  scholar, 
professor  and  editor,  was  merged  into  the  Centennial  Com- 
mission in  1874.  Dr.  Burleson  attended  the  meeting  held  in 
that  year  in  the  interest  of  Texas,  and  consented  to  represent 
the  movement  in  the  State.  Dr.  Burleson's  attendance  on 
that  meeting  was  very  fortunate.  When  he  returned,  he  was 
of  the  opinion  that  if  the  Commission  proposed  to  do  any 
great  things  for  education  in  Texas,  Waco  would  be  a  good 
place  to  start,  especially  since  Waco  University  offered  a  good 
foundation  upon  which  to  build  an  educational  structure  of 
any  desired  proportions. 

The  national  movement  was  discussed  in  Texas,  and  a 
meeting  called  at  Bremond,  June  23,  1875,  to  devise  some 
plan  upon  which  the  movement  could  be  utilized  in  the  State. 

This  meeting  was  held.  The  discussion  took  a  wide  range. 
Several  plans  were  proposed.  Toothing  was  said  about  the 
school  at  Waco.  Dr.  Burleson  was  there,  and  while  he  took 
an  active  part  in  the  discussion,  he  had  his  ear  to  the  ground, 
and  Waco  in  his  mind.  An  agreement  was  reached  to  which 
he  affixed  his  name,  but  in  that  document  Waco  University 
was  not  compromised.  The  next  meeting  was  to  be  held  in 
Sherman,  but  the  plan  dragged,  and  the  meeting  failed  for 
want  of  a  quorum.  The  commission  held  frequent  meetings 
after  that  time,  and  succeeded  in  raising  quite  a  respectable 
sum  of  monev  under  the  financial  direction  of  Dr.  F.  M.  Law. 


444  The  Life  and  "Writings  of 

In  all  of  its  career,  the  Commission  advocated  the  removal  of 
Baylor  University  from  Independence,  and  discussed  a  higher 
Institution  of  learning  for  the  Baptists,  but  it  finally  disap- 
peared. 

On  the  25th  of  April,  1876,  the  educational  affairs  of 
Texas  Baptists  took,  or  rather  attempted  to  take  an  unex- 
pected turn.  A  remarkable  meeting  was  held  at  that  time  in 
ISTavasota.  Little  or  nothing  was  heard  of  the  plan  here 
adopted  until  it  was  announced.  The  meeting  was  called  to 
order  in  a  private  house  at  7  o'clock  p.  m.  and  continued  in 
session  through  the  greater  portion  of  the  night.  Drs.  R.  C. 
Burleson,  B.  H.  Carroll  and  R.  C.  Buckner  represented  Waco 
University.  Dr.  Wm,  Carey  Crane,  Reddin  Andrews  and  J. 
S.  Terrell,  Baylor  University;  J.  B.  Link  and  F.  M.  Law  for 
the  Baptist  Educational  Union. 

The  purpose  of  this  meeting  as  stated  by  Dr.  Burleson, 
was  to  formulate  a  plan  of  united  action  to  be  presented  for 
adoption  at  a  meeting  called  by  the  American  Baptist  Cen- 
tennial Coilimission  at  Bremond,  Texas,  April  25,  1876.  This 
meeting  was  not  only  remarkable  in  its  manner  of  coming 
together,  but  more  remarkable  in  the  unexpected  conclusions 
reached.  By  some  of  those  present  it  was  said  to  be  one  of  the 
most  earnest  assemblages  ever  held  in  the  State.  After  a  con- 
tinuous session  of  ten  hours,  during  which  the  educational 
affairs,  enterprises  and  institutions  of  the  denomination  were 
exhaustively  discussed,  from  the  meeting  at  Plum  Creek  in 
1840  until  that  time,  the  following  basis  was  unanimously 
concurred  in  and  signed : 

"We,  the  undersigned,  in  order  to  harmony,  express  it 
as  our  sense  and  agree : 

First — That  we  have  but  one  University  for  the  State 
of  Texas,  to  be  established  under  the  following  agreement : 

Second— That  a  session  of  the  Boards  of  Trustees  of  Bay- 
lor and  Waco  Universities,  and  the  Educational  Union  be 
called  to  meet  in  Bremond  on  the  23rd  of  June,  1876. 

Third — That  Baylor  and  Waco  Universities  be  known  as 
Baylor  University,  with  its  Theological  Department  and  High 
School  at  Independence,  and  with  its  Literary  and  other  De- 
partments at  Waco,  and  under  control  of  their  respective 
Boards. 


De.  Kufus  C.  Burlesox.  445 

Fourth — That  a  Central  Committee  be  appointed  to 
raise  an  endowment  of  $300,000,  or  such  sum  as  shall  be 
agreed  upon,  but  not  leas  than  $200,000  to  establish  the  Uni- 
versity which  shall  be  agreed  on  for  the  entire  State,  and  lo- 
cated by  the  donors,  eligibility  and  bonus  guiding  the  loca- 
tion, on  the  basis  of  one  vote  each  $100  contributed;  provided 
that  no  individual  have  more  than  ten  votes. 

Fifth — That  the  Educational  Union  turn  over  its  assets 
to  the  Central  Centennial  Committee  and  dissolve  its  organ- 
ization. 

Sixth — That  the  first  $25,000  raised  shall  be  regarded  as 
belonging  to  the  endowment  of  the  Theological  Department  of 
Baylor  University  at  Independence,  and  that  whatever  in- 
terest may  be  collected  on  the  remaining  sum,  shall  go  to  the 
Literary  Department  of  Baylor  University  at  Waco,  until  the 
location  of  the  one  University  is  effected  and  the  school 
opened. 

Seventh — That  when  the  proposed  Institution  shall  be 
located,  its  Trustees  shall  be  elected  by  the  Baptist  State  Con- 
vention and  General  Association  of  Texas. 

(Signed)  EUFUS  C.  BURLESOlSr, 
F.  M.  LAW, 
J.  B.  LINK, 
WM.  CAREY  CRANi;, 
JOEL  W.  TERRELL, 
R.  C.  BUCKNER, 
B.  H.  CARROLL, 
REDDm  ANDREWS. 

Another  remarkable  thing  about  this  agreement  was,  that 
notwithstanding  the  plan  was  adopted  without  dissent  as  being 
the  wisest  that  could  be  devised,  no  one  could  be  found  to  pre- 
sent it  to  the  meeting  at  Bremond.  Dr.  Burleson  was  among 
the  first  to  renounce  it,  and  characterized  it  as  a  "bantling." 

This  was  strange,  since  Drs.  Burleson,  Carroll  and  Buck- 
ner  gained  almost  every  point  for  Waco  contended  for  in  the 
meeting  at  ISTavasota.  This  plan  did  not  strike  those  interested 
not  even  the  men  who  devised  it  on  mature  reflection,  and 
nothing  more  was  heard  of  it. 


44:6  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

It  is  doubtful  whether  any  question  was  ever  considered 
bj  the  people  of  Texas  in  as  many  forms  as  the  reconstruction 
of  Baptist  Educational  affairs.  First  it  was  the  removal  of 
Baylor  University  and  Baylor  Temale  College  from  Indepen- 
dence. Then  the  Educational  Union;  next  Centennial  Com- 
mission; next  the  ISTavasota  scheme.  All  these  failed  and  were 
followed  by  the  plan  of  unification  and  consolidation.  This 
touched  the  Sunday  School  Conventions  of  the  State  Conven- 
tion, and  General  Association  in  Houston  in  1855,  then  all  the 
General  bodies  in  the  same  year  as  noticed  in  giving  Dr.  Bur- 
leson's connection  with  them.  But  the  movement  met  with  so 
much  favor  that  it  was  destined  to  reach  other  interests,  and 
settle  other  important  questions,  the  settlement  of  which  had 
been  sought  to  be  effected  by  indirection. 

At  a  largely  attended  session  of  the  General  Association 
held  in  Ennis  on  the  24th  of  July,  1885,  Dr.  S.  A.  Hay  den 
gave  the  question  tangible  form,  dignity  and  at  the  same  time 
responsibility,  by  the  introduction  of  the  following  preamblo 
and  resolutions : 

Whereas,  The  Baptists  of  Texas,  led,  as  we  believe  by 
the  Spirit  of  God,  are  seeking  some  practical  basis  of  fraternal 
union,  and 

Whereas,  We  believe  the  prayer  of  Christ,  that  His 
people  "might  all 'be  one,"  is  destined  to  a  complete  fulfill- 
ment, and. 

Whereas,  Institutions  of  learning  are  powerful  agen- 
cies for  good  or  evil,  as  they  are  directed  by  Christian  or  anti- 
Christian  influences,  and. 

Whereas,  We  can  only  hope  to  educate  our  youth  by 
providing  facilities  for  attaining  knowledge  equal  to  the  secu- 
lar institutions  of  the  country,  and, 

Whereas,  The  securement  of  the  perfect  accord  of  our 
people  in  Texas,  centers  largely  upon  our  educational  interests; 
therefore 

Resolved,  1.  That  in  order  to  remove  any  obstacle  that 
may  be  in  the  way  of  our  future  concert  of  action  in  advanc- 
ing the  Baptist  cause  in  Texas,  it  is,  in  our  judgment,  desirable, 
that  all  our  denominational  institutions  of  learning  in  Texas, 
be  united  into  one  Baptist  State  University. 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  447 

Resolved,  2.  That  we,  the  Baptist  General  Association 
of  Texas,  pledge  ourselves  to  meet  any  proposition  looking  to 
such  consolidation  of  schools  upon  principles  of  fairness  and 
equality. 

Resolved,  3.  "We  believe  that  we  do  but  express  the  senti- 
]iient  of  the  great  Baptist  family  of  Texas,  as  well  as  provide 
for  the  best  interests  of  the  proposed  consolidated  University 
in  making  it  a  condition  of  such  consolidation  that  Kufus  C. 
Burleson,  D,  D.,  LL,  D.,  the  only  survivor  of  the  great  men 
who  have  laid  the  foundation  of  Baptist  education  in  Texas, 
and  who  has  spent  his  entire  life  in  that  work,  be  made  the 
Chancellor  for  life  of  the  said  consolidated  University  with 
adequate  salary. 

We  believe  also  that  we  do  but  voice  the  sentiment  of 
all  the  Baptists  of  Texas,  in  suggesting  that  the  proposed  con- 
solidated University  bear  the  honored  name  of  R.  E.  B. 
Baylor. 

Resolved,  further.  That  wo  hereby  appoint  L.  L.  Foster, 
President  of  this  body,  S.  L.  Morris  and  Henry  Furman  a 
committee  to  visit  the  State  Convention  at  Lampasas  and  in- 
form that  body  of  the  action  of  this  Association. 

That  in  the  event  a  consolidation  of  the  schools  shall  not 
be  acceptable  to  the  Convention,  then  we  request  the  Board 
of  Trustees  of  Waco  University  to  select  some  suitable  site  on 
the  hills  near  Waco  for  the  permanent  establishment  of  Waco 
University,  and  we  pledge  ourselves  to  use  our  best  energies 
to  raise  Avithin  the  next  five  years  an  endowment  of  $500,000, 
for  said  University,  and  do  all  in  our  power  to  secure  for  the 
youth  of  Texas  a  Baptist  University  Avorthy  of  the  name. 

It  is  understood  that  nothing  in  these  re^solutions  shall  be 
construed  to  suspend  any  plan  of  collecting  endowment  notes, 
or  securing  pledges  that  the  Board  may  deem  expedient. 

Resolved,  That  nothing  in  the  reports  adopted  at  this 
meeting  shall  be  construed  as  being  in  conflict  with  these  reso- 
lutions. The  above  and  forgoing  were  adopted  as  the  senti- 
ment of  the  Association.  It  was  suggested  that  the  convention 
might  construe  some  of  the  expressions  as  threatening  in  char- 
acter, and  to  avoid  any  such  misapprehension  Dr.  Haydeii 
offered  the  following  resolution  clearly  disclaiming  any  such 
intention  or  spirit : 


448  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

"Whekeas,  It  has  been  said  that  the  resolutions  passed 
by  this  body,  proposing  a  union  of  our  denominational  schools 
in  Texas,  contain  a  threat  to  the  State  Convention  if  they 
reject  the  proposition.    Therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  intention  of  the  resolution  referred 
to,  was  to  assure  the  friends  of  Waco  University  that  there 
was  no  design  to  injure  that  institution,  but  to  guarantee  it 
against  any  loss  that  might  arise  from  delay  in  collecting  the 
endowment,  and  the  conditions  are  not  intended  to  dictate  to 
the  convention." 

As  an  assurance  that  the  General  Association  sought  no 
advantage,  in  case  the  proposition  was  entertained  with  favor 
by  the  convention,  R.  T.  Hanks  offered  a  resolution  which 
was  intended  to  forestall  any  objection  of  this  kind : 

Resolved,  That  the  committee  to  the  State  Convention 
go  uninstructed  as  to  the  details  of  consolidation,  and  that 
they  do  not  incorporate  in  their  communication  to  that  body 
any  of  the  resolutions  except  those  on  the  main  point  of  con- 
solidation. 

The  issue  of  removal,  unification  and  consolidation  was  by 
the  Hay  den  resolutions  fairly  joined.  The  line  was  drawn  and 
Baptists  stepped  to  one  side  or  the  other.  And  not  only  Bap- 
tists, but  many  who  were  not  in  affiliation  with  this  denomina- 
tion entered  the  arena.  The  success  of  unification,  meant  the 
removal  of  the  schools  from  Independence,  this  was  evidenr. 
Those,  therefore,  who  opposed  their  removal,  were  hostile  to 
the  movement.  The  resolutions  were  passed  by  the  Associa- 
tion last  of  July.  The  convention  did  not  convene  until  3rd 
of  October;  this  gave  the  people  two  months  in  which  to  dis- 
cuss the  question. 

Dr.  Burleson  had  very  little  to  say  on  the  subject.  He 
was  urged  to  express  himself,  but  declined  to  say  more  than 
"if  they  decided  to  remove  Baylor  University  from  Independ- 
ence, Waco  University  stands  ready  to  furnish  her  elder  sister 
with  shelter  and  protection." 

The  Baptist  State  Convention  met  in  Lampasas  October 
3,  1885,  and  the  burning  question  in  the  mind  of  every  dele- 
gate present  was  removal  and  consolidation.  Both  sides  held 
frequent  caucuses,  to  decide  upon  offensive  and  defensive 
methods. 


De.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  449 

The  question  was  brought  before  the  body  by  G.  W. 
Smith,  who  introduced  the  following  resolution : 

Whereas,  The  General  Association  has  appointed  a  com- 
mittee to  confer  with  this  body  on  the  subject  of  the  consoli- 
dation of  our  educational  interests.    Therefore,  be  it 

"Resolved,  That  this  body  appoint  a  committee  to  confer 
with  the  one  appointed  by  the  General  Association  on  this 
subject,  and  report  to  this  body." 

The  committee  of  the  Convention  to  treat  with  committee 
from  the  Association  having  been  thus  provided  for.  A.  W. 
Dunn  offered  this  resolution : 

Whereas,  There  has  been  much  agitation  in  the  bounds 
of  this  convention  on  the  subject  of  the  removal  of  Baylor 
University  from  Independence,  therefore. 

Resolved,  That  this  matter  be  placed  before  the  conven- 
tion for  the  action  of  this  body  on  the  question."  This  resolu- 
tion passed,  but  failed  in  its  purpose  to  bring  up  the  question 
for  general  discussion  on  the  floor.  The  matter  had  been  re- 
ferred to  a  large  special  committee  and  its  decision  was 
awaited. 

This  committee  met  and  took  up  the  vexed  issue.  The 
meeting  was  prolonged  far  into  the  night.  The  debate  was 
earnest  and  powerful.  It  was  apparent,  however,  from  the 
very  beginning  that  those  who  favored  retaining  the  schools 
at  Independence  were  in  a  hopeless  minority,  and  however 
earnest  they  might  be,  their  cause  was  lost.  The  report  recom- 
mending removal  was  finally  agreed  to,  presented  to  the  con- 
vention and  adopted.  Its  provisions  are  set  forth  in  the  fol- 
lowing : 

"Your  Committee  on  the  removal  of  the  Baylor  Univer- 
sity and  Baylor  Female  College  from  Independence,  beg  leave 
to  report  that  we  have  had  the  matter  under  advisement,  and, 
in  our  opinion,  for  various  reasons  which  appear  to  us  good  and 
sufficient,  the  time  has  fully  come  when  these  Institutions  of 
learning  should  be  removed  to  some  more  eligible  place  in  the 
State,  and  we  therefore  recommend  that  this  be  done. 

"We  further  recommend  that  a  committee  of  fifteen  be 
appointed  to  take  charge  of  this  whole  matter  of  removal  and 
location,  and  all  questions  that  may  arise  pertaining  thereto, 

29 


450  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

including  consolidation,  etc.,  in  conjunction  with,  the  Boards 
of  Trustees  of  the  two  schools,  and  that  they  take  at  once  such 
steps  as  may  be  necessary  to  the  earliest  practicable  accom- 
lishment  of  this  important  work. 

"And,  further,  that  the  schools  remain  at  Independence 
at  least  this  year;  but,  in  our  opinion,  if  practicable,  the  place 
should  be  selected  and  in  readiness  for  the  opening  of  the 
schools  at  the  new  location,  or  locations,  by  September,  1886. 

"i'urther,  we  recommend  that  the  present  building, 
grounds,  libraries,  apparatus  and  furniture  be  tendered  to  the 
Union  Association  for  educational  purposes,  and  maintained 
at  Independence,  and  that  the  endowment  already  raised  be 
subject  to  the  ^vill  of  the  donors  to  remain  with  the  schools 
at  Independence,  or  be  carried  with  the  University  and  Col- 
lege to  the  new  location,  as  each  donor  may  elect.  Any  en- 
dowment, the  owners  of  which  are  dead,  shall  be  left  with  the 
schools  at  Independence. 

J.  H.  STRIBLI^TQ^ 

M.  V.  SMITH, 
J.  B.  LIKK, 
J.  A.  HACKETT, 
J.  BEALL, 

A.  W.  Dui^isr, 

W.  E.  MAXWELL, 
A.  T.  SPALDIISTG, 
A.  W.  McIVEE, 
E.  J.  SLEDGE, 
I.  SELLEES, 
S.  A.  BEAUCHAMP, 
Wm.  HOWAED, 
HAEEY  HAY^ES. 

The  report  of  the  special  committee  having  been  pre- 
sented to  the  convention  and  adopted,  the  following  formal 
reply  to  the  committee  from  the  General  Association  was 
made,  which  also  refers  all  detail  of  consolidation  to  the  joint 
committee. 


Dk.  Rufus  "C.  Burleson.  451 

Report  ox  Consolidation  of  Schools. 

Your  Committee  on  Consolidation  of  Educational  inter- 
ests of  the  Baptists  of  Texas,  Leg  leave  to  report  that  it  is  the 
sense  of  this  Convention,  that  the  consolidation  of  our  Institu- 
tions of  learning  ia  desirable,  and  that  we  will  consider  any 
proposition  that  may  be  presented  on  the  basis  of  fairness  and 
equality  to  all  parties  interested,  and  we  recommend  the  refer- 
ence of  this  question  to  the  committee  of  fifteen  already  ap- 
pointed in  connection  Avith  the  Boards  of  Trustees  of  Baylo:- 
University  and  Baylor  Eemale  College. 

A.  W.  DUISTI^r,  Chairman. 

The  committee  of  fifteen  provided  for  in  the  foregoing 
report  was  appointed  by  the  President  of  the  convention. 
The  location  of  the  consolidated  school  was  the  question  of 
most  interest  that  remained  opened.  As  a  friend  of  Waco, 
and  the  school  at  the  place  the  time  for  Dr.  Burleson  to  speak 
had  come.  The  Waco  correspondent  of  the  Galveston-Dallas 
I^ews,  sought  and  obtained  from  him  an  expression  of  his 
views  which  is  here  appended : 

Dk.  Burleson's  Consolidation  Views. 

In  view  of  the  general  interest  in  the  approaching  con- 
ference of  the  two  committees  to  which  have  been  referred 
the  question  of  the  location  of  the  consolidated  Universities  of 
Baylor  and  Waco,  a  representative  of  The  News  called  upon 
Dr.  Burleson,  of  Waco  University,  for  his  views  on  the  sub- 
ject. The  result  of  the  interview,  divested  of  pleasant  pre- 
liminaries, is  annexed : 

"What  are  you  views  of  the  consolidation  of  Waco  and 
Baylor  Universities  ?" 

"This  is  a  very  delicate  and  important  subject,  and  all 
expressions  of  mine  liable  to  misconstruction,  especially  as  the 
general  association  at  Ennis  proposed  to  make  me  president 
or  chancellor  for  life  of  the  consolidated  institution.  But, 
during  a  public  life  of  forty-five  years,  I  have  ever  been  frank 
and  fearless.  I  will  state  that  I  wanted  Baylor  University, 
with  her  noble  board  of  trustees  and  useful  record  of  forty 
years,  to  remain  at  Independence  and  carry  out  the  grand  in- 


452  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

I 

tentions  of  her  founders.  I  gave  ten  years  of  the  best  of  my 
life  to  Baylor  University,  and  though  often  misunderstood  and 
wronged  by  some,  she  has  ever  been  dear  to  my  heart,  and  her 
decline  and  removal  is  a  profound  sorrow  to  me.  But  the 
Baptist  State  Convention  and  her  noble  trustees  have  resolved 
to  remove  Baylor  to  some  point  in  Central  Texas.  And  as  two 
Baptist  Universities  in  the  same  section  of  the  State  would  be 
a  calamity  and  result  in  greater  friction  and  final  failure,  I 
feel  the  union  of  the  two  universities  would  be  for  the  good 
of  the  Baptists  and  people  of  Texas.  Provided  always  that  it 
can  be  done  on  principles  of  "perfect  fairness  and  equality 
to  all."  It  must  not  be  as  some  have  said  the  whale  swallowing 
Jonah,  but  the  loving  union  for  life  of  two  hearts  and  hands 
and  destinies.  Such  a  consolidation  would  not  only  prevent 
the  calamity  of  two  Baptist  institutions  in  the  same  vicinity, 
but  would  save  Baylor  University  much  of  the  fearful  loss  al- 
ways attending  the  removal  of  a  university  to  a  new  location. 
All  the  early  alumni,  her  Breedloves,  her  Densons,  her  Har- 
rises, her  Paschals,  her  Parks,  her  Browns,  her  CarroUs  and 
scores  of  others,  graduated  under  my  presidency,  and  to  join 
their  old  president  at  Waco  under  the  honored  name  of  Baylor 
University,  with  her  trustees  and  faculty  and  alumni,  would 
be  only  like  a  parted  stream  meeting  and  mingling  its  waters 
as  of  old.  It  would  be  uniting  the  whole  great  family." 
"Do  you  think  the  two  universities  will  be  united?" 
"It  will  be  almost  a  miracle  if  they  are.  There  are  diffi- 
culties and  causes  of  misapprehensions  and  local  and  personal 
interests  almost  insurmountable.  In  the  first  place,  Baylor 
University  is  fifteen  years  older  and  will  feel  entitled  to  prece- 
dence in  selecting  the  location  when  consolidated.  In  the 
next  place,  the  faculty  and  trustees  of  Waco  University  and 
the  General  Association  are  under  peculiar  and  honorable 
pledges  to  the  people  of  Waco  to  stay  in  Waco.  There  are  at 
least  forty  good  men  who  came  to  Waco,  saying  to  me,  "We 
want  to  settle  near  a  permanent  institution;  are  you  perma- 
nently located  in  AVaco?"  And  on  my  assurance  they  have 
•sold  their  homes  and  bought  $200,000  worth  of  property  and 
•settled  in  Waco.  There  are  also  180  noble  young  men  and 
ladies  who  have  graduated  in  Waco  University  under  my 


Dk.  Eufus  C.  Burleson.  453 

often  repeated  assurance  that  Waco  University  was  a  fixture 
and  a  success.  Still  more,  twenty-five  years  ago,  just  as  Fort 
Sumpter  was  battered  down,  we  pledged  the  citizens  of  Waco, 
if  they  would  furnish  us  the  grounds  and  buildings  as  we 
needed  them,  the  Baptists  abroad  would  furnish  the  endow- 
ment, and  we  would  build  up  a  great  and  permanent  univer- 
sity in  Waco.  The  General  Association  repeated  this  solemn 
pledge  in  1883,  and  if  the  citizens  have  not  furnished  us  such 
buildings  as  we  needed,  it  is  because  the  Baptists  abroad  have 
not  furnished  the  endowment,  as  promised.  They  are  ready 
to-day  to  redeem  their  pledge,  if  we  will  do  our  part,  so  our 
best  men  say.  ISTow,  it  would  be  infamous  on  the  Baptists, 
and  especially  the  General  Association  and  me,  to  falsify  all 
these  promises  to  the  good  friends  who  have  invested  their  all 
here  on  our  assurance,  and  doubly  so  to  the  180  noble  young 
men  and  ladies  who  have  graduated,  and  to  the  scores  and 
himdreds  who  have  been  educated  here  under  our  pledge  of 
permanency,  and,  lastly,  to  the  citizens  of  Waco,  who  say  they 
are  ready  to  carry  out  their  pledges  if  we  will  ours.  I^ow  will 
we  not  commit  a  three-fold  crime  to  desert  Waco  if  Waco  will 
do  as  well  for  the  consolidated  university  as  any  other  town  or 
city  in  Texas?  And,  besides  all  this,  every  profound  educa- 
tor knows  that  every  graduate  is  worth  to  his  alma  mater,  on 
the  lowest  average,  $1,000,  some  being  worth  $25,000  to 
$50,000.  ^^Tow,  Waco  University  has  a  good  endowment 
of  at  least  $70,000;  she  has  in  lots,  lands,  buildings  and 
a  building  fund  of  $45,000  or  $50,000,  and  an  alumni 
worth  at  lowest  average  $180,000.  Some  of  the  papers 
have  asked  why  it  is  that  Waco  University  has  nearly 
as  many  students  as  the  State  University  and  the  A.  and  M. 
College  both  combined,  with  their  millions  of  public  money 
in  costly  buildings  and  endowment.  Here  is  one  of  the  grand 
secrets  of  our  success.  Our  noble  sons  and  daughters,  in 
every  part  of  this  Empire  State,  are  giving,  and  toiling,  and 
praying,  for  the  success  of  their  alma  mater.  !N^ow,  will  it  be 
^just,  and  fair  and  wise'  to  require  Waco  University  to  falsify 
all  her  pledges,  to  scatter  her  prestige  of  twenty-five  years^ 
success,  for  some  new  and  untried  place  where  we  will  have  to 
toil  twenty-five  years  to  gain  what  we  have  in  Waco  ? 


454  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

"From  all  these  facts  it  will  be  seen  how  many  difficul- 
ties surround  us.  Some  will  clamor  that  Waco  University 
Avants  to  dictate  to  our  elder  and  well  beloved  sister.  Far 
otherwise.  We  only  ask  not  to  be  required  to  violate  our  sol- 
emn promises  and  scatter  the  hard-earned  toils  of  twenty-five 
years  merely  for  some  other  place  which  has  not  borne  the  heat 
and  burden  of  the  day,  and  comes  in  at  the  eleventh  hour  and 
fiftieth  minute  to  get  the  loaves  and  fishes.  But  remember 
that  all  this  is  based  on  the  supposition  that  Waco  will  do  as 
much  for  the  consolidated  university  as  any  other  place  in 
Texas.     But  if  she  doesn't,  we  are  at  liberty  to  go  elsewhere.'' 

The  remainder  of  the  story  of  Texas  Baptist  unification 
and  consolidation  need  not  be  long.  The  plan  of  uniting  the 
two  general  missionary  bodies  has  been  given.  Substantially 
the  same  plan  was  pursued  in  reference  to  the  universities.  A 
special  session  of  the  General  Association  was  held  in  Dallas 
November  25th,  1885,  and  appointed  a  committee  to  act  with 
the  convention  committee,  appointed  at  Lampasas,  October 
the  3d.  Both  committees  were  invested  with  plenary  power^ 
the  action  had  was  final,  and  they,  therefore,  had  nothing  to 
report  back  to  their  respective  bodies. 

The  Boards  of  Trustees  of  the  institutions  at  Waco  and 
Independence  held  special  meetings  and  passed  resolutions  of 
acquiescence  in  the  action  of  the  State  Convention  and  Gen- 
eral Association  in  deciding  to  unite  the  schools. 

The  discussion  of  the  subject  had  been  carried  on  for 
years;  a  half  dozen  plans  had  been  proposed  and  rejected.  A 
score  of  meetings  had  been  held  and  failed  in  their  purpose. 
The  denomination  realized  that  something  must  be  done,  but 
did  not  seem  to  know  how  to  proceed.  They  were  feeling 
around  in  the  dark. 

But  now  the  plans  proposed  met  with  almost  universal 
acceptance,  the  culmination  of  affairs  was  rapid  and  without 
friction. 

The  committees  held  a  joint  session  in  Temple  December 
the  9th,  1885,  and  organized  by  electing  R.  T.  Hanks  chair- 
man. 

The  battle  of  San  Jacinto,  which  resulted  in  the  estab- 
lishment   of   Texas  freedom   from   Mexican   thraldom,   was 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Bukleson.  455 

fought  in  eighteen  minutes.  So  the  history-making  proceed- 
ings of  the  joint  committee  were  short.  It  was  no  time  for 
pyrotechnical  display.  The  joint  committee  appointed  a  sub- 
committee, composed  of  C.  E..  Breedlove,  B.  H.  Carroll,  J.  B. 
Link,  M.  V.  Smith,  R.  J.  Sledge,  F.  M.  Low,  L.  L.  Foster,  R. 
C.  Burleson,  J.  L.  Whittle  and  W.  B.  Denson,  who  formu- 
lated the  following  basis  of  consolidation : 

1.  That  Waco  and  Baylor  Universities  be  consolidated. 
2.  The  name  of  the  school  shall  be  Baylor  University.  3. 
That  Baylor  University  be  located  at  Waco;  and  we  further 
agree  that  the  Female  Department  be  continued  there  as  it 
now  exists;  provided  that  Waco  gives  a  bonus,  (a)  The  old 
buildings  and  grounds  of  Waco  University;  (b)  the  $60,000 
already  secured  for  an  endowment;  (c)  $45,000  additional 
building  fund;  (d)  twenty  acres  of  ground  for  a  building  site 
for  the  University;  provided,  further,  that  at  the  expiration  of 
ten  years  the  continuance  of  the  system  of  co-education  at 
Waco  be  determined  by  a  majority  of  the  consolidated  body, 
to  which  the  institution,  with  its  funds  and  property,  shall 
belong.  4.  That  as  very  many  Baptists  oppose  co-educa- 
tion that  Baylor  Female  College  be  located  at  some  other  cen- 
tral point,  the  place  where  located  to  give  a  bonus  of  at  least 
suitable  grounds  and  buildings;  and  that  Baylor  Female  Col- 
lege, thus  located,  be  also  the  property  of  the  consolidated 
General  Body.  5.  That  the  endowment  of  the  present  Bay- 
lor University  go  to  Waco  Avith  the  new  Baylor  University, 
according  to  the  terms  agreed  upon  by  the  State  Convention, 
and  published  in  these  minutes.  6,  That  the  act  of  locating 
Baylor  Female  College  be  referred  to  the  following  persons: 
F.  M.  Law,  A.  W.  Dunn,  H.  W.  Waters,  C.  R.  Breedlove,  G. 
W.  Capps,  J.  B.  Link,  R.  J.  Sledge,  R.  Andrews,  O.  H.  P. 
Garrett,  M.  V.  Smith,  G.  W.  Breedlove,  Hosea  Garrett,  A. 
W.  Mclver,  Wm.  Howard,  J.  H.  Stribling,  S.  A.  Beachamp, 
W.  R.  Maxwell,  C.  C.  Garrett  and  S.  F.  Styles." 

The  public-spirited  citizens  of  Waco  met  all  the  require- 
ments of  the  committee,  and  secured  the  consolidated  uni- 
versity; and  Baylor  Female  College  was  removed  from  Inde- 
pendence and  located  at  Belton. 


456 


The  Life  and  Writings  of 


The  Trustees  of  their  respective  schools  met  soon  there- 
after and  acquiesced  in  the  action  of  the  joint  committee,  and 
thus  ended  a  controversy  that  had  been  going  on  among  Texas 
Baptists,  in  changing  form,  for  twenty  years. 

The  settlement  gave  Texas  Baptists  the  university  at 
Waco,  the  peer  of  any  in  all  the  States,  and  Baylor  Female 
College,  which  has  been  denominated  the  "Vassar  of  the 
South." 


Dr.  Etifus  C.  Burleson.  *  45^ 


CHAPTER  LIII. 


Results  of  Baptist  Educational  Reconstruction  in  Texas 
First  Session  of  the  Consolidated  School — Dr. 
■Burleson's  Remarks — Transfer  of  Property  of 
"Waco  University — Gen.  Speight,  President,  and  W. 
H.  Jenkins,  Secretary,  of  the  Old  Board — Their 
Faithfulness — B.  H.  Carroll,  President  of  the  'Nwfr 
Board — His  First  Report  to  the  Convention — New 
College  Campus  Purchased,  and  ITew  Buildings 
Erected — In  1893  All  Debts  Paid — Co-Education 
Readopted  After  Ten  Years'  Trial — ^Dr.  Burleson 
A  Hard  Worker — In  Baylor,  His  Rosiest  Dream 
Realized — Exposure  in  Early  Days  in  Texas — Ad- 
vanced IN  Life — Elected  President  Emeritus  on  Full 
Pay — His  Letter  of  Acceptance — Trustees  Kneel, 
Dr.  Burleson  Leads  in  Prayer — Public  Ca- 
reer Closes  in  a  Spirit  of  Human  ]\Iagnanimity,  and 
Flow  of  Christian  Fellowship  and  Love. 


D 


R.  BURLESGlSr,  it  will  be  seen,  came  out  of  the  tur- 
moil and  confusion  of  the  period  of  Baptist  educa- 
tional reconstruction  in  Texas  with  nearly  every- 
thing he  had  contended  for.  The  school  over  which  he  pre- 
sided was  retained  at  Waco,  his  contention  for  co-educatiou 
was  sustained,  and  he  was  continued  in  the  Presidency.  He 
claimed  no  part  of  the  brilliant  victory  won  in  the  contest; 
that  was  left  for  the  historian,  and  to  be  settled  by  a  verdict  of 
the  people,  which  has  been  rendered  in  his  favor.     In  all  his 


458  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

struggles  for  higher  education  in  Texas,  covering  a  period  of 
forty-seven  years  and  in  his  efforts  to  retain  the  University  at 
Waco,  he  had  the  valuable  help  of  mighty  men,  to  v^^hom 
Waco  and  Texas  are  under  lasting  obligations,  which  should 
never  be  forgotten.  But  the  verdict  of  the  people  is  that 
Dr.  Burleson  deserved  more  credit  for  raising  Baylor  Univer- 
sity to  its  present  high  standard  than  'any  one  man,  either 
living  or  dead.  All  effort,  should  such  be  made,  to  displace 
him  from  his  hard-earned  position  in  history  will  prove  to  be 
as  fruitless  as  an  effort  to  dislodge  the  sun  from  his  eternal 
resting  place. 

The  first  session  of  the  consolidated  University  opened 
September  the  20th,  1886. 

All  the  departments  of  a  first-class  university  were  pro- 
vided for. 

There  were  215  male  and  122  female  students  matricu- 
lated the  first  session,  a  total  of  337.  This  was  increased  in 
1877  to  479.  In  opening  the  first  session  after  consolida- 
tion. Dr.  Burleson,  in  his  address,  remarked  in  part  as  follows : 

Future  of  Baylok-Waco  University. 

Henceforth  Waco  University  will  be  known  as  Baylor 
University.  By  the  terms  of  consolidation,  adopted  by 
eighty  representative  men  from  every  part  of  Texas,  assembled 
at  Temple,  December  10,  1885,  it  was  agreed  that  Baylor 
University,  chartered  in  1845,  should  be  united  with  the 
Waco  University,  chartered  in  1861,  under  the  venerated 
name  of  Baylor  University,  to  be  located  at  Waco.  The 
$76,000  endowment  of  Baylor  and  $60,00  of  Waco,  and  the 
faculties  and  Boards  of  Trustees  consolidated  and  all  placed 
tinder  the  control  of  the  Texas  Baptist  General  Convention, 
to  be  co-extensive  with  the  whole  State. 

It  was  also  agreed  that  the  endowment  be  increased  to 
$500,000,  active  available  funds,  and  not  as  heretofore,  "on 
paper." 

N^ever  before  has  there  been  so  much  union  in  our  educa- 
tional work.  The  180,000  Baptists  of  Texas  are  vigorously 
at  work  to  make  Baylor  University,  at  Waco,  the  peer  of  any 
university  on  the  planet.     In  this  grand  work  every  Baptist 


Dr.  Eufus  0.  Burleson.  459 

lias  a  part.  We  need  alike  the  thousands  of  the  rich,  and  the 
tens  and  hundreds  of  those  not  rich.  "We  want  every  widow 
in  Texas  to  have  at  least  a  "mite"  in  this  work,  that  will 
increase  and  shine  with  increasing  splendors  for  at  least  a  thou- 
sand years  to  come.  But  so  grand  a  work  cannot  be  accom- 
plished by  good  wishes  and  high-sounding  resolutions.  While 
nothing  succeeds  like  success,  yet  success  will  end  in  failure, 
unless  pushed  on  to  a  grander  success. 

Indeed,  great  successes  are  always  fraught  with  ruin 
without  increased  vigilance,  toil  and  prayer.  And  while  no 
institution  in  Texas  has  such  glorious  prospects  as  Baylor- 
Waco  University  gathering  around  it — the  glorious  history, 
the  splendid  success — yet  without  untiring  energy  and  pru- 
dence all  may  yet  be  wrecked.  We,  therefore,  call  every 
Baptist  and  friend  of  Christian  education  in  Texas  to  increased 
zeal  and  activity  and  prayer  for  the  speedy  consummation  of 
this  glorious  end. 

The  following  year,  March  14th,  1887,  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  Waco  University  met,  when  they  proceeded  to 
comply  with  the  requirements  of  the  Temple  Committee. 
There  were  present  J.  S.  Allen,  M.  D.  Herring,  John  L.  Dyer, 
H.  C.  Burleson,  J.  M.  Anderson,  M.  H.  Standifer,  James  B. 
Baker  and  Warwick  H.  Jenkins.  The  meeting  was  held  in 
the  basement  of  the  First  Baptist  Church.  The  President  of 
the  Board  being  absent,  J.  S.  Allen  presided.  The  object  of 
the  meeting  was  stated  to  be  as  follows : 

"The  Baylor  University  at  Waco  is  now  fully  organized 
under  its  new  charter.  Under  the  agreement  made  and 
entered  into  at  Temple,  this  corporation  was  to  turn  over  to 
the  new  University,  if  located  at  Waco,  all  of  its  property  of 
every  kind.  The  new  University  has  been  so  located,  and 
this  meeting  is  called  to  take  action  in  reference  to  the  trans- 
fer of  the  property  to  the  new  University." 

The  follow^ing  resolution  was  then  offered  and  unani- 
mously adopted : 

Whereas,  The  Baptist  denomination  of  Texas  has 
located  the  Baptist  University,  under  the  name  of  Baylor 
University,  at  Waco,  Texas,  in  the  City  of  Waco;  and 

Whereas,  The  location  of  said  University  is  in  pursuance 


460  The  Life  and  AVeitings  of 

of  an  agreement  made  and  entered  into  on  the  9tli  day  of 
December,  1885,  in  Temple,  a  part  of  wliich  was  that  the 
Board,  in  consideration  of  said  location  in  AVaco,  should  con- 
vey to  the  new  University,  when  so  located,  all  of  its  assets- 
of  every  kind,  including  lands,  buildings,  endowment,  libraiy^ 
apparatus,  money,  stocks,  rights,  credits  and  chose  in  action; 
now,  therefore,  in  consideration  of  the  foregoing,  and  for  the 
further  consideration  that  said  corporation,  Baylor  University^ 
at  Waco,  Texas,  has  assumed  and  agreed  to  pay  off  and  dis- 
charge all  the  obligations  of  this  corporations; 

Resolved,  That  this  corporation,  the  Waco  University,  do 
by  deed,  duly  executed,  transfer  and  convey  to  said  Board  of 
Trustees  of  Baylor  University,  at  Waco,  Texas,  all  of  its  prop- 
erty of  every  kind,  as  aforesaid. 

On  motion,  the  Board  then  adjourned  subject  to  the  call 
of  the  chair. 

W.  H.  JENKEsTS,  Secretary. 

On  the  22d  of  May  a  resolution  was  passed  authorizing 
General  Joseph  W.  Speight,  President  of  the  Board,  to  make 
the  transfer,  as  provided  in  the  resolution  of  May  14th. 

The  last  meeting  held  by  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Waco> 
University  was  on  June  7th,  1887. 

From  June  22d,  1878,  to  June  the  I7th,  1887,  the  pro- 
ceedings were  recorded  by  Judge  Warwick  H.  Jenkins,  the 
Secretary.  The  minutes  were  most  excellently  kept.  Judge 
Jenkins  did  not  miss  a  single  session  of  the  Board  during  these- 
nine  years,  and  his  characteristic  signature  is  affixed  to  the 
minutes  of  every  meeting  held. 

General  Joseph  W.  Speight  presided  over  the  first  meet- 
ing, held  on  the  21st  of  January,  1861,  and  he  also  presided 
over  the  last  meeting,  held  on  June  7th,  1887.  During  these 
twenty  years,  when  he  was  marked  absent,  which  was  only  a 
few  times,  this  explanation  was  recorded  by  the  Secretary: 
"The  President  absent,  on  account  of  sickness."  ISo  wonder 
that  Dr.  Burleson  was  so  fond  of  using  the  expression,  "cease- 
less,^^ when  his  friends  were  so  ceaseless  in  their  attention ;  and 
no  wonder  he  succeeded,  with  supporters  so  loyal  to  duty. 

The  mission  of  the  Board  having  been  accomplished,  its 
business  was  closed  "in  decency  and  in  order,"  and  the  old 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burlesois".  461 

record,  like  its  predecessor  at  Independence,  was  rolled  back, 
to  take  its  place  among  the  deathless,  but  silent,  annals  of  the 
past. 

Dr.  B.  H.  Carroll,  of  Waco,  succeeded  General  Speight 
to  the  Presidency  of  the  Board  after  consolidation  had  been 
consummated  in  18S7,  and  in  1902  is  still  incumbent.  In 
his  first  annual  report  as  President  of  the  Board,  made  at  a  ses- 
sion of  the  Baptist  General  Convention,  held  in  Dallas,  Sep- 
tember 29th,  1887,  Dr.  Carroll  gives  an  itemized  statement 
■of  the  condition  of  the  old  endowment  fund,  the  operations  of 
the  Financial  Agent  for  the  year,  and  states  what  has  been  and 
is  being  done  in  the  way  of  providing  the  needed  buildings. 

''The  central  building,  120x84  feet  and  three  stories  high, 
is  complete  and  occupied.  The  female  boarding  house,  184 
x84  feet  and  three  stories  high,  is  so  nearly  completed  that  it 
may  be  occupied  in  about  two  weeks.  The  bill  of  furniture 
for  twelve  large  recitation  rooms  and  the  chapel  of  the  central 
building  (only  two  stories)  aggregate  $2,600.  For  sixty-six 
rooms  of  the  boarding  department,  exclusive  of  parlor,  dining 
hall  and  kitchen,  the  aggregate  is  $3,300. 

"The  buildings  are  magnificent  in  appearance  and  exceed 
any  Ave  know  anything  about  west  of  the  Mississippi  River. 
They  are  built  of  brick,  with  stone  finish.  They  are  at  present 
warmed  with  coal  stoves.  The  new  term  opened  with  a  com- 
plete faculty  of  teachers.  We  close  our  report  with  the  fol- 
lowing recommendations : 

1.  That  an  opportunity  be  immediately  granted  for 
-securing  amounts  to  pay  for  the  furniture  herein  specified. 

2.  That  a  larger  number  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  be 
selected  from  Waco  and  its  vicinity,  so  as  to  secure  a  quorum 
for  business. 

At  Houston,  in  1889,  Dr.  Carroll's  report  was  brief,  but 
gives  a  correct  conception  of  the  progress  made  and  condition 
•of  the  University : 

"We  commence  the  new  year  with  twenty-four  profes- 
sors and  teachers,  and  have  already,  though  so  early  in  the 
collegiate  year,  matriculated  412  students.  We  have  now 
sixty-two  young  ladies  in  the  Boarding  Hall,  directly  under 
the  supervision  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Burleson.     There  are  some 


462  The  Life  and  AVeitixgs  of 

other  young  lady  boarders  with  their  relatives  in  private 
houses,  besides  the  resident  female  patronage. 

"The  Maggie  Houston  Boarding  Hall  and  the  homes  of 
the  professors  and  many  eligible  and  convenient  residences  of 
other  families,  are  crowded  with  young  men  from  over  Texas 
and  other  States.     The  spirit  of  the  school  is  admirable." 

No  man  in  Texas  was  more  gratified,  no  man,  it  may  be 
said,  was  or  had  been  in  position  to  be  more  gratified,  over  the 
success  of  the  University  than  Dr.  Burleson.  He  had  led  it  in 
the  wilderness  of  Texas  when  a  toddling  educational  infant  on 
down  to  its  present  stately  proportions  reported  to  the  conven- 
tion by  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  l^either 
Wellington,  at  Waterloo,  nor  Houston,  at  San  Jacinto, 
achieved  a  greater  victory  than  he. 

In  1893,  at  Gainesville,  during  Dr.  Burleson's  second 
term  as  President,  President  Carroll,  after  a  canvass  ol  two 
years,  not  only  made  glad  the  heart  of  Dr.  Burleson,  but  of 
every  Baptist  in  the  State,  and  it  may  be  said  also  of  every 
friend  of  Texas  education,  by  the  following  statement: 

"We  announce  to  you  that  the  great  debt  so  long  crush- 
ing and  crippling  us,  has  been  lifted  off  Baylor  University. 
There  is  not  a  vestige  of  mortgage  or  obligation  of  any  kind 
now  holding  against  our  new  buildings  and  grounds.  They 
are  free  forever.  It  is  true  that  some  debt  attaches  to  the 
outside  property,  which  would  have  been  paid  if  the  time  had 
been  favorable  to  the  sale  of  that  property.  You  will  recall 
the  proposition  of  the  Trustees,  that  if  the  Baptists  of  the 
State,  outside  of  Waco,,  would  pay  $25,000,  by  a  given  date, 
they  (the  Trustees),  by  utilizing  outside  assets  and  by  their 
own  contributions,  would  pay  the  whole  debt." 

The  ten  years  having  expired,  the  time  insisted  on  by  Dr. 
Burleson,  and  fixed  by  the  Consolidation  Committee  at  Tem- 
ple, in  which  to  test  co-education  in  the  University  at  Waco, 
it  was  continued  by  the  convention  in  Houston  in  1896,  and 
adopted  as  a  policy  of  the  school. This  was  a  compliment  to  Dr. 
Burleson's  judgment,  since  its  wisdom  was  seriously  ques- 
tioned when  he  suggested  it.  He  lived  to  see  not  only  Baylor, 
but  two  hundred  of  the  leading  — institutions  of  the  world, 
adopt  co-education  as  a  permanent  policy. 


Db.  Rufus  C.  Bukleson.  463 

From  his  very  boyhood  and  on  through  youth  and  man- 
hood, Dr.  Burleson  was  possessed  of  an  indefatigable  purpose, 
and  was  an  indefatigable  worker.  On  one  occasion  he  was 
heard  to  say  that  he  had  lost  but  one  day  from  his  work  in 
fifty  years;  this  happened  while  waiting  for  Judge  Baylor  to 
close  a  term  of  the  District  Court  of  Milam  County,  in  Cam- 
eron, and  accompany  him  to  an  appointment  on  Little  River. 
He  was  now  seventy-five  years  old.  And  ten  years  more  may 
be  added  to  his  actual  age  on  account  of  the  discomfort  and 
exposure  he  suflfered  during  his  early  years  in  Texas.  Trav- 
eling in  Texas  from  1848  to  1868  was  hard  work.  Dr.  Bui*- 
leson  rode  horseback,  swam  creeks,  slept  in  swamps,  went 
without  food,  and  suffered  innumerable  privations,  all  of 
which  impaired  his  constitution,  never  robust  since  it  was 
impaired  by  hard  study  at  Nashville  University  in  1840. 

The  glory  of  Baylor  was  the  full  realization  of  his  rosiest 
dream  and  the  gratification  of  liis  highest  ambition.  He  had 
reached  the  summit  of  the  hill  of  life,  and  was  descending  to 
the  foot  on  the  other  side,  covered  with  glory  and  renown. 

The  natural  law  of  germination,  growth,  development 
and  decay  is  immutable,  inexorable,  unchanging  and  unvary- 
ing in  its  effect  on  all  life,  both  animate  and  inanimate.  Dr. 
Burleson  never  realized  that  this  law  applied  to  him,  as  to  all 
flesh,  and  at  seventy-five  was  possessed  of  as  much  will  power, 
ambition  and  mental  energy  as  at  any  time  in  his  prime.  He 
was  a  remarkable  character,  and  it  required  just  this  kind  of 
a  man  to  succeed  in  building  in  Texas.  His  qualifications 
were  God-given  and  special. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Baylor  Uni- 
versity, held  June  the  10th,  1897,  Judge  W.  H.  Jenkins  intro- 
duced the  following  resolution : 

"Resolved,  That  Dr.  R.  C.  Burleson  be  elected  Chancellor 
of  Baylor  University  for  life,  on  a  salary  of  $2,000  per  year, 
on  the  following  conditions:  At  pleasure  and  convenience 
to  labor  for  the  school;  right  to  preside  over  the  faculty;  sug- 
gest lines  of  discipline ;  advise  with  and  counsel  the  Board  and 
faculty  on  all  matters;  Board  to  select  faculty,  with  advice  of 
the  Chancellor;  the  Board  to  select  the  chairman  of  the 
faculty." 


464  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

The  debate  on  this  resolution  brought  out  every  relative 
and  pertinent  fact  in  reference  to  the  Presidency  and  faculty 
of  the  school,  and  resulted  in  the  unopposed  adoption  of  this 
substitute : 

"Resolved,  First,  That  Dr.  E.  C  Burleson  be  elected 
President  Emeritus  of  Baylor  University  for  life,  on  a  salary 
of  $2,000  per  year,  to  be  paid  and  received  under  all  condi- 
tions of  payment  of  professors  doing,  regular  class  work. 

"Resolved,  Second,  That  the  object  of  this  election  is  not 
meant  to  sever  his  name,  memory  and  influence  from  Baylor 
University,  but  relieving  him  of  the  duties  and  responsibilities 
of  teaching  and  administration,  onerous  to  his  advanced  age. 
Will  allow  him  to  do  such  general  work  of  travel  and  corre- 
spondence and  lecturing  to  young  preachers  as  may  suit  his 
own  convenience  and  inclination." 

A  committee,  composed  of  O.  S.  Lattimore  and  J.  B. 
Scarborough,  were  appointed  to  infoi-m  Dr.  Burleson  of  the 
action  of  the  Trustees. 

The  following  day,  June  11th,  Dr.  Burleson  appeared  in 
person  before  the  Board  in  a  called  session,  and  presented  the 
subjoined  communication : 

Waco,  Texas,  June  11,  1897. 
To  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Baylor  TJn,iversity: 

Dear  Bketheen — I  have  received  and  prayerfully  con- 
sidered your  proposition  of  last  night,  in  which  you  now  pro- 
pose to  elect  me  President  Emeritus  for  life,  on  a  salary  of 
$2,000  a  year.  In  this  new  departure  you  propose  to  relieve 
me  from  teaching,  administration  and  nominating  mem- 
bers of  the  faculty,  but  to  assign  me  the  laborious  duties  of 
traveling,  correspondence  and  lecturing  on  homiletics.  My 
dear  brethren,  I  wish  to  say  in  all  kindness  and  love,  this  is  a 
sad  innovation  on  the  laws  and  usages  of  Baylor  University 
for  forty-six  years,  and  by  which  the  school  has  achieved  its 
present  glory.  I  solemnly  fear  that  great  evil  will  result 
from  such  an  innovation. 

But  to  decline,  and  dissolve  my  connection  with  Baylor, 
for  which  I  have  toiled  for  forty-six  years,  and  sacrificed 
$18,000  inherited  from  my  father  and  father-in-law,  would 
bring  irreparable  damage  on  my  life  purpose  of  founding  a 


De.  RuFUS    C.  BuKLESOiS". 


465 


great  Baptist  university.     I  ^^all,  therefore,  accept  the  posi- 
tion assigned  me  and  give  it  a  fair  trial,  and  do  all  in  my 
power  to  advance  the  glory  of  Baylor  University. 
Yours  respectfully, 

EUFUS  C.  BURLESON". 

When  the  reading  of  this  letter  had  been  concluded,  the 
Trustees  knelt,  while  Dr.  Burleson  led  in  prayer.  And  thus, 
and  there,  and  then,  terminated  his  public  career,  in  a  spirit  of 
human  magnanimity  and  flow  of  Christian  love  and  fellowship. 


466  The  Life  and  Writings  ov 


AFTER-WORD. 


OKD  MACAULAY  said  that  while  England  could 
boast  of  multitudes  of  literary  men  possessed  of  a 
high  order  of  genius,  yet  she  had  produced  but  two 
with  great,  original,  imaginative  minds.  One  of  these  was 
the  author  of  Pilgrim's  Progress;  the  other  Paradise  Lost. 

So  we  say,  Texas  can  boast  of  a  multitude  of  great  preach- 
ers, accomplished  scholars  and  able  educators,  but  has  pro- 
duced but  one  K.  C.  Burleson.  Some  surpassed  him  in  the 
pulpit,  others  were  superior  in  scholastic  accomplishments, 
and  still  others  outstripped  him  in  profound  learning.  But  in 
courage,  unconquerable  loyalty  to  purpose,  ability  to  make  a 
standing  place,  marvelous  capacity  for  work,  in  strength  of 
administrative  capacity,  in  the  educational  affairs  of  Texas, 
like  Bunyan  and  Milton  in  literature,  he  occupies  a  position 
to  himself. 

In  youth  Milton  was  consumed  with  the  ambition  to 
give  the  world  its  master  epic.  Bunyan  was  saturated  with  a 
heaven-born  pui'pose  to  preach.  In  their  thirstings  both  were 
as  ceaseless  as  the  unfolding  ages;  but  neither  any  more  so 
than  Kufus  C.  Burleson  to  build  for  the  Baptists  of  Texas  a 
great  institution  of  learning.  That  Milton  and  Bunyan  suc- 
ceeded is  the  consenting  verdict  of  Christendom.  That  Dr. 
Burleson  succeeded  is  the  unassailable  verdict  of  all  Texas. 

In  executing  his  plans  difficulties  fell  athwart  his  line  of 
march,  and  his  plan  of  battle  was  obstructed;  but  he  seemed 
to  be  incapable  of  the  feeling  of  discouragement,  and  was  a 
stranger  to  the  sensation  of  fear.  He  did  not  assail  his  oppo- 
nents like  Sir  Artegal's  iron  man.  Talus,  with  cruel  clubs, 
insensible  to  human  infirmities,  but  won  them  with  reason  if 


Dr.  Kufus  C.  Bukleson.  467 

he  could.  If  he  failed,  he  did  not  walk  backward,  nor  swerve 
one  iota  to  the  right  or  left,  but  pressed  straight  forward,  A\dth 
added  enthusiasm  and  increasing  zeal. 

Possessing  this  element  of  character,  it  may  seem  para- 
doxical, but  is,  nevertheless,  true,  that  no  man  appreciated 
more  highly  the  applause  of  the  public,  or  service  of  a  friend, 
than  did  Dr.  Burleson.  J^apoleon  courted  opposition,  was 
never  despairing,  despised  offers  of  assistance,  and  spurned  the 
approval  of  men.  He  wanted  no  other  impelling  force  than  his 
own  invincible  spirit.  This  is  consistency  of  character.  In 
the  face  of  opposing  forces  these  two  men  were  spurred  on  by 
the  same  incentive,  and  revealed  the  sa.me  trait  of  character. 
Amid  the  world's  applause  they  displayed  widely  variant  dis- 
positions. 

Dr.  Burleson  stood  against  obloquy  calmly,  met  oppo- 
nents lovingly,  contended  with  difficulties  bravely,  and  won 
his  spurs  fairly. 

IsTothing  good  was  overlooked.  He  was  made  a  Mason 
in  1853,  was  a  valuable  member  of  the  Texas  State  Historical 
Association,  Chaplain  and  active  member  of  Texas  Veteran 
Association,  charter  member  of  the  State  Teachers'  Associa- 
tion, and  was  keenly  alive  to  every  public  movement  and  took 
part  in  every  public  discussion;  yet  he  made  education  and 
Baylor  University  the  corner-stone  to  his  entire  polity. 

Work  was  his  watchword,  and  it  may  be  said  that  he 
lived  and  died  with  his  shoulder  pressing  the  collar.  Return- 
ing from  Limestone  County,  where  he  assisted  in  setting 
apart  two  brethren  to  the  Deaconhood,  he  took  his  bed,  and  on 
the  fourteenth  of  May,  nineteen  hundred  and  one,  a  breath 
from  heaven  blew  out  his  light  of  life. 

Stretched  on  his  couch,  with  every  fiber  and  filament  of 
that  old  body,  that  had  felt  the  blasts  of  seventy-eight  winters, 
quivering  with  pain,  he  begged  the  watchers  to  turn  his  bed 
so  he  could  see  the  University  one  more  time. 

I  long  to  look  on  Baylor's  walls, 

Just  one  more  time. 

Where  for  years  I  prayed  and  toiled. 

Before  mine  eyes  grow  too  dim 

To  catch  that  hallowed  spot. 

Turn  my  bed,  so  I  may  look 


^^8  The  Life  and  AVritixgs  of 

Through  the  mists  of  death. 
On  those  sacred  precincts. 
Turn  it  quiclily,  for  I  hear 
The  wings  of  angels  fluttering. 
And  soon  they'll  come  with  message, 
Which  all  the  Redeemed  in  glory  have  heard, 
Come  up  higher,  and  wear  a  crown, 
Fashioned  by  the  Eternal  One, 
And  worn  by  Ransomed  Spirits, 
Through  all  uncounted  ages, 
In  realms  of  endless  bliss. 
Now  I  see  that  hallowed  spot. 
And  look  for  the  last  time, 
Upon  its  sacred  precincts. 
Oh,  Baylor,  Baylor! 
Within  thy  classic  walls, 
I  have  poured  out  my  soul  to  God, 
For  strength  and  wisdom 
To  guide  young  hearts  and  minds, 
Into  places  of  piety  and  peace. 
And  fill  their  hearts  with  holy  aspirations. 
Since  Texas  was  young 
And  thee  but  a  toddling  infant, 
,  We  have  walked  'til  now  in  locked  embrace, 

But  the  hour  of  final  separation  has  come. 
My  language  is  faint,  my  vision  gone. 
Sightless,  in  low-whispered  accents 
I  bid  Thee  a  loving  and  dying  farewell. 
Farwell,  farewell,  forever  and  ever  farewell. 

Dr.  Burleson,  it  may  be  said,  saw  the  Genesis  of  Texas, 
and  ere  his  eyes  closed  in.  death  had  the  supreme  satisfaction 
of  witnessing  its  powerful  expansion  along  both  moral  and 
material  lines.  He  saw  the  population  of  the  State  increase 
from  less  than  50,000  to  more  than  3,000,000.  He  saw  the 
transportation  facilities  increase  from  an  occasional  tramp 
sailing  vessel,  to  thousands  of  ocean  palaces,  and  the  railroad 
lines  from  nothing  to  10,000  miles.  He  saw  the  taxable  wealth 
of  the  State  grow  from  less  than  $100,000,000,  to  more 
than  $1,000,000,000.  He  saw  the  cultivated  area  expand 
from  little  farms  scattered  here  and  there,  to  more  than  100,- 
000,000  acres. 

He  saw  Texas  Baptists  increase  from  a  mere  handful  of 
hardy,  struggling  pioneers,  to  a  mighty  army  of  300,000  well 
trained  soldiers  of  the  cross.    He  saw  Baylor  University  open 


Dk.  Eufus  C.  Burlesox.  46& 

with  fiftj-seven  students,  and  lived  to  see  nearly  1,000  matri- 
culate in  tlie  same  school.  He  saw  the  institution  domiciled  in 
a  wooden  building  worth  $800,  and  lived  to  see  it  occupy 
palatial  structures  worth  $300,000. 

ISTot  only  so,  but  he  lived  to  see  the  Great  Republic,  the 
giant  of  the  West,  shake  off  its  fetters  of  isolation,  emerge 
from  its  policy  of  seclusiveness  and  become  one  of  the  com- 
mercial, financial  and  diplomatic  giants  of  the  world. 

He  lived  to  see  the  most  wonderful  and  rapid  commer- 
cial expansion  made  by  any  people  in  the  annals  of  time. 

Dr.  Burleson  not  only  had  the  pleasure  of  witnessing  all 
this  marvelous  growth,  wonderful  development,  and  the  trans- 
forming influence  of  new  thought,  and  broader  plans,  both 
in  Texas  and  his  common  country,  but  in  the  evening  of  life 
and  twilight  of  his  career  among  men,  the  inexpressible  satis- 
faction of  feeling  that  his  contribution  was  some  part  of  the 
forces  that  had  wrought  this  improvement  in  the  moral,  edu- 
cational and  industrial  condition  of  the  people. 


470 


The  Life  and  Writings  of 


S.  L.  MoERis.  Mrs.  Hallie  Byed  Burleson-Moreis. 

Georgialene.  Lawrence. 

S.  L.  MORRIS  AND  FAMILY. 


Richard  A.  Burleson.  Mrs.  Ida  Bloodwoeth-Bueleson. 

Bessie  Byed.  Emma  King. 

RuFus  C.  Geoegia  Belle. 

R.  A.  BURLESON  AND  FAMILY. 


Dr.  Rttfus  C.  Burlesox.  4:71 


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 

For  valuable  assistance  in  the  preparation  of  this  work  I 
am  indebted  to  Mrs.  Georgia  J.  Burleson,  Richard  A.  Burle- 
son, Prof.  W.  W.  Franklin,  T.  W.  Morriss,  Prof.  H.  F.  Prit- 
cliett,  Mrs.  Harry  Haynes,  Mrs.  Virginia  Gillette  Murrell, 
and  to  I.  D.  Affleck  for  special  help  in  preparing  the  chapters 
setting  forth  the  facts  of  Dr.  Burleson's  service  for  public  edu- 
cation in  Texas. 

PECOEDS  CONSULTED. 

First  Baptist  church  of  Houston  commenced  in  1841. 

Waco  Classical  School,  and  Waco  University  commenced 
in  1861. 

Baylor' University  at  Waco,  commenced  in  1887. 

Baptist  church  in  Brenham  commenced  in  1846, 

Masonic  Lodge  at  Independence,  commenced  in  1839. 

Originail  records  of  Uiiion  Baptist  Association,  com- 
menced in  1840. 

Original  records  of  the  Baptist  State  convention,  com- 
menced in  1848. 

Original  records  Board  Trustees  of  Waco  University. 

Private  papers  of  R.  C.  Burleson. 

HISTORIES. 

Pickett's  History  of  Alabama. 
Wailes'  Agriculture  and  Geology  of  Mississippi. 
Marllary's  Memoirs  of  Jesse  Mercer. 
Fuller's  History  of  Texas  Baptists. 
Monette's  History  of  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi. 
Texas  Historical  and  Biographical  Magazine. 
Thrall's  History  of  Texas. 
Comprehensive  History  of  Texas. 
Armitage's  History  of  the  Baptists. 
Brief  History  of  the  Burleson  Family. 
Emerson's  History  of  the  Nineteenth  Century. 
Proceedings  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Peabody  Education 
Fund. 


PART  11. 


FUNERAL  AND  MEMORIAL  SERVICES 


AT  WACO  AUDITORIUM,  MAY  15,  1901. 


De.  Kufus  C.  Buelesox.  475 


FUNERAL  AND  MEMORIAL  SERVICES 

AT  WACO  AUDITORIUM,  MAY  15,  1901. 


Scripture  reading  by  Dr.  S.  J.  Anderson.  I  Cor.  15  :35- 
55;  I  Thess.  4:13-18;  Is.  5-7. 

Prayer  by  Dr.  A.  M.  Johnson. 

"Oil,  God,  we  come  to  thee  for  help  and  blessing.  This 
to  us  all  is  an  hour  of  great  sorrow  and  bereavement.  We  are 
all  bereft,  ^vith  his  loved  ones  from  whom  he  has  gone  for 
awhile.  Strengthen  us  to  bear  the  stroke  which  has  fallen 
so  heavily  upon  us.  Pour  the  oil  of  comfort  into  the  broken, 
l)leeding  hearts  of  the  loved  ones  left  behind.  Give  to  all  of 
lis  a  portion  of  Thy  grace  to  sustain  us  in  this  hour  of  great 
trial.  Thou  didst  give  unto  us  this  great  and  good  man,  and 
Thou  hast  taken  him  from  us.  Help  us  to  say :  "The  Lord 
hath  given  and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away;  blessed  be  the 
name  of  the  Lord." 

"Our  Father,  we  thank  Thee  that  sorrow  is  not  all  that 
"we  experience  in  our  hearts  on  this  occasion.  Joy  mingles 
with  it,  and  sweetens  our  grief.  We  rejoice  in  the  life  and 
"work  of  our  brother  and  friend  whose  lifeless  form  now  lies 
before  us.  We  rejoice  in  the  excellencies  and  glory  of  his 
•character,  and  the  fruits  of  his  labors.  Thy  redeeming  grace, 
made  him  pure,  good,  and  great.  We  see  the  exhibition  in 
his  life  and  work,  of  what  grace  divine,  can  do  for  men  here 
•on  earth,  and  the  glorious  victory  it  gives  in  death. 

"Through  the  veil  that  intervenes  between  us  and  the 
home  of  the  soul,  by  faith  we  see  our  brother  seated  in  the 


476  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

Kingdom  of  Glory  with  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob.  He  is- 
gone,  his  face  will  be  seen  no  more  among  us.  We  will  miss- 
hirh  and  feel  the  loss  of  his  wise  counsel.  Help  us  all  to- 
cherish  his  memory  and  to  imitate  his  virtue  and  holy  example. 
Be  Thou,  Oh  Lord,  the  ever  present  God  of  his  wife  and 
children,  holding  them  in  readiness  for  the  meeting  and  the- 
re-union on  high,  which  is  sure  to  come  to  them  with  the 
weight  of  eternal  blessing  and  glory,  through  Jesus  Christ,  our 
Lord  and  Redeemer.     Amen." 


EUNERAL  SERMON  BY -DR.  W.  H.  PARKS. 

"For  I  know  whom  I  have  believed,  and  am  persuaded 
that  he  is  able  to  keep  that  which  I  have  committed  unto  him,, 
against  that  day."     2  Tim.  1 :12. 

The  sweep  of  Paul's  spiritual  vision  was  matchless.  At 
one  glance  he  saw  flashes  of  the  purpose  and  grace  which  were 
in  Christ  Jesus  before  the  world  began,  the  hardships,  prisons, 
and  death  of  the  saints  and  the  uplifted  crown  reserved  for  the 
faithful  servants  of  God. 

"No  wonder  then,  that  with  this  scope  of  vision  he  could 
exhort  his  son  Timothy  not  to  be  ashamed  of  the  gospel  and 
of  him,  a  prisoner  because  of  "the  afflictions  of  the  gospel;" 
knowing  that  through  the  gospel,  Christ  had  brought  life  and 
immortality  to  light,  having  abolished  death.  To  strengthen 
Timothy  for  the  warfare  before  him,  he  places  before  his  mind 
the  whole  scope  of  his  own  comprehensive  vision,  and  declares- 
that  though  he  suffers  he  is  not  ashamed.  "For,"  he  says,  "I 
know  whom  I  have  believed."  This  is  strangely  in  contrast 
with  the  doubtings  and  speculations  of  men  in  all  the  ages. 
But  Paul  was  a  man  thoroughly  furnished.  His  faith  was- 
not  of  that  flickering  kind  that  looked  as  if  it  might  be  snuffed 
out  by  any  adverse  hand.  His  knowledge  was  assertive  and 
no  man  could  gainsay  it.  So  profound  was  he  and  so  dog- 
matic that  we  are  not  left  "to  find  out  by  searching"  but  to 
know  because  God  has  spoken.  When  the  providences  of  God 
are  threatening  the  saints  and  they  are  trembling  in  appre- 
hension of  some  dire  disaster,  He  calls  to  them  above  the  roar 
of  the  storm,  "We  know  that  all  things  work  together  for  good 


Dr.  Rctfus  C.  Burleson.  47T 

to  them  that  love  God."  When  afflictions  are  pressing  him 
sore  and  no  prospect  of  relief  on  earth  is  held  ont  to  him,  he 
looks  beyond  into  the  eternal  light  and  as  its  glories  enrapture 
his  soul,  he  cries  out  "we  know  that  if  our  earthly  house  of 
this  tabernacle  were  dissolved,  we  have  a  building  of  God, 
an  house  not  made  with  hands  eternal  in  the  heavens." 

He  was  a  disciple  of  that  "great  teacher  sent  from  God," 
^'whose  teachings  were  truth  and  whose  words  were  living." 
"The  words  which  I  speak  unto  you,  thev  are  spirit,  they  are 
life." 

Other  men  had  devised  systems,  had  taught  theories,  had 
invented  philosophies  and  all  had  their  followers,  who  believed 
the  doctrines  of  their  respective  teachers,  but  it  was  left  to 
Paul's  great  teacher  to  give  to  the  world  a  system  of  divine 
philosophy,  of  living  words  which  could  quicken  the  dead 
spirit  of  lost  man  into  life,  power  and  knowledge.  The 
spiritual  child  of  God,  when  he  has  had  sweet  communion 
with  his  Father,  when  he  has  been  the  beneficiary  of  blessings 
■directly  sought  and  directly  bestowed,  when  he  has  been 
"delivered  from  the  snare  of  the  fowler"  and  when  he  has 
then  turned  to  the  treasure  house  of  God's  promises  and  God's 
assurances,  may  well  cry  with  exultation,  "I  know  whom  I 
have  believed." 

The  afflicted  patriarch,  with  his  property  and  children 
swept  from  him  with  putrid  sores  torturing  his  body,  with 
would-be  comforters  upbraiding,  cried  from  the  depth  of  his 
woe,  "I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth." 

The  beloved  disciple  as  he  meditated  upon  the  dissolution 
■of  his  body  and  the  deformity  which  death  might  work  upon 
it,  lifted  his  eye  above  the  grave  and  fixing  upon  the  bright 
figure  beyond  exclaimed,  "We  know  that  when  He  shall 
appear  we  shall  be  like  Him."  Blessed  knowledge  !  How  it 
lifts  the  fallen,  cheers  the  faint,  nerves  the  weak  and  leads 
the  blind !  The  Bible  is  a  fact.  Christianity  is  a  reality. 
Its  system  of  truths  is  a  fact.  Its  scheme  of  redemption  is 
a  fact,  its  final  consummation  will  be  the  great,  glorious, 
central  fact  of  the  universe. 

I  note  further  the  subject  matter  of  the  Apostle's  knowl- 
edge. He  does  not  simply  claim  to  know  the  grace  of  God, 
but  him  by  whom  the  grace  came.     He  does  not  claim  to  know 


4T8  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

a  system  of  revealed  truths,  but  the  author,  the  embodiment 
of  truth.  He  does  not  claim  to  know  the  lessons  by  his  "great 
teacher  taught,"  but  the  teacher  himself. 

While  it  is  blessed  to  know  things,  it  is  glorious  to  know 
Him.  "I  determined  not  to  know  anything  among  you  save 
Jesus  Christ."  "And  this  is  life  eternal,  that  they  might 
know  thee,  and  Jesus  Christ  whom  thou  hast  sent."  To  know 
him,  he  musit  be  manifested  by  himself  unto  us.  "He  that 
.  loveth  me  shall  be  loved  of  my  father,  and  I  will  love  him  and 
will  manifest  myself  unto  Him."  Paul  loved  Him  and  by 
divine  manifestation  was  made  to  know  Him.  That  manifes- 
tation was  intimate  and  full,  for  it  was  made  by  divine  in- 
dwelling. "If  a  man  love  Me,  he  will  keep  My  words;  and 
my  Father  will  love  him,  and  we  will  come  unto  Him  and 
make  our  abode  with  Him."  And  thus  He  manifests  Him- 
self. 

We  may  meet  a  man  upon  the  streets,  may  talk  with  him 
and  may  even  have  business  relations  with  him  and  think  we 
know  him,  but  not  till  he  comes  into  our  home  and  abides 
with  us  there,  can  we  truly  know  him.  This  our  God  offers 
to  do  with  those  who  love  him.  "We  will  make  our  abode 
with  Him."  He  will  manifest  His  grace  when  favors  are 
sought,  when  we  are  weak  He  will  extend  a  helping  hand  and 
give  strength,  he  will  pity  us  when  we  suffer,  sympathize  with 
us  and  deliver  us  when  tempted,  sanctify  our  joys  when  we 
rejoice,  direct  and  hallow  our  aspirations  for  higher  life,  for 
holy  things.  Not  only  does  He  abide  with  us  but  in  us.  He 
is  enthroned  in  our  hearts.  Though  his  pure  white  throne 
is  eternal  in  the  heavens.  He  has  a  throne  in  every  heart  that 
loves  Him,  and  thus  it  is.  He  manifests  Himself.  Thus  it  is 
that  He  makes  us  to  know  Him.  Well  then  might  one  like 
Paul  claim  to  know  Him.  He  believed  Him  and  so  fully 
that  he  was  persuaded,  convinced  that  He  would  keep  that 
which  He  had  committed  unto  Him  against  that  day.  We  do 
not  need  to  ask  what  Paul  had  committed  to  his  Lord.  He 
was  no  half-hearted  man.  He  was  his  Lord's  altogether  or 
he  was  nothing.  His  body,  mind  and  spirit  were  all  laid  at 
his  Master's  feet,  all  consecrated  to  His  cause.  These  and 
all  that  pertain  to  them  or  that  may  grow  out  of  them,  had 
been  entrusted  to  the  divine  keeping.     That  new  born  creature 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Bueleson.  479 

that  spiritual  being,  whose  Father  is  God,  was  taken  from  the 
bull-rushes  of  sin  and  committed  to  the  keeping  of  Him,  who 
is  more  tender  than  a  mother  and  stronger  than  a  father.  And 
though  temptations  might  come  like  rolling  billows,  "deep 
calling  unto  deep,"  yet  nothing  was  able  to  pluck  him  out  of 
the  Father's  hand.  And  his  body  which  had  been  buffeted 
and  striped,  which  had  been  shipwrecked  and  imprisoned, 
which  had  toiled  and  suffered  in  order  to  make  known  the 
grace  and  glory  of  his  Lord,  had  been  committed  to  the  same 
faithful  keeper  with  full  assurance  that  it  would  be  sustained 
under  all  future  trials  and  sufferings,  and  that  when  the  hour 
of  his  departure  should  come,  it  would  be  coffined  in  the  heart 
of  Him  who  has  power  over  death,  who  is  the  "resurrection 
and  the  life."  And  when  Christ  who  is  his  life  shall  appear 
he  shall  also  appear  with  Him  in  glory.  As  with  the  Apostle, 
so  with  the  stately  form  which  lies  before  us.  Though  chilled 
by  the  cold  breath  of  monster  death,  yet  he  who  is  the  resur- 
rection, will  restore  warmth  and  life  and  give  glory.  "When 
he  shall  appear  we  shall  be  like  Him."  "Our  vile  bodies  shall 
be  fashioned  like  unto  his  glorious  body." 

"Against  that  day."  That  glorious  resurrection  day! 
That  day  when  the  graves  and  the  sea  and  every  hiding  place 
shall  give  up  their  dead !  That  day  when  disembodied  spirits 
and  glorified  bodies  shall  be  reunited !  That  day  when  the 
pious  ones  of  scattered  families  shall  strike  hands  in  glory ! 
That  day  when  the  living  shall  be  changed  to  be  conformed, 
to  the  bodies  of  the  risen  dead  that  all  may  be  caught  up 
together  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air!  Among  that  vast 
throng  of  glorified  ones  will  appear  our  friend  and  father,  our 
loved  one  whom  we  lament  to-day. 

Waco  is  in  sackcloth  to-day,  and  Texas  is  weeping,  l^o 
wonder  when  the  sad  news  of  Dr.  Burleson's  death  is  whis- 
pered from  house  to  house  and  from  ear  to  ear,  that  sadness 
and  gloom  settles  over  the  entire  city.  In  private  homes  and 
business  houses,  in  shops  and  on  the  streets,  in  railroad  circles 
and  indeed  everywhere  men  bow  in  sorrow  and  reverence 
under  this  sad  dispensation  of  an  inscrutable  providence. 

Those  who  here  in  the  early  days  of  Waco's  history  know 
by  actual  observation  and  participation  that  by  forty  years  of 
arduous  toil,  sacrifice,  intelligent  direction,  wise  management, 


480  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

and  unswerving  devotion  to  a  purpose  Dr.  Burleson  has  lead 
in  making  or  has  made  this  city  the  Athens  of  Texas,  and  a 
business  center  that  need  not  be  ashamed.  All  Texas  has  been 
the  recipient  of  blessings  from  his  life  and  labors.  Sermons 
preached,  churches  constituted,  souls  saved,  who  can  estimate 
these  which  are  scattered  all  over  this  broad  state.  Educated 
men  and  women  who  have  gone  out  all  over  the  state,  in  all 
the  honorable  walks  of  life,  carrjang  light,  le^irning  and  piety, 
are  instances  of  his  useful  life.  He  was  among  the  first  to 
advocate  the  building  of  railroads  in  Texas.  His  prescience 
revealed  to  him  advantages  to  the  companies,  to  the  people 
and  to  the  state  government.  By  talking,  writing  and  speak- 
ing he  aided  greatly  in  awakening  an  interest  that  set  rolling 
stock  in  motion  and  has  increased  until  Texas  has  become  a 
great  railway  empire  Avithin  herself.  Though  not  a  capitalist, 
he  was  early  taken  into  the  counsels  of  those  who  wo  aid  build 
railroads,  and  his  wisdom  was  recognized  by  all. 

But  that  which  attracted  most  attention  to  his  useful  life 
was  his  interest  in  higher  learning  and  in  this  line  Baylor 
University  is  his  monument,  and  no  man  vdll  ever  be  able  to 
take  his  crown.  His  interest  in  general  education  is  attested 
by  his  fidelity  to  his  trust  as  agent  of  the  Peabody  fund.  Dr. 
Burleson  while  towering  among  the  intellectual  giants  of  his 
day,  was  not  oblivious  to  the  minor  details  of  life.  His  esti- 
mate of  personal  friendship  rendered  it  dishonorable  in  any 
one  and  impossible  to  himself  to  abandon  a  friend,  unless 
driven  by  the  infidelity  of  a  faithless  friend  to  higher  ground. 
It  is  one  of  the  greatest  pleasures  of  my  life  to  have  been  his 
friend,  and  one  of  the  highest  honors  of  my  life  to  have  had 
his  friendship. 

Just  a  word  of  Dr.  Burleson  as  a  public  speaker.  While 
his  flights  of  oratory  were  sometimes  high  and  always  beauti- 
ful and  pleasing,  he  was  irresistibly  logical.  True  the  links 
anight  not  always  be  traced  but  the  connections  were  patent. 

The  worm  may  start  from  the  summit  of  a  mole  hill, 
■descend  its  side  and  cross  the  space  intervening  between  it,  and 
its  neighboring  mole  hill  and  ascend  the  latter,  and  you  can 
trace  his  course,  through  the  dust  the  whole  length  of  his 
journey- 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burlesox.  481 

The  eagle  perched  upon  some  lofty  peak,  spreads  his 
pinions  for  his  lofty  flight,  and  rests  again  upon  a  neighboring 
peak.  You  see  him  here,  now  there.  But  his  course  through 
the  air  is  trackless. 

Dr.  Burleson's  logic  was  not  as  the  crawling  worm,  but 
as  the  lofty  eagle.  His  flight  was  elevated,  his  links  were 
long  and  his  chain  was  irresistible. 

A  good  and  true  man  has  gone  to  his  reward  and  may 
the  Holy  Spirit  comfort  us  and  strengthen  us  while  we  pre- 
pare to  meet  him  in  Glory.     Amen. 


ADDRESS  OF  DR.  S.  J.  ANDERSON". 

"Know  ye  not  that  there  is  a  prince  and  a  great  man 
fallen  this  day  in  Israel."     2  Sam.  3  :38. 

Language  is  entirely  too  meagre  to  give  expression  to  the 
feelings  on  such  an  occasion  as  this.  When  one  has  been 
closely  associated  for  scores  of  years  with  a  man  so  great,  so 
good,  so  eminently  useful,  and  then  realizes  that  forever,  as 
far  as  this  earthly  existence  is  concerned,  such  associations  is 
at  an  end,  he  can  find  no  words  to  express  the  emotions  which 
burn  in  his  bosom  and  completely  overmaster  him. 

Men  are  constantly  dying,  and  no  great  loss  is  felt.  The 
hurt  is  local,  but  when  a  great  man  falls  the  world  is  bereaved. 
When  God  endows  a  man  in  brain  and  heart  above  his  fellows, 
when  He  lays  his  hand  on  him,  the  man  becomes  a  man  of 
destiny.  Such  a  man  was  Moses,  the  great  jurist  and  states- 
man. Such  a  man  was  Isaiah,  the  great  prophet  and  poet. 
Such  a  man  was  Washington,  the  soldier  and  patriot.  Such 
a  man  was  Gladstone,  the  statesman  and  humanitarian.  Such 
a  man  was  Burleson,  the  great  preacher  and  educator. 

When  this  grand  man  died  his  family  and  relatives  were 
bereaved,  Waco  was  bereaved  as  never  before.  Texas  was 
bereft  of  her  noblest  son.  The  Baptist  denomination  was 
sadly  bereaved.     The  world  felt  the  shock  when  Burleson  fell. 

The  life  of  Dr.  Burleson  was  a  life  of  toil  and  sacrifice, 
a  life  of  tears  and  prayer.  His  very  environments  compelled 
him  to  make  brick  without  straw,  but  he  made  them  well. 

31 


482  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

He  has  impressed  his  life  upon  the  world.  He  will  live  on 
and  on  in  the  hearts  of  the  ten  thousand  pupils  who  have 
received  the  inspiration  from  him. 

Among  these  are  Jurists  and  Statesmen,  Educators  and 
Preachers,  besides  the  thousands  who,  in  the  private  walks  of 
life,  are  treading  the  pathway  in  which  he  placed  their  feet. 

Dr.  Burleson  will  never  die.  Through  this  great  army 
of  pupils,  his  influence  will  be  felt  until  the  Judgment  Day. 

More  than  forty  years  ago,  while  a  school  boy,  I  met  this 
great  man.  His  hair  was  like  the  raven,  his  eye  like  the 
eagle.  His  form  was  erect,  and  his  bearing  was  manly.  The 
gentleness  of  the  dove,  and  the  courage  of  the  lion  were 
strangely  combined  in  his  make  up.  I  was  drawn  to  him  as 
to  no  other  man  whom  I  ever  met.  Through  life  he  has  been 
my  ideal  of  greatness  and  of  goodness,  and  when  it  fell  to  my 
lot  to  name  an  institution  of  learning,  which  I  was  to  some 
extent  instrumental  in  founding,  I  placed  what  honor  I  could 
on  this  frier^d.  The  trustees  offered  to  honor  me  with  the 
name,  but  I  felt  it  was  more  honor  to  me  to  give  it  a  name, 
than  that  it  should  bear  my  name,  hence  I  ^^aid,  "ISTo,  brethren, 
we  will  call  it  Burleson  College." 

On  a  hill  one  mile  west  of  the  Court  House  is  Greenville, 
Texas,  stands  this  beautiful  building  of  brick  and  stone,  three 
stories  high,  of  modern  architecture,  and  well  adapted  to  the 
purposes  for  which  it  was  erected.  While  generations  pass, 
it  will  stand  as  a  slight  testimonial  of  the  affection  felt  for  the 
man,  whom  Waco  and  Texas  is  now  honoring  by  this  mighty 
throng  of  citizens,  who  have  assembled  to  pay  this  tribute  of 
respect. 

He  has  left  to  his  family  a  heritage  worth  more  than  gold, 
while  a  sense  of  inexpressible  loneliness  takes  possession  of 
them  on  account  of  this  separation,  yet  their  sadness  is  not 
unmixed.  It  will  always  be  a  well-spring  of  joy  to  them  to 
remember  that  this  beloved  one  lived  for  them,  for  his  country, 
and  for  his  God.  That  he  fought  a  good  fight  and  kept  the 
faith,  that  he  died  in  the  harness,  and  that  henceforth  there  is 
laid  up  for  him  a  crown,  and  that  in  the  blessed  hereafter  they 
will  be  with  him  again. 


!  Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  483 

SPEECH  OF  SUPT.  J.  C.  LATTIMORE. 

(representing  public  schools.) 

It  is  my  purpose  in  the  few  moments  at  my  disposal  to 
say  a  few  words  in  behalf  of  the  school  children  and  the 
teachers  of  Texas,  expressive  of  the  gratitude  due  Dr.  Burle- 
son for  his  long  service  as  a  teacher  and  of  the  keen  loss  sus- 
tained in  his  death. 

I  first  met  Dr.  Burleson  nearly  twenty-seven  years  ago. 
His  kind  face  and  gentle  tones  as  he  welcomed  all  of  the 
children,  drew  me  to  him. 

I  felt  him  to  be  my  friend.  There  wa.s  a  sympathy  in  his 
face  and  a  tenderness  in  his  voice  that  assured  me  that  J  need 
have  no  fear  of  him. 

During  the  greater  part  of  the  intervening  twenty-seven 
years  I  have  been  intimately  associated  with  him,  and  I  have 
never  had  cause  to  reverse  that  first  judgment. 

He  was  not  only  my  friend  but  he  was  the  friend  of 
every  boy  and  girl  throughout  this  broad  land  of  ours,  and 
well  may  the  school  children  of  Waco  and  of  every  other 
school  community  in  Texas  let  fall  tears  of  sorrow  to-day,  for 
they  have  lost  a  friend.  Dr.  Burleson  has  been  a  friend  to 
the  Youth  of  Texas  in  many  ways.  Il^ot  only  has  he  blessed 
those  with  whom  he  has  come  in  direct  contact,  but  by  his 
influence  upon  our  public  school  system  his  life  has  blessed 
thousands  who  never  saw  him. 

During  the  dark  days  of  reconstruction,  the  public  school 
idea  met  with  bitter  opposition  by  many  of  the  best  and  most 
prominent  men  of  Texas  and  other  Southern  States.  It  wa<« 
not  popular  then,  as  it  is  now,  to  advocate  free  schools,  yet  he 
braved  the  storm  of  criticism  that  such  a  course  would  bring 
upon  him  and  fearlessly  advocated,  in  private,  from  the 
rostrum,  and  through  the  press,  a  broad  and  liberal  system  of 
public  schools. 

He  did  much  to  create  public  sentiment  and  popularize 
our  school  system.  While  giving  his  life  to  the  great  upbuild- 
ing of  a  great  private  school,  he  showed  none  of  that  narrow- 


484  The  Life  and  Weitings  of 

ness  and  selfishness  that  so  often  cause  men  to  oppose  whatever 
promises  in  any  sense  to  rival  their  own  undertakings. 

He  did  much  towards  hastening  the  professional  training 
of  teachers  in  Texas.  The  founding  of  the  Sam  Houston 
IsTormal  might  have  been  delayed  for  a  number  of  years,  had 
it  not  been  for  his  influence  in  securing  a  favorable  recommen- 
dation from  Governor  Roberts  to  the  Legislature,  and  in  get- 
ting a  large  contribution  from  the  Peabody  Fund,  with  which 
to  supplement  the  State  appropriation. 

Dr.  Burleson  did  much  toward  effecting  the  organization 
of  Texas  State  Teachers  Association,  and  few  men  were  more 
regular  in  attendance  upon  the  meetings  of  this  body,  or  did 
more  to  bring  it  to  a  high  standard  of  efficiency.  He  was 
indeed  a  friend  to  every  legitimate  school  enterprise,  and  no 
teacher  who  went  to  him  for  counsel  was  turned  away  for  lack 
of  sympathy. 

In  many  respects  Dr.  Burleson  was  an  ideal  teacher.  He 
did  not  select  the  profession  of  teaching,  simply  as  a  means 
of  earning  a  living,  nor  because  he  considered  it  an  easy  call- 
ing. There  were  many  other  vocations  much  more  inviting 
to  the  youth,  striving  for  the  accumulation  of  wealth,  and  cer- 
tainly he  could  have  chosen  none  in  which  the  demand  for  the 
devotion  of  every  moment  of  time  and  every  particle  of  energy 
was  greater. 

He  selected  teaching  because  of  its  opportunities  for 
larger  usefulness  and  greater  good.  And  no  man  ever  fol- 
lowed his  calling  more  earnestly  or  adhered  more  tenaciously 
to  his  purposes.  When  other  men  had  grown  tired  and  had 
lain  down  to  rest  he  toiled  on  with  an  energy  that  never 
flagged.  When,  discouraged  by  apparent  failure,  others  had 
lost  heart  and  had  given  up  in  despair,  his  keen  vision  pene- 
trated the  lowering  clouds  of  temporary  defeat  and  gave  to 
him  a  vision  of  glorious  success  that  would  ultimately  crown 
his  labors;  and  stimulated  by  such  a  vision  his  star  of  hope 
seemed  to  rise  higher  and  higher  as  darker  grew  the  night. 
Though  often  weary,  alone  and  unappreciated,  yet  he  never 
gave  up.  In  the  school  room  his  patience  with  those  for 
whom  he  labored  was  often  misconstrued  and  sometimes  even 
abused,  but  it  mattered  not  with  him,  he  went  straight  forward 
doing  what  he  conceived  to  be  his  duty,  knowing  that  the 


Dk,  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  485 

abuse  of  the  present  would  in  most  cases  give  way  to  appre- 
ciation and  praise  in  the  future. 

His  private  interests  were  always  secondary  to  his  profes- 
sional-duties and  were  never  allowed  to  interrupt  his  duties  as 
a  teacher,  even  though  he  suffered  cruel  abuse  for  this  neglect 
of  self. 

As  he  lies  mute  before  us  we  may  well  ask :  Was  this 
all  in  vain?  Was  his  constant  zeal  of  no  avail?  Was  his 
life  squandered  on  the  barren  field  ?  Have  the  seeds  he  sowed 
perished  or  have  they  taken  root,  and  Avill  a  glorious  harvest 
of  happy,  intelligent,  useful  men  and  women  be  the  result 
of  his  sowing?  Though  his  physical  frame  now  rests,  shall 
he  do  no  more  work?  Though  his  lips  are  now  closed  in 
death,  yet  is  that  voice  silent  ?  For  reply  we  have  to  but  look 
over  this  great  state  of  ours  and  see  men  and  women  in  every 
vocation  who  are  more  successful  because  of  having  come 
under  his  influence,  ^or  is  his  work  confined  to  Texas  or 
even  to  this  continent.  In  the  land  of  the  Southern  Cross, 
and  in  the  pagan  fields  of  the  far  East  his  voice  may  be  heard 
to-day  inviting  men  to  purer  lives  and  eternal  happiness. 

One  of  his  intense  earnestness,  matchless  energy,  an 
indomitable  courage  must  have  accomplished  much  in  even  a 
short  allotment  of  time.  But  his  period  of  activity  was  of 
such  long  duration  that  the  magnitude  of  the  work  he  has 
done  is  truly  amazing.  Only  eternity  can  show  the  full 
measure  of  the  good  done  by  such  a  life. 

"Long  he's  struggled,  but  at  last 

Has  come  a  summons  from  on  high 
And  his  soul  with  angel  escort 

Has  sought  its  home  beyond  the  sky. 

Then  let  the  youth  of  this  great  State 
They  whom  he  has  died  to  save 
,  Ever  with  grateful  hearts  revere  him 

And  with  flowers  bedeck  his  grave." 


486  The  Life  and  Wkittxgs  of  ; 

SPEECH  OF  M.  B.  DAVIS. 

(kepkesenting  the  press.) 

The  prelate  of  the  people,  the  noble  old  churchman, 
under  God's  appointing  and  by  man's  consent,  who  like  a  land- 
mark pointed  inflexibly  the  way,  who  lived  for  his  God  and 
governed  by  that  control  which  needs  no  arms,  no  cannon, 
no  bayonets  and  no  physical  force,  is  dead  as  to  the  mortal 
part,  but  lives  still  and  will  never  pass  away.  Dr.  Burleson 
was  a  democrat  in  religion,  a  log  cabin  preacher,  whose  gentle 
voice  went  further  than  the  bugle  the  warrior  loves,  than  the 
drum  the  soldiers  hear  and  to  the  tender  music  of  his  entreaties 
men  yielded,  not  slavishly,  but  happily.  By  his  mission  he 
was  uplifted,  by  his  uplifting  the  people  arose,  mounting 
under  his  guidance  to  the  higher  plane  where  all  is  harmony 
and  where  all  is  love. 

It  is  customary  on  the  part  of  eulogists  to  place  in  the 
background  some  of  the  faults  of  their  subject,  in  order  by 
contrast  to  brighten  the  vision  of  his  greater  life.  In  the  case 
nf  Dr.  Burleson  he  had  no  faults;  that  is  the  way  I  take  it. 
Jonah  rebelled,  Moses  halted,  David  offended,  but  this  sub- 
lime model,  patterned  after  Christ,  his  Master,  walked  fear- 
lessly without  other  guide.  If  there  were  apparently  some- 
thing needing  improvement  he  was  better  off  without  mortal 
admonitions,  for  then  instead  of  man's  correction  his  refor- 
mation came  from  the  fountain  head  and  each  correction  was 
of  divine  origin.  As  the  body  grew  feebler  the  soul  grew 
stronger,  and  thus  it  was  to  the  end.  In  that  hour  when  the 
seal  was  set  upon  those  glorious  lips  of  his,  that  immutable 
seal  which  none  but  God  can  roll  away,  he  glowed  in  the 
radiance  of  eternal  approval,  and  from  his  death-bed  went 
forth  rays  Avhich  illuminated  the  world,  which  will  beam  with 
the  brightest  stars  in  God's  own  firmament.  This  old  preacher 
was  faith  itself.  Who  knows  what  he  saw  when  his  white  soul 
stood  in  communion,  hearing  only  the  commands  of  the  King 
of  his  existence,  listening  as  did  Moses  and  Samuel  to  the 
orderings  of  Heaven,  commands  he  faithfully  extended  to  his 
religious  constituency  all  over  the  alnd.    I  say  this,  Mr.  Chair- 


Dk.  Eufus  C.  Bueleson.  487 

man,  and  you  ladies  and  gentlemen  liere  assembled  to  do  honor 
to  our  dead  prophet,  that  the  faults  were  absent,  the  virtues 
manifold  and  that  eulogist  will  be  nearest  right  who  goes  the 
furthest  in  the  praise  of  Rufus  C.  Burleson,  D.  D.,  LL.  D., 
the  great  educator  of  Texas,  whose  life  was  devoted  to  the 
noblest  cause  for  which  humanity  is  struggling. 


SPEECH  OF  PEOF.  ^Y.  H.  POOL. 

(representing  old  students.) 

With  bowed  heads  and  sad  hearts  we  gaze  to-day  for  the 
last  time  on  all  that  is  mortal  of  the  Christian  patriot,  the 
eloquent  preacher,  the  gifted  writer,  and  the  successful  edu- 
cator, Ur.  Rufus  C.  Burleson. 

I  do  but  voice  the  sentiments  of  a  large  number  of  the 
ten  thousand  students  whom  this  grand  man  has  instructed 
during  the  last  fifty  years,  when  I  say  that  under  God,  I  owe 
more  to  Dr.  Burleson,  my  parents  excepted,  than  to  any  other 
person  who  has  affected  my  life.  As  a  verdant  country  boy, 
I  was  received  into  his  school  nearly  twenty  years  ago.  It 
was  my  good  fortune  to  come  into  close  relations  with  him 
during  my  entire  college  course,  and  during  all  the  succeeding 
years  I  have  loved  him  as  a  father.  I  rejoice  that  I  did  not 
wait  until  this  solemn  hour  to  first  utter  these  words.  He 
knew  my  devotion  to  him  and  I  am  glad  that  for  many  years 
I  have  been  honored  by  having  the  affection  of  so  good  and 
so  great  a  man. 

Others  have  spoken  to-day  of  his  great  work  in  the  Chris- 
tian ministry,  of  his  service  in  the  material  development  of 
his  beloved  Texas,  and  of  his  grand  life-work  in  establishing 
so  firmly  the  great  institution  of  learning  which  adorns  the 
southern  part  of  our  own  beautiful  city. 

I  pass  these  heroic  achievements  of  this  man  of  sublime 
faith  in  God,  of  indomitable  energy,  and  of  iron  will,  to  speak 
for  a  moment  of  his  wonderful  accomplishments  in  an  humbler 
and  less  noted  sphere.  In  the  interest  of  education  he  has 
visited  hundreds  of  homes  in  Texas  where  he  found  in 
obscurity  many  of  the  most  prominent  and  worthy  citizens  of 


488  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

our  state  to-day.  These  visits  have  in  very  many  instances 
changed  the  entire  current  of  young  men's  lives,  altered  their 
family  history,  and  set  in  motion  forces  that  have  wrought 
wonders  in  the  destiny  of  our  State.  I  speak  of  these  soul- 
awakening  visits  of  this  gifted  man  from  personal  experience 
and  I  have  heard  others  now  on  this  platform  testify  to  the 
efficacy  and  power  of  his  presence  in  their  own  childhood 
homes.  His  going  into  every  part  of  Texas  in  this  maimer 
ten,  twenty,  thirty  and  forty  years  ago,  fired  the  young  people 
with  an  ambition  for  higher  and  better  things.  These  boys 
and  girls  came  to  Baylor  University  and  from  the  instruction 
received  and  under  the  influence  of  this  peerless  man,  with 
his  burning  lectures  on  "Jonah,"  "Elijah,"  "Ahimaaz,"  "The 
Little  Foxes,"  "Be  Courteous,"  "Study  to  be  Quiet,"  and 
hundreds  of  other  living  glowing  themes,  they  were  so  moved 
to  noble  deeds  themselves  that  I  challenge  any  teacher,  ancient 
or  modern,  to  exhibit  a  class  of  men  and  women  who  have  been 
more  successful  in  all  the  walks  of  life  than  have  been  the 
pupils  of  this  mighty  hero  who  lies  there  to-day  in  the  habili- 
ments of  death. 

In  reality  Dr.  Burleson  is  not  dead,  he  cannot  die !  This 
immense  audience,  the  largest  I  ever  saw  at  any  funeral,  testi- 
fies that  he  still  lives  in  the  hearts  of  his  neighbors,  his  brethren 
and  his  fellow  citizens.  His  memory  -^vill  ever  be  dear  to 
the  hearts  of  the  masses  whom  he  loved,  and  they  will  never 
permit  his  honor  and  fame  to  grow  dim.  So  long  as  the 
flowers  continue  to  bloom  on  our  beautiful  prairies  will  his 
memory  be  dear  to  all  true  Texans.  So  long  as  the  spires  and 
cupolas  of  Baylor  University  point  heavenward,  just  that 
length  of  time  will  his  prayers,  his  labors,  and  his  unselfish 
patriotism  be  loved  and  cherished  by  the  faculty  and  student 
body  of  the  institution  which,  we  trust,  shall  ever  remain  his 
most  imperishable  monument. 


SPEECH  OF  DE.  ADDISOIs^  CLAEK. 

(repeesenting  sister  schools.) 

"That  I  should  be  asked  to  say  a  word  on  this  occasion  I 
deem  the  greatest  honor  ever  conferred  upon  me.  Thirty 
years  ago  when  I  was  a  young  school  teacher  with  a  small 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Buklesojn^.  489 

school,  and  Dr.  Burleson  was  in  the  prime  of  his  manhood,  the 
leading  and  most  popular  educator  of  the  state,  he  came  into 
my  school  room,  took  me  by  the  hand,  sat  down  by  my  side 
and  talked  with  me  as  though  I  was  his  equal.  From  that 
time  he  has  been  firmly  established  in  my  warmest  affections. 
The  same  large  hearted,  broad  minded  man,  he  showed  him- 
self to  be  when  Add  Kan  University  was  moved  to  Waco,  he 
was  the  first  to  extend  the  hand  of  welcome  and  has  ever  con- 
tinued the  same  unselfish,  generous  friend.  How  we  all  shall 
miss  that  familiar  form,  that  well-known  voice,  that  masterful 
life. 

If  I  should  be  asked  to  describe  Dr.  Burleson's  life  in 
one  word  it  Avould  be  "Christliness." 


SPEECH  OF  DR.  D.  R.  WALLACE. 

(representing  faculty  of  1851.) 

I  have  known  the  venerable  distinguished  man  who  lies 
before  us  cold  in  death  for  nearly  half  a  hundred  years.  It 
is  but  meet  and  modest  for  me  to  premise  that  my  powers  of 
analysis  and  of  characterization  may  have  been  at  fault,  but  I 
think  I  knew  Dr.  C.  Burleson  as  well  as  I  am  capable  of  know- 
knowing  any  human  being  except  myself.  My  attention 
directed  at  our  first  meeting  to  his  striking  characteristics  and 
his  strong  personality,  I  made  him  a  study.  Intimate  associa- 
tion with  him  for  some  years  I  had  abundant  opportunity  for 
this  purpose. 

Though  a  many  sided  man  it  was  not  hard  to  understand 
him.  There  was  no  concealment  about  him.  He  wore  him- 
self on  his  sleeve.  When  he  was  misunderstood,  if  he  ever 
was,  it  was  by  small  men  of  low  ideals  and  selfish  purposes, 
who,  like  Bunyan's  man  with  a  muck  rake  never  looked  up  so 
as  to  catch  a  horizontal  view  of  his  altitude. 

What  seemed  most  striking  to  one  of  the  speakers  who 
have  preceded  me  was  his  "Christliness."  That  he  was  a 
christian  man  no  one  doubts.  But  if  it  be  the  proper  thing  to 
do  to  institute  such  a  comparison  I  would  prefer  to  say  my 
conception  of  the  man  was,  he  was  more  like  the  bold,  aggres- 


490  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

sive  Paul,  than  the  meek  and  lowly  God-man,  more  like  the 
formulator  of  our  religion  than  its  founder. 

This  leads  me  to  say  his  convictions  strong,  he  was  bold 
when  they  were  opposed,  even  to  defiance,  but  his  opposition 
was  never  offensive.  He  could  be  all  things  to  all  men  for  a 
cause  he  had  at  heart  but  never  to  the  sacrifice  of  principle. 

Of  an  ardent,  hopeful  temperament  he  hoped  on,  hoped 
ever.  This  characteristic  conjoined  with  his  unconquerable 
will  and  untiring  energy  made  him  an  indefatigable  worker. 
Of  habits  temperate  to  abstemiousness  and  feeble  in  appear- 
ance, he  was  yet  an  iron  man.  As  fixed  in  his  theological 
belief  as  Jonathan  Edwards,  as  untiring  and  indefatigable  in 
work  as  John  Wesley,  no  difiiculties  of  weather,  men  or  devils 
disturbed  him;  no  amount  of  work  or  suffering  dismayed 
him  in  teaching,  preaching  and  urging  these  beliefs  upon  the 
generation  in  which  he  lived. 

As  to  the  loftiness  of  his  ideals  and  the  purity  of  his  pur- 
poses there  could  be  but  one  opinion.  Not  Spurgeon's  or 
Archdeacon  Farrar's  were  loftier  or  purer. 

As  to  his  methods,  of  course  there  was  room  for  differ- 
ence of  opinion.  But  in  these  he  stands  justified  by  the  suc- 
cess that  has  blessed  the  labors,  under  the  circumstances,  of 
few  men  who  have  lived.  It  goes  without  saying  he  did  more 
for  the  Baptist  church  and  what  he  regarded  as  christian  edu- 
cation, than  any  other  man  among  his  cotemporaries  in  Texas 
or  even  in  the  South. 

As  a  preacher,  he  is  rather  to  be  admired  for  his  zeal  and 
devotion  than  for  the  polish  of  his  periods  or  the  brilliancy 
of  his  rhetoric.  A  man  of  affairs  and  not  of  abstractions  he 
regarded  words  as  counters,  not  as  coin,  as  said  the  great  Eng- 
lishman, a  means  not  an  end.  He  did  not  affect  oratory 
though  few  preachers  were  more  effective,  judged  by  the 
result. 

Much  might  be  said  of  him  as  a  teacher.  In  the  short 
space  allotted  me  I  shall  speak  of  but  one  attribute  or  char- 
acteristic, but  in  this  he  was  facile  princeps  of  all  the  teachers 
I  have  ever  known  and  I  question  whether  in  this  respect  he 
had  a  superior.  It  was  this :  He  had  the  rare  gift  of  inspir- 
ing his  students  with  an  enthusiasm  for  learning  and  ambi- 
tion for  distinction  and  usefulness  that  was  simply  unpar- 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Bukleson.  491 

alleled.  He  could  make  the  dullest  of  them  believe  that  if 
they  could  not  reach  the  sun  they  could  at  least  get  to  the 
moon. 

He  has  been  criticised  as  carrying  this  to  an  extreme. 
At  all  events  it  leaned  to  virtue's  side  and  made  him  largely 
the  success  he  was  as  a  teacher;  and  I  will  add,  in  the  thought, 
not  words,  Macaulay  puts  in  the  mouth  of  Milton  in  defend- 
ing Cromwell :  "If  none  criticised  his  methods  who  had  done 
more  for  humanity  than  he  accomplished,  he  would  have  few 
detractors." 

Like  Agassiz  he  had  no  time  to  make  money — no  time  tG 
think  of  it.  There  is  much  I  might  say  on  this  point  for  here 
his  critics  consider  him  most  open  to  criticism.  But  I  will 
say  this :  He  sacrificed  the  patrimony  given  him  by  a  wealthy 
father,  all  he  could  make  himself  by  his  interminable  labor, 
much  if  not  all  he  inherited  by  his  wife;  nor  is  this  all,  he 
made  himself  a  slave,  a  galley  slave  chained  to  the  oar;  nor 
is  this  quite  all,  he  made  slaves  of  his  wife  and  children,  de- 
priving them  of  the  elegancies  they  might  have  enjoyed,  and 
all  in  the  service  as  he  believed  of  his  heavenly  Master. 

Great,  devoted,  self-sacrificing,  christian  man,  rest  in 
peace.     Farewell. 

SPEECH  OF  REV.  E.  A.  PUTHUFF. 

(representing  missionary  students  to  foreign  lands.) 

It  is  difficult  to  write  or  speak  in  a  reasonably  allotted 
space  or  time  upon  the  life  work  of  one  so  gifted  and  useful 
to  his  fellow  men  as  was  Dr.  R.  C.  Burleson.  But  this  is 
made  possible  even  to  one  so  incompetent  as  myself  because 
of  the  fullness  of  the  subject  to  be  treated. 

The  grandeur  of  his  life  can  be  made  most  profitable  to 
those  who  view  it  from  the  following  standpoints : 

As  he  was,  as  he  is  and  as  he  is  to  be. 

There  are  few  who  leave  to  the  human  race  the  legacy 
of  a  life  so  full  in  all  its  bearings  as  to  be  viewed  with  profit 
irom  all  these  sides.  But  in  Dr.  Burleson  we  have  a  com- 
plete life,  a  peaceful  sleep,  with  the  rainbow  of  God's  promise 
spanning  it  all,  amidst  the  brightness  of  which  is  written. 
We  shall  see  him  again. 


492  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

When  we  think  of  him  as  he  was,  in  closest  touch  with 
everything  that  was  good,  lifting  it  up  and  helping  it  f orward^ 
we  ask  with  anxious  heart  for  the  secret  of  such  a  life,  and 
await  with  joy  the  coming  of  the  book  devoted  to  the  thrilling 
narrative  of  a  life  so  full  and  complete.  For  more  than  half 
a  century  he  lived  in  closest  fellowship  with  God,  personating 
the  character  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  In  order  to  do  this 
he  walked  as  he  thought  Jesus  must  have  walked;  talked  as 
he  believed  Jesus  must  have  talked;  thought  as  Jesus  thought;, 
acted  in  all  things  as  Jesus  acted; — in  fact  lost  sight  of  him- 
seK  in  order  to  make  his  life  Christ-like  in  every  respect.  Be- 
ing thus  "rich  toward  God"  his  life  presented  the  paradox  of 
being  "sorrowful,  yet  always  rejoicing,"  "poor,  yet  making 
many  rich,"  "having  nothing,  yet  possessing  all  things."  Oh,, 
the  riches  of  such  a  life !  It  is  true  gold  tried  in  the  fire. 
Therefore  to  see  him  as  he  is  we  must  behold  him  "clothed 
with  white  raiment." 

Among  his  printed  sermons  is  one  from  the  text,  "The- 
path  of  the  just  is  as  a  shining  light,  that  shineth  more  and 
more  unto  the  perfect  day."  With  a  master  hand  he  paints 
the  picture  of  christian  life,  letting  in  an  occasional  glimpse 
of  the  Glory  world  to  cheer  the  pilgrim  on  his  way,  until  in 
rapture  he  reaches  the  perfect  day.  He  saw  it  then  by  faith. 
He  is  now  enjoying  that  "perfect  day"  amidst  the  glories  de- 
scribed in  Revelations.  ISFo  one  could  doubt  the  reality  of  his 
present  bliss  as  we  looked  upon  his  face  "asleep  in  Jesus,"" 
yet  smiling  as  if  Heaven's  wand  had  gently  touched,  the  eye- 
lids, closing  them  to  the  path  of  the  just  as  the  perfect  day 
came  in  sight.     So  methinks, 

"When  we  hear  the  music  ringing 
In  the  bright  celestial  dome; 
When  sweet  angel  voices  singing, 
Gladly  bid  us  welcome  home," 

We  shall  feel  his  dear  arms  twining 

Fondly  round  us  as  before; 
Hear  his  voice  saying,  Welcome! 

This  is  the  other  shore! 

Then  with  Heaven's  light  full  upon  him  we  can  number 
the  stars  in  his  crown,  "as  one  star  differeth  from  another,  so 
shall  it  be  in  glory,"  and  know  what  he  is  to  he. 


De.  Eufus  C.  Burleson.  493 

Until  then  the  stream  of  influence  he  put  in  motion  must 
be  our  teacher.  Dr.  Burleson  had  few,  if  any,  equals  as  a 
teacher  upon  the  power  of  influence.  In  the  providence  of 
God  the  last  sermon  he  ever  preached  was  upon  that  subject. 
He  had  left  home  in  answer  to  a  summons  from  Horn  Hill 
Baptist  church  to  preach  the  ordination  sermon  of  two  Deacons 
on  the  second  Sunday  in  April,  1901,  and  being  anxious  as  was 
his  habit  through  life  to  "give  every  flying  moment  some- 
thing to  keep  in  store"  sent  an  appointment  to  Groesbeck, 
-county  seat  of  Limestone  county,  for  Friday  night,  as  he 
would  leave  the  train  at  that  point  for  Horn  Hill,  distant  six 
miles  in  the  country,  where  he  was  to  preach  Saturday  night 
•on  Family  Government  and  the  ordination  sermon  on  the  fol- 
lowing day.  IN^otwithstanding  it  was  Friday -night  in  a  county 
site,  he  had  a  goodly  number  to  hear  him.  His  well  won  fame 
as  a  preacher  always  drew  for  him  large  crowds.  But  as  I 
write  I  can  but  think,  if  the  citizenship  of  the  town  and  county 
had  known  what  God  knew,  that  it  would  be  the  last  sermon 
preached  by  his  honored  and  loved  servant  on  earth,  there 
would  not  have  been  standing  room.  But,  alas !  his  voice 
comes  to  me  as  of  yore,  "There  are  three  things  that  return 
not:  "The  word  spoken,  the  arrow  sped,  the  opportunity 
lost." 

As  was  his  custom  in  the  pulpit,  he  stood  erect  holding 
iDcfore  him  God's  Word,  handling  it  with  such  tenderness  as 
a  mother  would  handle  her  precious  child,  reading  in  that 
clear  full  voice  which  belonged  peculiarly  to  himself,  from 
John  21,  As  was  of  this  custom  too,  he  read  with  glasses  in 
hand  reading  from  memory  more  than  from  sight — ^because 
lie  knew  the  Book.  Then  reverently  and  tenderly  he  bowed 
and  talked  to  God  in  prayer  as  a  child  pleading  with  his 
Father  whom  he  loved  and  trusted.  Then  he  announced  his 
subject,  "Influence,"  and  preached  an  expository  rather  than 
a  textual  sermon;  showing  the  power  of  his  subject  in  life  as 
well  as  its  fruit  bearing  power  after  death.  He  painted  with 
wonderful  imagery  the  two  lines  of  influence,  good  and  bad, 
one  of  which  is  constantly  flowing  from  every  life.  The  bad 
he  followed  up  until  it  finds  its  echo  in  the  voice  of  the  soul 
"being  tormented  in  the  flames"  as  it  pleads  "send  one  from 
the  dead  to  my  father's  house,  for  I  have  five  brethren  there, 


494  The  Life  and  "Writings  of 

lest  they  also  come  to  this  place  of  torment."  Then  followed 
a  picture  of  good  influence,  until  his  audience  could  see  anew 
the  prophecy  of  Daniel:  ''They  that  be  wise  shall  shine  as 
the  brightness  of  the  firmament,  and  they  that  turn  many  to 
righteousness  as  the  stars  forever  and  ever"  amidst  the  splen- 
dors of  which  stands  "the  Lamb  of  God !" 

Dr.  Burleson  is  now  enjoying  the  inflow  of  a  long  life 
of  good  influence — and  the  end  is  not  yet.  With  deepest 
gratitude  I  thank  God  that  I  was  brought  under  his  influence. 
Thousands  doubtless  who  may  read  this  will  say,  Amen.  We 
will  not  forget  the  couplet  in  his  annual  family  letter : 

"  'Tis  greatly  wise  to  talk  with  our  past  hours, 
And  ask  them  what  report  they  bore  to  Heaven, 
And  how  they  might  have  borne  more  welcome  news." 

And  when  we  change  our  citizenship  in  fact  from  earth 
to  Heaven  it  mil  be  welcome  news  to  hear  him  say,  "Home  at 
last !     All  safe  in  our  Father's  House !" 

Truly,  "A  good  name  is  rather  to  be  chosen  than  great 
riches." 


SPEECH  OF  E.  P.  ALLDREDGE. 

(representing  student  body  of  BAYLOR.) 

For  the  eighth  time  during  the  present  session  death  has 
come  to  Baylor  University. 

Enough  to  remind  us  that, 

"Leaves  have  their  time  to  fall, 

And  flowers  to  wither  at  the  north  wind's  breath. 
And  stars  to  set— but  all, 

Thou  hast  all  seasons  for  thine  own,  O  Death." 

How  unexpected  came  the  death  of  our  teacher,  our 
friend  and  brother  Professor  Tanner!  The  mystery  of  that 
death — so  unforeseen,  so  untimely  and  so  irreparable  to  the 
interests  of  Baylor  University — is  beyond  the  reach  of  finite 
minds.  Grieved  and  disconsolate  at  the  death  of  Professor 
Tanner,  we  were  ill  prepared  for  the  shocking  tragedy  which 
carried  away  that  splendid  character,  that  noble  teacher, 
Professor  Schaus.     But  even  this  was  not  all.     Only  a  few 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleso:n'.  495 

days  ago  Miss  Fletcher  and  Mr.  Dotson,  our  fellow  students 
were  cut  down  as  the  flowers  of  the  field.  And  now  we  have 
reached  the  depths.  Our  beloved  and  honored  teacher,  coun- 
selor, father  in  the  ministry,  hero  of  christian  education  in 
Texas,  our  venerable  president  emeritus,  Doctor  Kufus  C. 
Burleson,  is  dead. 

We  longed  to  keep  him  with  us.  We  prayed  that  his  life 
might  be  spared  until  his  last  lingering  glance  should  behold 
the  campus  of  Baylor  University  crowned  ivith  magnificent 
buildings.     But, 

"We  leaned  on  hope  that  was  all  in  vain, 

Till  the  terrible  ■wo'vd  at  last, 
Told  our  striclien  hearts  he  was  out  of  pain, 
And  his  beautiful  life  had  passed." 

Bich  in  honors  and  ripe  in  years  the  "grand  old  man"  has 
laid  down  his  armor  and  gone  home  to  God.  Our  grief  is 
inexpressible.  Our  loss  seems  almost  irretrievable.  'No  more 
can  we  greet  him  as  he  visits  the  chapel  exercises.  ISTo  more 
will  his  dignified  form  grace  our  rostrum.  No  more  can  we 
hear  his  words  of  counsel  or  feel  the  touch  of  his  tender  hand, 
the  vital  spark  which  gleamed  in  his  eye  and  coursed  through 
his  veins  has  been  kissed  away  by  the  angels  of  God,  and  the 
restless,  persistent  activity,  which  characterized  his  life  and 
gave  to  the  Baptists  of  Texas  so  great  an  heritage,  has  at  last 
ceased.  He  rests.  His  weary  body  sleeps  and  waits  the 
resurrection,  but  his  works,  they  follow  him  on  to  eternity. 

Thank  God !  He  was  ours.  His  tireless  energy,  his 
studious  habits,  his  self-control  and  masterful  will  were  so 
many  nuggets  of  gold  which  he  graciously  and  unsparingly 
bestowed  upon  his  students.  And  to  those  of  us  who  heard 
his  lectures  to  young  ministers,  how  often  did  he  appeal  for 
holiness,  prayer,  the  study  of  God's  word,  and  blameless  lives ! 

Hallowed  be  his  memory !     l^ever 

"Fell  the  daylight's  fading  grimmer, 

On  a  face  so  wan  and  white, 
Brighter  was  his  soul,  while  dimmer 

Grew  the  shadows  of  the  night. 
And  he  died— and  God  was  with  him, 

Could  I  ask  and  could  he  give. 
Even  now  methinlis  I  hear  him 

Whisper,  "Live  as  I  did  live." 


496  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

His  patriotic  zeal  was  always  inspiring  to  his  students. 
ISTo  duty  of  citizenship  was  overlooked  by  him.  The  world 
looked  upon,  as  we  looked  upon  him,  to  behold  a  man  in  the 
image  of  his  God. 

The  intensity  of  his  conviction,  that  he  was  anointed  of 
God  to  deliver  Texas  from  ignorance  and  sin,  not  only  stirred 
his  own  great  heart  and  moved  him  to  sacrifice,  but  took 
possession  of  every  student  who  came  under  his  influence. 

Shall  we  now  surrender  this  conviction  because  he  is 
gone  ?     Far  from  it ! 

Let  us  rather  remember  how  he  loved  Baylor  University 
and  how  he  loved  us !  As  the  child  of  his  bosom,  as  the  wife 
of  his  heart  he  loved  Baylor  University  and  christian  educa- 
tion, and  gave  himself  for  them.  Then,  when  he  could  do 
no  more,  when  he  could  make  no  further  sacrifice  and  lay 
upon  his  couch  waiting  for  his  summons  to  some,  he  asked  to 
be  permitted  to  look  out  upon  Baylor  and  pray  God's  benedic- 
tions upon  her  future.  He  fought  a  good  fight,  he  finished 
his  course,  he  kept  the  faith.  Well  may  we  say  of  him  in 
the  words  of  Father  Ryan : 

"Never  hand 
Waved  sword  from  stain  as  free, 

Nor  purer  sword  led  braver  band, 

Nor  braver  bled  for  a  brighter  land. 

Nor  brighter  land  had  cause  so  grand. 
Nor  a  cause  a  chief  like  he." 

May  his  mantle  of  love,  of  self-sacrifice,  of  devotion  to 
the  cause  of  christian  education  and  of  his  heroic  righteousness 
fall  upon  us,  and  may  the  Spirit  of  our  God  comfort  and  keep 
his  bereaved  companion  and  loved  ones ! 


f   <  SPEECH  OF  MAYOR  J.  W.  RIGGINS. 

[  (kEPRESENTING  city  of  WACO.) 

^  A  great  man  has  fallen.  This  community  bows  with 
sorrowing  hearts  to  the  will  of  Him  who  doeth  all  things  well, 
and  places  to-day  a  tribute  upon  the  casket  of  Dr.  Burleson, 
accompanying  that  tribute  with  sincere  heartfelt  grief  as  it 
never  has  a  citizen  in  our  city. 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Buelesox.  497 

Dr.  Burleson  possessed  peculiar  traits  of  character.  A 
great  many  men  after  a  long,  faithful,  studied  life  of  activity 
in  one  particular  calling,  no  matter  whether  law,  medicine  or 
divinity,  allow  their  minds  to  become  prejudiced,  warped  and 
narrow  into  that  particular  department.  This  was  not  true 
of  Dr.  Burleson.  Liberal  in  mind,  public  spirited  in  acts, 
nis  great  mind  comprehended  the  mental,  commercial  and 
moral  developments,  not  alone  in  the  community,  but  in  all 
Texas. 

In  my  position  connected  with  the  many  enterprises  in 
Waco,  as  well  as  in  my  present  official  capacity  as  the  mayor 
of  our  city,  I  have  received  from  Dr.  Burleson  letters  and 
personal  assurances  of  a  deep  interest  in  every  enterprise,  as 
well  as  the  development,  from  a  governmental  standpoint  of 
our  city.  These  expressions  have  come  unstinted,  and  un- 
sought, as  the  outburst  of  a  noble,  God-born,  broad  spirit. 

We  learn  many  lessons  from  such  a  character :  First, 
that  in  any  calling  a  liberal,  progressive,  broad,  patriotic  plat- 
form can  be  lived  upon  and  successfully  carried  out.  Second, 
that  a  man  can  be  true  always  to  his  Maker,  and  at  the  same 
time  take  an  interest  in  the  things  which  materially  affect  the 
progress,  success  and  development  in  a  commercial  sense  of 
his  fellow-kind.  Third,  "One  thing  will  I  do,"  says  Paul. 
That  this  one  thing  was  the  ministry  and  in  this  he  succeeded, 
calling  the  collateral  influences  and  bringing  them  into  line 
into  a  philosophical  unison  to  accomplish  one  great  purpose. 

The  name  of  Dr.  Burleson  will  be  a  monument,  not  of 
stone,  marble,  or  granite,  but  in  the  memory  of  the  citizens 
of  Waco  and  of  Texas  and  will  lift  its  head  from  the  memory 
of.  noble  deeds  from  thousands  of  hearts  and  minds  in  Texas 
for  cycles  of  time  that  shall  roll  by  us  until  time  shall  be  no 
more  and  we  shall  lash  our  memories  and  immortal  spirits  upon 
the  shores  of  Eternity. 

A  great  man  has  fallen,  and  Waco  weeps  to-day,  but 
such  a  spirit  must  receive  the  welcome  plaudits  of  Him  who 
realizes  all.     "Well  done,  thou  good  and  faithful  servant." 


32 


498  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

SPEECH  OF  DE.  O.  H.  COOPER 

(rEPKESENTING  BAYLOR  FACULTY.) 

"A  great  poet  wrote  on  the  death  of  a  great  statesman : 

'Were  a  star  quenched  on  high 
For  ages  would  its  light 

Traveling  downward  from  the  sky- 
Still  shine  on  mortal  sight. 

'So  when  a  great  man  dies, 

For  ages  past  our  ken 
The  light  he  leaves  behind  him 

Lies  upon  the  paths  of  men.' 

"Immortality  in  fame  has  always  been  a  controlling  in- 
fluence in  the  hearts  of  the  really  great.  Ood's  call  to  genius 
is  the  service  of  humanity.  In  church  and  in  state,  in  science 
and  in  art,  in  faithful  service  and  in  splendid  achievement, 
the  heroic  soul  serves  in  his  day  and  generation. 

"A  long  life  of  heroic  striving,  often  crowned  by  success, 
often  dimmed  by  defeat,  but  always  in  the  blaze  of  publicity, 
revealed  our  beloved  and  venerable  finend  as  a  grand  man  of 
lofty  and  noble  soul.  Such  genius  as  his  is  a  high  trust  to  be 
used  under  God's  guidance  for  the  blessing  of  humanity. 
Men  in  all  parts  of  our  country  to-day  who  give  their  lives  to 
the  advancement  of  truth  and  righteousness  reverently  accord 
to  him  a  high  place  among  the  few  immortal  names  that  are 
not  born  to  die. 

"I  have  sometimes  thought  as  I  looked  upon  his  majestic 
and  age-bent  figure,  when  a  rare  smile  illuminated  his  patri- 
archial  face,  that  the  light  shining  there  was  higher  and  holier 
than  shone  on  Alpine  heights,  for  it  v/as  reflected  from  the 
throne  of  God.  It  has  always  been  an  inspiration  to  me  to  meet 
and  listen  to  Dr.  Burleson.  "When  I  met  him  hrst  twentyfive 
years  ago,  before  the  heavy  hand  of  advancing  years  had  been 
laid  upon,  I  said  to  my  mother,  "There  is  a  builder  ol  insti- 
tutions. He  belongs  vnih  Woolsey  and  Hopkins  and  Waylaud, 
the  men  whose  lengthened  shadows  are  Brown,  Williams  and 
Yale."  Our  personal  relations  have  always  been  cordial  and 
tender.     Especially  has  this  been  so  since  I  have  been  called 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Bueleso>".  49D 

to  assume  the  duties  of  president  of  Baylor  "University.  He 
has  honored  me  with  fullest  confidence  and  he  has  always  been 
ready  to  aid  with  his  wise  counsel.  Baylor  University  was 
enshrined  in  his  inmost  soul,  second  only  in  his  affections  to 
our  Divine  Master. 

"I  shall  never  forget  his  last  words  to  me  uttered  in  the 
presence  of  his  beloved  wife  and  daughter  in  that  now  sacred 
chamber  from  whence  he  looked  for  the  last  time  on  his  dear 
old  Baylor  and  his  soul  passed  to  our  Father's  bosom.  These 
words  are  a  benediction — I  little  thought  they  were  also  a 
farewell:  ^God  bless  you  and  yours/  he  said,  and  added, 
after  a  pause  made  necessary  by  a  difficulty  in  utterance, 
^especially  the  little  baby  girl.' 

"With  tender  reverence  shall  we  cherish  his  memory. 
Generation  will  follow  generation  in  the  University  he  loved 
so  well  and  each  student  will  be  taught  to  remember  and 
honor  his  name." 


SPEECH  OF  W.  B.  DEKSOK 

(rEPKESENTING  BAYLOR  TRUSTEES.) 

This  vast  assembly  has  gathered  here  to  pay  its  last 
tribute  of  respect  to  a  great  citizen.  It  is  indeed  fitting  that 
not  only  "Waco,  but  all  Texas  should  mourn  the  loss  of  this 
Christian  educator  and  true  patriot.  Fifty  years  of  arduous 
labor  in  Texas  have  made  him  pre-eminent  among  her  proudest 
and  most  useful  sons.  And,  looking  backward  over  this  event- 
ful period  of  Texas  history,  we  pause  in  silent  admiration  of 
his  splendid  achievements.  To  make  great  and  good  men  and 
women  was  the  ambition  of  his  life. 

Coming  to  Texas  in  the  dawn  of  his  young  manhood,  he 
landed  at  Galveston,  and,  wandering  down  to  the  seashore, 
knelt  upon  the  beach,  where  he  heard  God  in  the  murmuring 
sea,  and  prayed  Him  to  give  him  Texas  for  Christ.  Wlio  that 
has  watched  the  career  of  this  wonderful  man  from  the  time 
he  first  raised  his  clarion  voice  in  the  wilderness  of  Texas  to 
the  day  he  laid  down  his  armor,  as  he  preached  from  the 
Sabine  to  the  Rio  Grande,  as  he  baptized  men  by  the  score 


500  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

every  year,  as  he  marshalled  and  led  the  Baptist  hosts  from 
victory  to  victory,  as  for  fifty  years  he  educated  large  num- 
bers of  young  preachers,  who  took  up  the  shibboleth  of  con- 
quest and  carried  it  forward,  who  sent  out  to  the  state  yearly 
large  numbers  of  young  men  equipped  for  the  highest  duties 
of  life,  will  not  see  in  all  this  the  answer  of  his  prayer  and 
the  fulfillment  of  high  destiny?  When  I  saw  Dr.  Burleson 
bury  General  Sam  Houston  in  baptism  the  question  suggested 
itself  to  my  mind — Which  is  the  greater  leader,  he  who  leads 
embattled  hosts  to  victory  and  death,  or  he  who  leads  the 
■chieftain  and  his  army  to  God  ? 

This  great  pioneer  preacher,  this  indefatigable  Christian 
educator,  this  great  citizen,  this  friend  of  mankind,  this 
noblest  Roman  of  them  all,  has  finished  his  course,  laid  down 
his  glittering  armor,  and  rests  from  his  labors.  He  has  gone 
to  the  Christian's  reward.  When  on  yesterday  the  telegraph 
wires  carried  the  sad  news  of  his  death  all  over  our  land,  the 
thousands  whose  lives  he  had  blessed  paused  in  the  mad  race 
of  life,  and  with  bowed  heads  declared  it  was  a  great  loss. 
Fifty  years  of  usefulness,  of  high  endeavor,  of  wonderful 
achievement  crowded  upon  our  vision  and  passed  in  review 
before  us.  And  here,  my  friends,  we  have  met  to  do  honor 
to  this  lifeless  body — once  the  life  temple  of  the  old  warrior. 
Here  he  lies,  cold  in  death,  with  splendid  honors  and  beauty 
clustering  thick  about  him.  I  was  proud  to  be  called  his 
friend,  and  prized  his  love  and  confidence,  which  for  nearly 
fifty  years  he  gave  me.  As  Mark  Antony  said  of  Caesar^  "He 
was  my  friend,  faithful  and  just  to  me."  Words  beggar 
expression  of  how  we  all  love  and  honor  him;  and  to-day,  in 
this  supreme  hour,  we  bring  to  him  the  loyalty  of  true  hearts, 
and  lay  upon  his  bier  immortelles,  symbols  of  our  fadeless 
love  and  his  immortality.  His  name  must  be  written  upon 
every  page  of  Texas  progress  for  the  past  fifty  years.  At 
every  mile  post  in  his  long  life  journey  there  are  recorded 
deeds  of  mercy,  of  humanity,  of  unselfish  sacrifice  and  the 
loftiest  devotion  to  duty.  He  has  had  part  in  shaping  the 
characters  and  destiny  of  thousands  of  the  most  useful  men 
and  women  of  our  great  state.  Matchless  in  his  energies 
and  courage,  he  halted  at  no  obstacles  in  his  grand  forward 
movement  in  behalf  of  Christian  education.     Baylor  Uni- 


Dr.  Rufus  C,  Burleson.  501 

versitj  stands  the  imperishable  monument  to  his  life  work. 
The  forces  he  set  in  motion  through  that  institution  will 
only  be  revealed  to  us  in  the  great  unf  oldings  of  eternity. 

But  his  work  is  finished.  The  Master  has  called  to  the 
old  hero  and  said:  "It  is  enough;  come  up  higher."  His 
spirit  has  gone  to  meet  on  the  blissful  shore  a  great  host 
whom  he  led  to  God.  We  stand  to-day  with  uncovered  heads 
around  his  open  grave,  and  lay  to  rest  the  lifeless  body  of 
this  veteran  Christian  soldier.  Around  him  here  are  gray- 
haired  veterans,  distinguished  in  the  highest  callings  of  life, 
whose  education  was  the  work  of  his  hands.  They  will  all 
miss  him.  Texas  will  miss  him.  The  educators  of  America 
will  miss  him.  His  foot-prints  will  remain  with  Texas  aa 
long  as  the  flowers  bloom  and  the  grass  grows  upon  her 
prairies.  He  has  gone  to  the  brightest  joys  heaven  can  give. 
He  will  wear  the  jeweled  crown,  and  heaven  will  ring  out, 
''He  loved  his  fellowmen." 

I  am  directed  by  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Baylor  Uni- 
versity to  present  here  and  now  the  following  resolutions, 
as  expressing  their  appreciation  of  his  long  and  faithful  labors 
and  the  deep  sense  of  the  great  loss  we  have  sustained  in 
the  death  of  Dr.  Burleson. 


RESOLUTIONS  OF  BAYLOR  TRUSTEES. 

Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson,  President  Emeritus  of  Baylor 
University,  is  dead.  In  his  own  home,  surrounded  by 
kindred  and  friends,  he  quietly  passed  away  at  3  a.  m..  May 
14th,  1901,  having  reached  the  advanced  age  of  seventy- 
seven  (77)  years,  nine  (9)  months  and  seven  (7)  days. 

When  a  father  in  Israel  passes  away — when  a  personage 
in  religious  history  and  denominational  life  is  called  from 
the  activities  of  earthly  labor  to  heavenly  rest^ — it  is  becom- 
ing that  some  suitable  historic  record  of  the  occasion  voice 
the  appreciation  of  surviving  friends  and  co-hiborers,  attest 
the  value  of  his  life,  and  memorialize  posterity  to  lay  to 
heart  the  characteristics  which  made  that  life  valuable. 

An  outline  of  the  salient  events  of  a  finished  life  prop- 
erly introduces  a  statement  of  its  most  profitable  lessons : 


502  The  Life  a:xd  WKITI^'GS  of 

Eufus  C.  Burleson,  D.  D.,  LL,  D.,  son  of  Jonathan 
Burleson,  was  born  near  Decatur,  in  Morgan  County,  Ala- 
bama, August  7th,  1823.  He  professed  conversion  on  the 
21st  of  April,  1839,  and  was  Ipaptized  the  following  Sunday 
by  Rev.  William  Henry  Holcombe.  Oftentimes  in  early 
life  he  referred  to  the  dimness  and  smallness  of  his  first  hope 
in  Christ,  and  the  spiritual  struggles  with  doubt,  before  his 
hope  was  fully  confirmed  and  his  faith  assured,  thus  making 
his  own  experience  contribute  to  the  consolation  and  en- 
couragement of  timid  and  hesitating  saints. 

Quite  early  in  life  his  ambition  was  to  attain  to  emi- 
nence in  law  and  statesmanship.  But  in  1840,  while  a 
student  in  ISTashville  University,  he  was  seized  with  a  master- 
ing conviction  to  become  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel.  Yielding 
to  this  conviction,  he  was  licensed  to  preach  December  12th, 
1840,  by  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  I^ashville,  then  under 
the  pastoral  care  of  the  famous  Dr.  R.  B.  C.  Howell.  Thus, 
at  the  early  age  of  seventeen  years,  he  began  his  public  min- 
istry, while  still  prosecuting  his  collegiate  studies. 

On  June  8th,  1845,  he  was  set  apart  to  the  full  work 
of  the  Gospel  ministry  by  the  Baptist  Church  in  Starksville, 
Miss.  Two  years  later  he  was  graduated  from  the  Western 
Baptist  Literary  and  Theological  Institute,  Covington,  Ky. 
Before  his  graduation  he  settled  in  his  own  heart  once  for 
all,  the  field  of  his  life-work,  writing  on  the  wall  of  his  room 
the  date  and  the  purpose:  "April  21st,  1847.  This  day  I 
have  consecrated  my  life  to  Texas."  The  heroic  struggle 
for  Texan  independence,  in  which  his  own  kinsman.  General 
Edward  Burleson,  and  his  friend,  General  Sam  Houston, 
bore  such  an  eventful  part,  with  the  thrilling  tragedies  of 
the  Alamo  and  Goliad,  was  well  calculated  to  suggest  and 
foster  this  purpose.  Pursuant  to  this  purpose,  in  1848,  he 
accepted  the  appointment  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Conven- 
tion as  missionary  to  Texas,  and  the  same  year  he  was  elected 
pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  at  Houston  to  succeed 
William  M.  Tryon,  a  preceding  missionary,  who  had  died 
of  yellow  fever. 

From  this  date,  1848,  his  life  has  been  a  part  of  the 
history  of  Texas,  and  a  still  larger  part  of  the  history  of  the 
Baptist  denomination  in  Texas.     This  very  year  was  organ- 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Bukleson.  503 

ized  the  State  Baptist  Convention,  which  as  a  merged  and 
constituent  part,  survives  in  the  present  Baptist  General 
Convention  of  Texas.  For  years  Dr.  Burleson  held  high 
official  position  in  this  state  body  of  Baptists. 

After  a  pastorate  of  three  and  a  half  years  at  Houston, 
Dr.  Burleson  was  called,  June,  1851,  to  the  presidency  of 
Baylor  University,  at  Independence,  whose  foundations  had 
been  laid  in  1845,  This  presidency  lasted  ten  years.  In 
1861  he  became  president  of  Waco  University.  In  1868  he 
assisted  in  the  formation  of  the  Baptist  General  Association, 
and  he  was  easily  the  chief  personage  in  this  body  from  its 
organization  until  1886,  when,  by  consolidation  with  the 
State  Convention,  it  became  merged  into  the  present  Baptist 
General  Convention  of  Texas.  An  important  part  of  this 
consolidation  was  the  merging  of  the  schools  into  the  present 
Baylor  University  at  Waco,  Texas,  of  which  Dr.  Burleson 
became  president. 

In  June,  1897,  Dr.  Burleson  then  being  seventy-four 
years  old,  was  elected  President  Emeritus,  on  full  pay.  Thus 
for  forty-six  years  he  was  the  active  head  of  Texas  Baptist 
institutions  of  learning.  In  this  time  he  came  in  direct 
school  touch  with  nearly  ten  thousand  of  the  Baptist  boys 
and  girls  of  Texas,  many  of  whom  became  distinguished  in 
public  life,  and  thousands  of  whom,  now  in  widely  scattered 
homes,  bear  the  impress  of  his  influence. 

In  this  long  formative  period  of  a  new  state  there  were 
many  sharp  controversies  and  denominational  troubles,  many 
raw  experiments  in  denominational  activity,  many  conflicting 
policies  and  measures  advocated  on  which  good  men  honestly 
and  widely  differed.  It  is  unbecoming  to  this  solemn  hour 
to  advert,  by  way  of  praise  or  blame,  to  the  part  borne  by 
any  man;  but  we  may  well  pause  at  this  earthly  terminus 
of  an  eventful  and  influential  life  to  inquire  what  things  of 
the  past  are  most  worthy  of  preservation  in  memory,  and 
what  characteristics  of  the  great  and  good  man  who  is  gone 
need  to  be  uplifted  before  the  eyes  of  the  young  people  of 
Texas. 

1.  Decision.  From  early  youth  he  was  always  able  to 
make  up  his  mind  and  determine  clearly  and  positively  his 
own  attitude  towards  any    policy    or    measure.     He  never 


504  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

wasted  his  life  in  painful  and  prolonged  perplexity  at  the 
forks  of  any  road.  He  decided — one  way  or  the  other. 
Perhaps  wrong  sometimes,  but  at  least  you  could  always 
place  him,  being  not  in  doubt  himself,  nor  leaving  others  in 
doubt  as  to  his  whereabouts. 

2.  Fixedness  of  purpose — aftei'  decision.  He  was  not 
a  reed,  shaken  by  the  wind.  It  was  a  favorite  exortation  with 
him:  "Have  one  great  life  purpose."  Few  of  the  boys  of 
to-day  have  clearness  of  vision  to  determine  a  life-work,  and 
then  patient  persistence  to  follow  a  single  purpose  for  half  a 
century. 

3.  Courage.  However  much  men  might  differ  about 
some  traits  of  Dr.  Burleson,  no  man  ever  questioned  his 
courage. 

4.  Temperance.  Quite  early  he  determined  to  subordi- 
nate his  body  to  the  purposes  of  his  mind.  This  involved  ab- 
stinence from  many  things  deemed  pleasurable  by  young 
people.  Moreover,  it  called  for  a  positive  power  of  high 
order,  the  regulation  of  life  by  fixed  habits  of  sleeping,  eat- 
ing, drinking  and  exercise.  The  self -prescribed  regimen  was 
rigidly  followed  through  life. 

5.  Timely  attention  to  social  amenities,  l^o  matter 
how  great  his  pressure  of  work,  he  would  force  himself,  if 
need  be,  to  observe  the  requirements  of  duty  towards 
strangers,  the  sick  or  the  afflicted. 

Had  his  life  been  devoted  exclusively  to  pulpit  minis- 
trations he  would  have  been  recognized  in  history  as 
one  of  the  greatest  preachers  of  the  age.  As  it  was,  thousands 
were  converted  under  his  ministry.  While  pastor  at  Houston 
he  baptized  Mrs.  Dickinson,  the  celebrated  "Heroine  of  the 
Alamo,"  and  while  pastor  at  Independence  he  baptised  Gen- 
eral Sam  Houston. 

But,  as  he  devoted  his  life  to  Christian  education,  his 
fame  must  rest  on  his  success  or  failure  in  this  work.  He 
was  a  profound  student  of  human  nature.  He  studied  men 
more  than  books. 

The  characteristics  hereinbefore  set  forth  forecast  the 
power  of  leadership  and  administration.  To  great  executive 
ability  must  be  added  the  power  to  awaken  dormant  minds — 
to  stir  up  ambition  and  to  incite  to  great  achievements.     No 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  505 

other  man  in  Texas  history  has  awakened  sleeping  youth  in 
more  homes  than  Dr.  Burleson.  In  the  woods,  on  the  farms, 
in  the  prairies,  he  found  them  somehow  and  kindled  a 
quenchless  fire  in  their  hearts. 

Even  more  than  this  power  he  possessed,  for  however 
faulty  his  curriculum,  hoAvever  inadequate  his  buildings, 
however  scant  the  apparatus,  however  impecunious  the  ma- 
terial resources,  he  did,  though  making  bricks  without  straw, 
manage  somehow  to  turn  out  successful  men  and  women, 
who  took  high  and  honorable  and  useful  places  in  life.  So 
that  the  building  stood  the  test  of  time  and  change,  whatever 
faults  and  weaknesses  characterized  the  rude  scaffolding  in 
its  construction.  If  it  be  said  such  means  and  methods  and 
resources  would  be  futile  now — then  be  it  so.  They  served 
in  his  time,  and  none  other  were  available  then. 

Yet  again,  he  not  only  believed  in  Christian  education, 
but  he  meant  the  education  to  be  Christian.  To  his  everlast- 
ing credit,  be  it  said,  he  never  allowed  his  school  to  drift 
away  from  truly  Christian  moorings  to  be  swept  off  on  the 
Godless  current  of  mere  scholasticism.  This  tendency  of 
endowed  schools  to  sacrifice  religion  to  mere  attainments  is 
everywhere  apparent.  Still  more,  in  an  age  when  schools  and 
scholars  counted  it  a  mark  of  liberality  and  broadness  to  be, 
or  appear,  semi-infidel  in  teachings.  Dr.  Burleson  never 
swerved  a  hair's  breadth  from  that  old-time  simplicity  of 
faith  which  has  ever  been  not  only  the  true  orthodoxy,  but 
the  very  power  of  God. 

Well  may  we  say  of  him :  He  was  a  patriot.  He  loved 
Texas.  He  lived  and  died  for  Texas.  He  loved  purity  of 
domestic  life  and  the  sanctity  of  the  home.  He  was  not  a 
man  of  greed.  Covetousness  never  ruled  his  soul.  These 
are  some  of  the  things  which  made  him  great.  These  are 
the  things  to  remember,  now  that  he  is  gone.  These  are  the 
great  lessons  of  his  life  to  hold  up  before  our  children.  There- 
fore, be  it  resolved : 

1.  That  this  report  be  spread  as  a  permanent  record  on 
our  minutes. 

2.  That  a  copy  be  furnished  to  the  family  and  the  press, 

3.  That  the  Treasurer  be  instructed  to  pay  now  to  Mrs. 
Burleson  the  apportionment  due  her  husband  for  the  balance 


506  The  Life  akd  Writings  of 

of  this  scholastic  year,  and  that  we  now  vote  her  an  appor- 
tionment of  six  hundred  dollars  ($600.00)  for  the  next  schol- 
astic year. 

W.  B.  DENSOK, 
0. 1.  HALBERT, 
J.  T.  BATTLE. 


SPEECH  OF  W.  S.  BAKER. 

(representing  old  students.) 

The  lateness  of  the  hour  and  the  few  minutes  given  me 
to  speak  over  this  dead,  silences  much  that  I  deeply  feel; 
but  if  I  had  unlimited  time  I  could  not  do  him  justice.  I 
have  known  him  from  my  earliest  recollection.  I  lived  under 
his  roof.  My  boyhood  was  guarded  by  his  prayers  and  en- 
couraged by  his  example.  He  was  benevolent  and  benificent. 
I^umbers  know  of  his  free  maintenance  and  education  of 
our  poor  young  men.  Every  walk  in  the  life  of  Texas 
attests  this.  He  was  a  philanthropist.  He  stinted  himself 
and  family  to  serve  his  fellow-man.  He  lived  a  life  of  un- 
selfishness.    He  died  a  poor  man. 

He  was  not  a  financier,  but  he  builded  untold  wealth 
for  others,  for  Waco.  He  was  not  a  jurist,  but  his  boys,  as 
he  called  them,  graced  the  highest  courts  in  the  land.  He 
was  not  a  soldier,  but  his  boys  unsheathed  the  bravest  sword 
in  the  land.  He  was  not  a  statesman,  but  his  boys  are  fore- 
most in  the  forums  of  the  land. 

He  arose  above  all  these.  He  was  a  patriot.  Education 
was  his  fulcrum.  He  tutored  our  youth  that  they  might 
serve  our  country  and  see  our  God. 

Oh!  how  he  loved  Baylor  University.  It  was  his 
handiwork.  It  was  his  dream  by  day  and  by  night,  l^eax 
unto  half  a  century  his  tall,  slender,  bended  form  watched 
over  it  as  tenderly  as  the  mother  over  her  babe,  and  in  his 
last  moments,  when  all  hope  of  this  life  had  gone,  among 
his  parting  words  he  said:  "Lift  me  up  so  that  I  can  see 
Baylor." 

It  was  the  last  object  his  eyes  rested  upon  beyond  the 
confines  of  his  sick  room.     He  died  at  peace  with  the  world 


Dk.  Eufus  C.  Burleson.  507 

in  the  sight  of  God,  Baylor,  and  that  devoted  wife  who  sec- 
onded his  exertions  in  the  cause  in  which  he  triumphed. 

Words  are  too  feeble  to  extol  the  man  who  buried  in 
holy  baptism  the  immortal  Sam  Houston  and  the  Heroine 
of  the  Alamo.  He  needs  no  eulogy.  His  monument  has 
been  erected — it  is  Baylor  University.  His  name  has  been 
■chiseled  upon  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen. 

Bear  him  away  to  Oakwood,  where  rests  the  remains 
of  the  great  Richard  Coke,  the  gallant  Boss,  the  courtly 
Harrisons  and  hosts  of  other  brave  pioneers,  who  have  already 
Taet  him  on  the  other  shore.  Such  men  were  not  born  "to  rot, 
thurst  foully  in  the  earth  to  be  forgot." 

I  see  in  the  near  future  all  that  the  lamented  Coke  once 
predicted,  the  statue  of  Rufus  C.  Burleson  standing  on  Bay- 
lor's campus. 


RESOLUTIONS  OF  BAYLOR  FACULTY. 

Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson,  the  pioneer  educator  of  Texas, 
the  great  preacher,  the  Christian  patriot  and  citizen,  has  gone 
to  rest. 

After  several  weeks'  illness,  surrounded  by  his  family 
and  friends,  he  peacefully  breathed  his  last  at  3  a.  m.  Tuesday, 
Hay  14,  1901.  In  his  death  there  passed  from  our  midst 
an  historic  character,  whose  work  for  education  and  religion 
in  Texas  has  been  significant  and  powerful  for  good.  Dr. 
H.  C.  Burleson  was  born  near  Decatur,  Alabama,  August  7, 
1823.  He  was  of  noble  family  and  numbered  among  his 
relatives  some  of  the  ablest  soldiers,  statesmen,  preachers 
and  patriots  of  the  South.  He  received  his  literary  educa- 
tion in  ISTashville  University.  He  took  his  theological  course 
under  the  great  Dr.  E.  G.  Robinson,  at  Covington,  Kentucky, 
and  also  did  additional  study  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

Before  leaving  the  Theological  Seminary  he  dedicated 
his  life  to  Texas,  and  in  1848,  under  appointment  of  the 
Home  [Mission  Board  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention, 
Tie  came  to  this  state  and  for  three  years  successfully  filled 
the  pastorate  at  Houston.  In  1851  he  was  elected  president 
of  Baylor  University  at  Independence,  Texas,  where  he  con- 


608  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

tinned  for  ten  years.  He  and  his  faculty  then  came  to  Waco> 
and  established  Waco  University.  It  became  a  strong  school,, 
and  in  188G  the  two  institutions  just  mentioned  were  united 
by  the  Baptist  denomination  and  located  at  Waco,  giving 
us  our  present  Baylor  University.  Dr.  Burleson  was  con- 
tinued as  president  of  the  consolidated  school.  From  the 
time  of  his  first  election  in  1851  he  served  actively  as  presi- 
dent for  forty-six  years.  He  was  officially  connected  with 
the  university  as  President  Emeritus  to  the  close  of  his  life. 

In  view  of  his  splendid  efforts  for  Christian  education, 
put  forth  during  long  years  of  heroic  struggle,  often  under 
circumstances  of  the  greatest  discouragement,  for  his  tireless 
devotion  to  the  high  ideals  of  tr.ue  morality  and  for  his 
undying  faith  in  God,  the  present  faculty  of  Baylor  Uni- 
versity do  express  their  highest  appreciation.  These  noble 
traits  in  his  grand  character  held  together  the  educational 
forces  of  Texas  Baptists  and  gave  to  the  state  of  his  adoption 
a  heritage  more  precious  than  gold.  He  was  without  doubt 
the  greatest  single  factor  that  operated  in  all  the  earlier  years 
of  the  institution  for  securing  the  final  and  permanent  suc- 
cess of  Baylor  University. 

He  was  the  pioneer  of  co-education  in  the  South.  As 
agent  of  the  Peabody  fund  in  Texas,  under  Dr.  Barnas  Sears^ 
he  did  valuable  work  for  our  state  system  of  public  schools. 
He  was  instrumental  in  the  founding  by  the  state  of  the  Sam 
Houston  ]Srormal  Institute.  He  was  the  chief  promoter  and 
organizer  of  the  Texas  State  Teachers'  Association. 

We  regard  Dr.  Burleson  as  a  Godsent  man.  For  more 
than  half  a  century  he  has  been  a  pathfinder,  a  foundation 
builder,  a  master  workman,  whose  labors  have  reached  and 
blessed  every  section  of  Texas.  His  students  not  only  fill 
numerous  positions  in  the  humbler  walks  of  life,  but  they 
are  leading  bankers,  prominent  lawyers,  successful  physicians^ 
cattle  kings  and  merchant  princes.  His  students  wear  the 
judicial  ermine,  they  preside  over  our  leading  state  institu- 
tions of  learning;  their  voices  are  heard  in  the  legislative 
halls  of  our  state  and  of  our  nation;  they  have  occupied  the 
governor's  chair,  and  as  teachers,  preachers  and  missionaries 
they  have  carried  his  noble  lessons  around  the  globe.  The 
ladies  whom  he  has  educated  are  among  the  grandest  women 


De.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  500 

of  earth,  and  are  now  exerting  a  wide  influence  for  good  in 
their  homes,  in  society  and  in  the  church. 

Few  teachers  of  modern  times  can  lay  claim  to  more 
splendid  results  in  awakening  young  men  and  women  to  lives 
of  nobleness  and  usefulness  than  were  attained  by  Dr.  Burle- 
son.    Measured  by  the  unerring  test  of  success  he  will  com-- 
pare  favorably  with  the  great  men  of  any  age  or  country. 

In  his  long  and  useful  life,  by  his  loyalty  to  truth,  his 
prayerful  Christian  work,  and  by  his  great  educational 
achievements,  he  has  erected  for  himself  a  monument  that 
mocks  the  regal  splendor  of  perennial  brass,  a  shaft  more 
beautiful  and  enduring  than  Parian  marble,  whose  summit 
pierces  the  very  skies. 

As  an  eloquent  and  able  preacher  his  clarion  voice  has 
proclaimed  the  gospel  of  Jesus  to  tens  of  thousands.  During 
all  the  busy  years  of  his  educational  activity  he  preached 
regularly,  and  few  men  have  been  more  successful  in  the 
ministry  than  he  was. 

In  view  of  his  great  work  for  Baylor  University,  his 
wonderful  success  as  an  educator,  and  his  glorious  labors  as 
a  Christian  minister,  be  it  resolved  by  the  faculty  of  Baylor 
University : 

1.  That  we  thank  God  that  so  good  and  so  great  a 
man  has  been  permitted  to  live  among  us  so  long,  and  that 
we  have  the  privilege  of  enjoying  the  precious  heritage  of 
his  labors. 

2.  That  we  recognize  fully  the  debt  of  gratitude  we 
owe  to  his  memory  and  great  life-work  in  planting  the  founda- 
tions of  this  school  on  the  solid  basis  of  prayer  and  Christian 
Avatchfulness. 

3.  That  we  pledge  our  efforts  to  perpetuating  the  great 
principles  of  Christian  education  to  which  he  devoted  his 
whole  life. 

4.  That  to  the  noble  Christian  lady  who  has  been  his 
life  companion  since  1853,  and  who  has  aided  so  much  in 
making  his  life  a  grand  success,  we  tender  our  profound  con- 
dolence in  this  hour  of  her  grief  and  loneliness. 

5.  That  to  all  his  family  and  loved  ones  we  extend 
sympathy,  and  assure  them  that  we,  too,  are  bereaved  by  the 


510  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

death  of  him  whom  we  regarded  almost  as  tenderly  as  a 
father.     His  memory  will  ever  be  dear  to  our  hearts. 

6.  That  copies  of  these  resolutions  be  spread  upon  our 
records,  furnished  to  the  family,  and  given  to  the  university,, 
city  and  state  papers  for  publication. 

Adopted  by  the  Faculty  of  Baylor  University  at  Waco^ 
Texas,  Wednesday  morning,  May  15,  1901. 


ADDKESS  OF  DR  O.  I.  HALBERT. 

(home  life  of  BR.  BUELESON.) 

We  stand  with  uncovered  heads  and  reverent  hearts 
around  the  bier  of  our  most  honored  and  beloved  friend.  Of 
him  may  be  truthfully  said :  He  was  a  great  teacher ;  an  elo- 
quent preacher ;  a  patriotic  citizen ;  a  true'  friend ;  and  among 
the  very  best  fathers  and  husbands,  that  it  has  ever  been  my 
good  fortune  to  know. 

I  shall  never  forget  when  in  the  fall  of  1869,  a  timid, 
bashful,  country  boy,  I  entered  Waco  University  and  for  the 
first  time  felt  the  thrill  of  enthusiasm  with  which  he  always 
inspired  every  student's  heart. 

I  do  not  believe  that  Dr.  Burleson  ever  had  an  equal  in 
his  power  to  inspire  a  burning  ambition  in  the  hearts  of  his 
students,  for  knowledge,  and  to  do  and  be  something.  !N"ot 
only  did  he  inspire  this  ambition  but  by  his  friendly  interest 
and  great  mastery  of  resources  he  opened  up  the  way  for  a 
great  number  of  young  men,  and  young  women  to  gratify  this 
ambition.  The  ten  thousand  students  that  he  has  educated 
will  all  give  him  this  merited  praise.  He  was  an  eloquent 
preacher. 

I  have  seen  the  First  Baptist  Church  crowded  to  over- 
flowing, held  spell  bound  as  he  ''reasoned  of  righteousness,, 
temperance  and  judgment  to  come,"  I  have  seen  many  a  hard 
sinner,  Felix-like  "tremble;"  and  many,  very  many  have  I  seen 
go  forward  and  grasp  his  hand  asking  interest  in  his  prayer* 
and  promising  to  try  and  lead  better  lives. 

He  was  a  patriotic  citizen.-  His  students  were  so  indoc- 
trinated with  patriotism  that  they  were  among  the  very  first 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  511 

to  join  the  army  in  the  late  war  with  Spain.  All  that  knew 
the  Doctor  know  how  he  showed  his  love  of  country  by  precept, 
by  example  and  by  every  other  way  possible.  "Dulce  et 
decorum  pro  patria  mori,  dulce  et  decorum  pro  patria  vivere," 
was  his  motto. 

A  truer  friend  no  young  man  ever  had.  His  friend- 
ship was  lasting.  Once  a  friend  always  a  friend.  He  fol- 
lowed them  with  a  father's  eye  through  all  the  vicissitudes  of 
life,  weeping  with  them  in  their  disappointments  and  rejoicing 
with  them  in  their  triumphs.  Many  a  friend  owes  largely 
his  success  to  the  influence  of  his  ever  vigilant  friendship. 

1^0  old  student  ever  offered  for  office  that  he  did  not  find 
a  way  to  help  him,  whether  it  be  for  Constable  or  Governor 
of  the  state  or  Senator  of  the  United  States. 

]J^o  old  student  (the  name  of  friend  and  student  were 
synonymous  with  him)  ever  wanted  a  client  in  law  or  a  patient 
in  medicine  that  he  did  not  think  it  was  worth  his  while  to 
aid  such  a  student  in  getting  it, 

ISTo  old  students  whether  men  or  women  ever  wanted  help- 
mates, that  Dr.  Burleson  did  not  help  them,  even  to  the  tying 
of  the  knot. 

But  what  shall  I  say  of  his  home  life  ?  I  shall  speak  that 
which  I  do  know,  for  I  was  his  family  physician  for  over 
twenty  years.  Dr.  Burleson  loved  his  home  and  all  that  per- 
tained to  home. 

Perhaps  one  of  the  most  admirable  traits  of  his  character 
was  his  consideration  of  elderly  people,  and  this  practice  was 
most  admirably  set  forth  in  his  tender,  considerate  and  def- 
ferential  treatment  of  that  elderly  lady  (Mrs.  Jenkins)  who 
made  his  home  her  home  for  over  a  quarter  of  a  century  and 
till  her  death  in  1896.  During  these  twenty-five  years,  it  is  said 
that  he  never  even  for  one  time  failed  to  treat  her  as  deffer- 
entially  and  considerately  as  he  would  if  she  had  been  his  own 
mother.  Busy  as  he  always  was,  he  would  take  time  to  select 
from  the  many  newspapers  such  articles  as  he  thought  she 
would  enjoy,  and  go  in  person  of  a  morning  and  read  them 
with  her  or  to  her.  If  she  were  sick  or  lonely  or  dispirited 
lie  was  always  ready  to  go  for  the  doctor,  to  encourage  her  or 
cheer  her  up  in  any  way  possible.     In  a  few  words  his  treat- 


512  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

ment  of  Mrs.  Jenkins  was  as  near  perfect  as  it  could  be,  and 
it  could  not  have  been  improved  on  by  any  one. 

He  was  ever  thoughtful,  tender  and  considerate  of  his 
children.  'No  man  ever  loved  his  children  more  than  he;  and 
this  tender  affection  was  as  great  towards  his  grandchildren  as 
to  his  own.  He  was  never  too  busy  in  his  study  to  welcome 
in  any  little  one  of  the  family  and  speak  a  word  of  cheer. 

He  was  never  in  too  great  a  rush  at  mealtime  to  take  a  few 
minutes  to  tell  some  thrilling  incident  or  anecdote  to  point  a 
moral  or  aid  the  digestion  by  a  good  laugh  or  pleasant  mood. 
His  children  have  a  great  heritage  in  the  memory  of  such  a 
father. 

But,  perhaps,  the  strongest  part  of  his  nature  was  his 
love  for  his  wife.  This  love  had  grown  and  developed  for 
forty-seven  years,  until  it  was  the  consuming  part  of  his 
nature.  She  was  indispensable  to  his  very  existence.  When 
she  was  sick,  "we  are  all  sick,"  were  his  own  words. 

One  of  his  last  expressions  and  one  that  expressed  his 
sentiments  towards  her,  as  he  lived  for  nearly  half  of  a  cen- 
tury, was  when  asked  about  the  disposition  of  his  worldly 
effects,  he  said,  "I  want  Mrs.  Burleson  to  be  supreme."  She 
was  supreme  in  his  heart's  affection,  supreme  in  his  ideal  of 
womanhood,  supreme  in  his  ideal  of  motherhood,  supreme  in 
his  ideal  of  wifehood  and  supreme  in  all  that  he  honored  and 
loved  in  this  world. 


DE  BTJKLESO]^  AS  A  MODEL  FOR  TEXAS  YOUTHS. 

(contributed  by  w.  b.  denson.) 

Every  ambitious  youth  has  some  ideal  to  which  he 
.aspires,  and  whose  characteristics  he  would  emulate.  He 
«ees  in  some  heroic  mould  the  model  after  which  he  would 
frame  his  life  and  fashion  his  greatness  and  usefulness.  The 
liighest  peaks  to  which  ambition  would  climb  sees  there 
■shining  out  against  his  sky  some  splendid  hero  who  has  risen 
•above  his  fellows  and  stands,  the  admiration  of  those  upon 
the  plains  below. 

Dr.  Burleson's  life  and  character  present  to  Texas  youths 
a  model  without  blemish,  chiselled  by  an  artist  whose  model 


Dr.  Hufus  C.  Burleson.  513 

was  the  very  Son  of  God,  who  saw  the  lines  of  beauty  and 
symmetry  with  clear  vision  and  bold  conception,  and  pre- 
sented a  well  rounded  manhood,  worthy  the  admiration  of 
all  men.  Dr.  Burleson  was  born  and  reared  of  wealthy 
parents.  He  enjoyed  the  benefits  of  a  thorough  education. 
When  he  reached  his  majority  he  was  well  equipped  for  the 
lucrative  professions  and  business  callings  of  his  country. 
But  he  turned  his  back  to  the  siren  appeals  to  his  wordly 
ambition  and  gave  his  mighty  genius  and  energies  to  the 
work  of  his  Master.  Friends  pointed  him  to  distinction  and 
wealth  in  the  legal  profession,  and  contrasted  it  with  the 
poverty  and  struggle  of  the  ministry.  But,  with  unfaltering 
faith  and  courage,  with  a  devotion  which  laid  his  all  at  the 
feet  of  God,  he  mounted  the  chariot  of  a  great  purpose  and 
moved  forward.  He  left  the  refinement  and  ease  of  life  in 
the  older  states,  the  endearments  of  family  and  friends,  and 
came  to  Texas,  where  an  almost  untrodden  field  invited  him 
to  privations  and  struggles,  as  w<^ll  as  to  conquest  and  use- 
fulness. The  daring  enterpris'^  which  had  moved  men  to 
these  new,  western  wilds  pointed  them  to  fortune  and  lands 
rather  than  duty  to  God  and  obligations  to  their  fellowmen. 
Houses  of  worship  were  few;  Christian  people  were  scarce 
and  indifferent.  But  the  young  preacher  had  counted  upon 
just  these  things.  As  John  the  Baptist,  with  a  flaming 
sword,  crying  in  the  wilderness,  "Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the 
Lord;  make  His  paths  straight,"  so  this  invincible  man 
mounted  the  rostrum  of  this  new  civilization  and  unfolded 
the  banner  of  his  great  Captain.  His  people  were  without 
organization;  the  fe"^  Baptist  churches  in  Texas  were  far 
apart  and  weak  indeed.  But  the  triumphant  success  of  his 
church  and  people,  as  shown  to-day,  tell  us  how  well  the 
foundation  was  laid  is  those  early  days  for  crowning  success. 
As  a  minister  he  was  sound  in  doctrine,  eloquent,  soul- 
stirring  and  persuasive.  Bold  and  courageous  in  his  work, 
he  lost  no  opportunity  for  progressive  policy,  and  defied  oppo- 
sition wherever  it  crossed  his  path.  His  keen  black  eye,  his 
jet  black  hair,  his  tall,  commanding  figure,  his  dignified  and 
lofty  mien,  gave  him  a  presence  upon  the  stage  which 
attracted  all  men  to  him.  He  soon  became  known  as  the 
John  KJaox  preacher  of  this  new  land.     A   very  few  years 

33 


514  The  Life  and  Wkitings  of 

after  Dr.  Burleson  came  to  Texas  the  finger  of  duty  and 
destiny  pointed  him  to  a  broader  field  of  usefulness.  Baylor 
University  was  a  Baptist  denominational  school,  located  at 
Independence.  About  the  year  1851  he  was  called  to  the 
presidency  of  that  institution.  Young,  brilliant  and  thor- 
oughly educated^  he  counted  the  difficulties  which  had  driven 
his  predecessor  from  his  post  as  of  small  moment.  With 
courage  invincible,  he  took  the  helm  of  this  institution  of 
Christian  education,  and  added  the  role  of  Educator  to  that 
of  the  Preacher.  His  splendid  executive  ability  and  bold 
leadership  here  found  opportunity  for  the  highest  develop- 
ment. His  courage  and  faith  inspired  the  friends  of  the 
university  to  supreme  effort,  and  it  soon  moved  forward  with 
imperial  tread.  Its  president  was  not  only  the  leading  spirit 
in  his  religious  denomination  in  Texas,  but  he  soon  became 
the  personal  friend  and  domestic  counsellor  of  thousands.  I 
remember  well  the  first  visit  he  made  to  our  home  in  Eastern 
Texas  in  January  of  1854.  His  gracious  and  tender  bearing, 
his  warm  sympathy  for  boys,  drew  me  quickly  to  him;  and, 
when  he  mounted  his  horse  and  rode  away,  my  mother  and 
I  watched  him  with  keen  interest  until  he  disappeared  far 
down  the  road.  He  had,  in  his  short  visit  to  our  home,  made 
two  friends,  whose  admiration  and  affection  for  him  were  fade- 
less and  undying.  His  magnificent  executive  ability,  which 
made  him  master  of  the  situation  as  president,  and  his  keen 
perception  of  human  nature,  which  gave  him  the  key  to  all 
our  characters  and  bent  us  to  his  will,  made  possible  his  loftiest 
ambition  for  the  university. 

As  a  great  educator  and  disciplinarian  he  not  only 
attracted  to  him  the  people  of  our  own  state,  but  his  rare 
powers  of  discipline  gave  him  a  national  reputation.  When 
the  question  of  hazing  became  a  national  one,  when  all  the 
other  presidents  balked  in  their  undertaking  to  suppress  it, 
having  heard  that  Dr.  Burleson  had  never  had  a  case  of 
hazing  in  the  university,  they  invited  him  to  address  them 
collectively  upon  hazing.  This  invitation  he  accepted,  and 
delivered  his  address  before  a  large  body  of  college  presidents, 
I  think,  at  St.  Paul,  Minn. 

His  history  as  a  preacher  is  full  of  eventful  interest 
and  glorious  success.     In  his  early  career,  when  full  of  mag- 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  515 

netism  and  fire,  at  times  he  moved  his  audiences  with  such 
mighty  power  that  men  and  women  by  scores  rushed  to  the 
inquirer's  seat,  and  cried  out,  "What  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?" 
He  seemed  to  have  wonderful  power  with  Grod.  To  him  as 
a  preacher  we  gave  love  and  admiration  not  common  among 
men.  He  was  the  ideal  preacher,  and  as  he  thundered  in 
the  ears  of  his  hearers  the  love  of  God,  which  passeth  under- 
standing, he  told  them,  too,  of  the  wrath  of  an  outraged  and 
offended  God.  I  remember  to  have  heard  him  preach  a 
sermon  upon  the  Judgment,  about  1855,  the  most  wonderful 
I  ever  heard,  and  its  terrors  are  with  me  yet.  The  little 
school  house  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  poor  was  as  good 
a  place  to  him  for  preaching  as  the  finest  city  church.  His 
great  overruling  purpose  was  to  move  forward  the  standard 
of  his  great  captain.  He  was  a  patriot  of  high  order.  He 
loved  his  country;  especially  did  he  love  Texas.  He  loved 
her  history  as  few  men  did;  and  it  was  with  him  a  supreme 
pleasure  to  recount  the  heroic  deeds  of  her  sons,  when 
"knighthood's  flower"  was  upon  her.  He  saw  with  prophetic 
ken  the  coming  greatness  of  Texas,  and  bade  his  students 
prepare  for  the  handling  of  mighty  issues.  He  held  up  be- 
fore us  Rome's  noblest  ajid  purest  men  in  the  days  of  her 
proudest  history.  He  portrayed  the  splendid  characters  of 
our  early  fathers  and  statesmen,  and  bade  us  emulate  their 
examples.  He  took  position  upon  one  side  or  the  other  of 
every  important  public  question,  and  gave  his  convictions 
uncompromising  support.  "Dulce  est  pro  patria  mori"  was 
a  favorite  quotation  with  him.  He  was  tenacious,  unwaver- 
ing, inflexible  in  purpose,  and  though  all  the  world  was 
against  him,  if  he  believed  he  was  right  he  could  not  be 
moved.  His  friendships  were  warm,  generous,  confiding  and 
lasting.  He  drew  his  friends  to  him  with  "hooks  of  steel," 
and  his  name  is  to-day  a  household  word  in  thousands  of 
homes  in  Texas.  May  it  remain  fadeless  as  the  stars,  and 
his  memory  be  cherished  for  the  good  he  has  done. 

Thus,  as  minister,  educator,  citizen,  and  friend.  Dr. 
Burleson  presents  to  the  youth  of  this  land  a  model  almost 
without  parallel.  The  young  minister  finds  in  him  the  ele- 
ments of  beautiful  and  splendid  success,  an  ideal  of  God's 
greatest  workmanship  and  his  blessings  for  faithful  service. 


516 


The  Life  and  Writings  of 


The  educator  finds  in  him  an  ideal  which  draws  him 
from  disappointment,  lethargy,  ignorance  and  vice  to  the 
loftiest  pinnacles  of  ambition  and  virtue.  The  citizen  sees 
in  him  an  ideal  which  makes  the  highest  type  of  heroes, 
patriots  and  statesmen.  Of  such  material  Gideon  chose  the 
three  hundred  to  rout  a  great  army. 

While  water  runs  and  grass  grows  upon  the  prairies  he 
loved  so  much,  may  his  name  and  the  good  he  has  done  be 
held  in  remembrance  by  a  grateful  people. 


DR.  BURLESON'S  GRAVE  THE  MORNING  AFTER  THE  FUNERAL,  WITH 
HIS  HORSE  AND  PHAETON. 


PART  III. 


CHAPEL  TALKS 


BY 


DR.  BURLESON. 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Buklesox.  52 1 


CHAPEL  TALKS 

BY  DR.  R.  C.  BURLESON. 


mXEODUCTORY  NOTE. 

The  following  "Chapel  Talks'-  of  Dr.  Burleson  are  here 
reproduced  with  mingled  feelings  of  hope  and  fear;  hope  that 
their  power  may  be  blessed  again,  fear  lest  cold  type  may 
wrong  his  memory. 

They  will  cause  the  strings  to  vibrate  faster  in  the  hearts 
of  thousands  of  his  old  students  who  will  be  carried  back  to 
brighter  days,  hearing  again  the  words  that  once  stirred  them 
to  nobler  aims  and  loftier  ambitions. 

They  will  bring  a  flush  of  joy  and  pride  to  hundreds  who 
will  recall  the  very  occasion  and  the  very  lesson  that  turned 
them  from  the  downward  path  and  pointed  them  to  the  better 
way. 

These  "Chapel  Talks"  will  cause  a.  blush  to  mantle  the 
cheeks  of  some,  whose  golden  opportunities  were  allowed  to 
pass  unheeded. 

We  fear  the  cold  type,  without  the  spirit,  which  can  never 
again  be  instilled  into  them,  except  as  a  beautiful  vision  in 
memory's  dream,  may  wrong  the  dead. 

1^0  one  can  ever  fully  appreciate  these  "Chapel  Talks" 
without  having  heard  them  from  the  speaker's  lips.  The  occa- 
sion, the  urgent  need  of  the  lesson,  the  pointed  and  direct  ap- 
plication, the  tenderness,  the  earnestness,  the  great,  loving 
heart  that  was  thrown  into  them — all  were  necessary  to  give 
to  these  lessons  their  power,  whose  influence  to  the  full  extent, 
eternity  alone  can  disclose. 

But  the  Life  Work  of  Dr.  Burleson  would  not  be  com- 
plete without  them.     We  give  the  few  which  follow,  praying 


522  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

that  the  same  God,  who  so  richly  blessed  them  in  the  past,  may 
use  them  to  stir  noble  impulses  in  the  hearts  of  those  who  may 
have  shown  themselves  deaf  to  every  former  call. 

If  but  one  boy  or  girl  shall  catch  a  spark  of  inspiration 
from  these  "dead  forms"  it  may  be  said  as  of  old :  "He  being 
dead  yet  speaketh." 

— Editor. 


OUK  YOmiTG  PEOPLE— THEIR  DUTIES  Al^B 
PERILS. 

I  have  spent  fifty  years  in  the  school  room,  three  in  Mis- 
sissippi and  forty-seven  in  Baylor  University,  and  have  in- 
structed over  8,500  young  people;  therefore  young  people  are 
a  part  of  myself.  I  think  of  them  and  pray  for  them  by  day 
and  often  dream  of  them  by  night.  Their  happiness  fills  me 
with  joy,  and  their  sorrows  fill  my  eyes  with  team's. 

I  feel  constrained  to  warn  them  of  some  of  the  great 
duties  and  perils  that  beset  their  pathway.  Remember,  first, 
that  this  is  "The  age  of  the  young  people."  There  never  was 
an  age  when  there  were  so  many  societies  organized  and  so 
many  books  written  for  young  people.  The  Y,  M.  C.  A.,  the 
B.  Y.  P.  U.,  the  Ep worth  League,  the  Christian  Endeavor, 
and  Bible  schools,  and  Christian  colleges  especially  for  the 
young,  are  girdling  this  planet  with  light  and  love,  while 
good  books  cover  the  land  and  are  borne  on  every  ocean. 
Providence  intends  by  all  these  agencies  for  our  young  peo- 
ple to  prepare  themselves  for  grander  duties  and  destinies 
than  the  world  ever  knew,  and  they  should  be  fully  armed 
and  equipped  for  their  part  in  the  world's  great  drama. 

For  it  is  also  a  solemn  fact  that  Satan,  the  great  enemy 
of  mankind,  knowing  the  vast  power  and  future  influence  of 
young  people,  is  devising  a  thousand  snares  to  capture  them 
and  make  them  his  dupes  and  slaves. 

For,  while  God's  people  are  establishing  Y.  M.  C.  A.'s, 
B.  Y.  P.  U.'s,  Epworth  Leagues  and  Christian  Endeavors  in 
every  town  and  city,  Satan  is  establishing  gambling  houses 
and  other  houses  of  crime,  and  race  grounds.  He  skillfully 
adjusts  whisky  shops  and  regular  gambling  houses  for  his  older 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  BuELESOisr.  523 

victims,  but  he  is  diligently  preparing  for  our  young  people 
euchre  parties,  Avine  suppers  (often  in  elegant  parlors),  with 
dancing  and  waltzing,  and  Sunday  excursions. 

One  of  the  fatal  delusions  of  the  devil  is  blending  pleas- 
ure and  amusements  with  sin,  and  thus  concealing  the  deadly, 
downward  tendency  of  his  amusement,  till  his  young  victims 
plunge  into  the  vortex  of  ruin. 

I  therefore  implore  all  young  people  to  shun  whisky 
shops,  gambling  houses,  race  grounds,  as  you  would  the  sting 
of  the  scorpion  or  the  bite  of  the  adder.  And  every  family 
should  strictly  quarantine  against  euchre  parties,  dancing  and 
waltzing,  as  against  yellow  fever  or  smallpox. 

But  if  all  Christian  parents  and  patriots  would  provide 
at  home  joyful,  innocent  amusements  for  our  young  people, 
and  spare  no  pains  or  money  to  make  home  the  sweetest,  hap- 
piest and  dearest  spot  of  earth,  then  Satan's  fatal  amusements, 
the  bar-room,  gambling  table,  euchre  and  wine  parties,  would 
lose  their  fascination. 

One  special  delusion  of  Satan  in  destroying  homes  is 
the  same  he  used  to  deceive  Eve  and  expel  her  from  Paradise, 
Satan  accomplished  this  by  assuring  Eve  that  if  she  would 
disobey  God  and  eat  the  forbidden  fruit  she  would  become  as 
a  God.  And  now  he  tells  her  daughters  that  if  they  will  diso- 
bey God  and  forsake  their  heaven-appointed  mission  as  angels 
of  the  home  and  queens  of  the  heart  and  quit  caring  for  the 
helpless  little  ones,  and  become  politicians  and  preachers  and 
doctors,  they  will  become  "lords  of  creation."  It  is  thi^  terri- 
ble delusion  that  has  converted  home  into  a  scene  of  strife  and 
blood,  and  even  murder,  and  has  driven  the  children  into  the 
streets. 

ISText  to  happy  homes,  I  would  implore  all  young  people 
to  seek  good  associates  and  good  books,  and  also  to  select 
grand  mottoes  that  shall  be  as  guiding  stars  along  the  path  of 
life.  I  praise  God  that  he  enabled  me  in  early  life  to  select 
mottoes  which  have  guided  me  through  life. 

My  earliest  great  motto  was:  "Never  do  anything, 
never  tell  anything,  never  hear  anything,  never  read  anything, 
•that  I  would  blush  to  tell  my  mother."  Second  motto: 
"Thou,  God,  seest  me."     Third,  "Have  one  grand  life  pur- 


524  The  Life  and  Whitings  of 

pose.     And  to  that  life  purpose,  bend  all  the  energies  of  my 
being." 


MOSES. 

THE  GEAND  MODEL  OF  PREPARATION  FOR  LIFe's  DUTIES. 

In  previous  talks  we  saw  the  fearful  mistake  of 
Ahimaaz;  running  as  a  courier,  before  he  got  his  message 
ready.  And  notwithstanding  his  great  zeal  and  energy  in 
outrunning  Cushi  and  all  competitors  who  waited  to  get 
ready,  he  was  commanded  to  stand  aside  as  a  disgraceful 
failure.  We  wish,  in  our  present  -talk  to  the  young,  to  give 
an  example  of  Moses,  who  spent  long  years  of  toil  and  sacri- 
fice in  getting  ready,  and  who  made  a  grander  success  than 
any  man  who  ever  lived  on  earth.  Moses,  like  nearly  all 
great  men,  was  born  and  educated  in  the  school  of  adversity. 
He  was  born  during  the  reign  of  the  bloody  Pharaoh,  who, 
from  jealousy  of  the  wonderful  increase  and  prosperity  of 
the  children  of  Israel,  commanded  every  male  child  to  be 
killed  or  thrown  into  the  river  ISTile  to  be  eaten  by  alligators. 
When  Moses  was  born,  his  mother  (like  all  mothers)  beholding 
his  exceeding  great  beauty,  hid  him  three  months,  but  finding 
she  could  conceal  him  no  longer,  but  would  bring  ruin  on  her 
beautiful  boy  and  herself,  and  whole  family,  she  resolved  to 
commit  her  precious  jewel  to  the  providence  of  God.  And 
making  "an  ark  of  bullrushes  daubing  it  with  slime  and  with 
pitch,"  she  then  put  the  child  therein  (laden  with  a  mother's 
tears  and  prayers)  and  placed  it  in  the  flags  by  the  river's 
brink.  His  little  sister  Miriam  stood  weeping  afar  off  to  see 
what  would  become  of  her  little  brother.  By  the  ever  watch- 
ful providence  of  God,  at  this  time  Pharaoh's  daughter,  with 
her  maidens,  came  down  to  the  river  to  bathe,  and  seeing  an 
ark  among  the  flags  she  sent  one  of  her  maidens  to  bring  it  to 
her,  and  when  she  opened  it  the  child  wept.  This  touched 
her  woman's  heart,  and  she  said:  "This  is  one  of  the  He- 
brew children,  and  I  will  adopt  it  as  my  son."  And  his  little 
sister  Miriam  drew  near  and  said :  "Shall  I  call  one  of  the 
Hebrew  mothers  to  nurse  him  for  you?"     And  Pharaoh's 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Buelesojst.  525 

daughter  said:  "Go."  She  went  and  called  the  child's 
mother,  and  Pharaoh's  daughter  said :  "Take  this  child  and 
raise  it  up  for  me  and  I  will  give  thee  wages."  The  rejoicing 
mother  took  the  child  and  nursed  him  and  educated  him  till 
he  was  fourteen  years  old,  and  brought  him  to  Pharaoh's 
daughter,  and  she  adopted  him  as  her  son,  to  become  the  king 
of  Egypt.  Here  we  see  the  first  grand  step  in  the  true  edu- 
cation and  preparation  of  every  child  for  the  battle  of  life 
which  is  at  a  mother's  knee  and  from  a  mother's  lips.  The 
education  of  Moses  would  have  been  a  failure  if  it  had  not 
been  for  his  angel  mother.  I  am  always  sad  to  see  young 
children  sent  away  from  home  to  be  educated.  All  the  uni- 
versities of  the  world  cannot  give  children  the  training  their 
mothers  can. 

Moses  had  this  first  grand  step  well  laid  and  he  was  pre- 
pared for  the  royal  college  of  Egypt  to  be  trained  in  all  the 
learning  of  the  Egyptians,  then  the  most  celebrated  nation  on 
earth.  And  the  Bible  tells  us :  "Moses  was  learned  in  all  the 
wisdom  of  Egypt,  and  was  mighty  in  words  and  deeds."  And 
the  deeds  and  exploits  of  Moses  as  a  general  of  the  Egyptian 
army  form  one  of  the  brightest  chapters  in  Egyptian  history. 
Moses  remained  in  the  palace  of  Pharaoh  till  he  was  forty 
years  old  and  studied  profoundly  the  spirit,  strength  and 
power  of  the  king  and  his  people.  Erom  the  glorious  lessons 
his  mother  taught  him  "he  chose  rather  to  suffer  affliction 
with  the  people  of  God,  than  to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  sin  for 
a  season."  And  while  visiting  his  people  and  endeavoring 
to  protect  a  Jew  from  the  unjust  and  bloody  treatment  of  an 
Egyptian  he  was  forced  to  kill  the  Egyptian.  Knowing  his 
life  would  be  sought,  he  went  away  into  the  land  of  Midian 
and  sought  refuge  amid  the  mountains  of  ISTebo  r.nd  Sinai 
and  found  a  home  in  the  family  of  Jethro,  a  learned  priest  of 
Midian,  and  married  his  queenly  daughter.  There,  amid  the 
majestic  hills  and  beautiful  valleys  of  Midian,  he  spent  foriy 
years  studying  and  mastering  all  the  great  problems  of  human 
duty,  happiness  and  government.  He  often  stood  alone  on 
the  lofty  summit  of  Mount  Sinai,  Mount  l^ebo  and  Mount 
Pisgah,  communing  with  God  and  nature,  and  studviiig  pro- 
foundly the  great  problem  of  human  government  and  dostiny. 
When  fully  prepared,  by  forty  years'  study  in  the  wilderness. 


526  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

being  then  eighty  years  old,  God  appeared  to  him  in  the  bumr 
ing  bush  and  gave  him  his  great  commision,  the  grandest, 
perchance,  ever  given  to  man  or  angel.  That  mission  was  to 
go  back  to  the  palace  of  the  bloody  Pharoah  and  in  the  name 
of  God  to  demand  in  person  that  he  free  the  two  millions  of 
the  children  of  Israel  from  Egyptian  bondage.  And  when 
this  demand  from  God  was  refused,  to  call  down  upon  Pha- 
raoh and  the  children  of  Egypt,  darkness,  lightning,  hail, 
pestilence  and  the  ten  plagues  that  desolated  and  ruined 
Egypt.  And  after  inflicting  on  Pharaoh  and  the  Egyptians 
the  just  penalty  of  the  long  and  wicked  cruelty  to  the  Jews 
he  was  to  lead  the  two  million  Israelites  through  the  Red  Sea 
and  through  a  vast  wilderness  and  locate  them  in  the  land  of 
Canaan,  flowing  with  milk  and  honey.  And  what  is  still 
grander,  to  meet  the  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  face  to  face 
on  Sinai's  quaking  summit,  and  receive  from  him  the  best 
code  of  laws  ever  known  to  man.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that 
the  laws  and  writings  of  Moses  are  to-day  more  widely  read 
and  more  profoundly  studied  than  the  writing  of  all  the  poets 
and  philosophers  of  Greece,  Rome,  England  and  America 
combined.  The  laws  of  Moses  are  not  only  studied  by  the 
Jews  all  around  the  world,  but  by  all  Mohammedan  nations, 
and  by  all  the  civilized  nations  of  Europe  and  America. 
And  when  Moses  had  accomplished  his  grand  work,  the  Bible 
tells  us,  his  eye  was  not  dim  nor  his  natural  force  abated," 
though  he  was  one  hundred  and  twenty  years  old.  And, 
having  accomplished  his  glorious  work,  God  led  him  up  to  the 
lofty  summit  of  Mount  l^ebo,  and  there,  amid  the  shout  of 
angels,  in  a  chariot  of  glory,  he  was  carried  to  his  resplendent 
home  in  heaven.  Oh,  what  a  grand  and  sublime  lesson  for 
all  young  men  and  young  ladies  on  the  importance  of  getting 
ready  for  the  battle  of  life,  and  ending  it  in  glory,  as  Mob-es  did. 


OE"  JOIST  AH  RUNOTl^G  AWAY  EROM  DUTY. 

One  of  the  most  common  and  fatal  crimes  of  the  human 
family  is  running  away  from  duty.  God  has  given  us  the 
fate  of  Jonah  as  a  warning  against  this  dreadful  crime.     The 


Dk.  Kufus  C.  Burleson.  527 

great  city  of  Ninevah,  with  over  120,000  inhabitants,  like  all 
cities  when  they  become  great  and  rich,  became  devoted  first 
to  pleasure,  secondly  to  sinful  amusements  and  thirdly  to  the 
darkest  crimes. 

God  saw  the  iniquity  of  Ninevah,  and  in  mercy,  com- 
manded the  prophet  Jonah  to  go  and  warn  them  of  their 
certain  ruin,  if  they  continued  to  sin.  But  this  duty,  like 
many  duties  in  this  life,  seemed  so  arduous  and  so  perilous, 
Jonah  shrank  from  it,  and  determined  to  flee  away  from  the 
presence  of  the  Lord  into  the  great  city  of  Tarhish,  and  going 
down  to  Joppa  he  found  a  ship  going  to  Tarshish,  paid  his 
fare  and  went  aboard.  Like  all  sinners,  he  was  blind  to  his 
real  danger,  and  going  down  into  the  sides  of  the  ship  was 
soon  fast  asleep.  But,  alas,  he  found,  though  he  might  run 
away  from  duty  he  could  not  run  away  from  an  omnipresent 
Grod.  The  Lord  sent  a  mighty  tempest  on  the  sea  and 
the  ship  was  likely  to  be  broken  to  pieces.  The  sailors  cried 
mightily,  every  man  to  his  God,  but  the  storm  raged  on. 
They  then  threw  overboard  all  their  freight  and  wares.  This 
shows  the  great  calamity  of  keeping  company  with  men  run- 
ning away  from  duty  or  who  trample  on  the  laws  of  God. 
But  the  guilty  Jonah,  like  guilty  sinners  generally,  was  ut- 
terly unconscious  of  the  danger,  and  lay  fast  asleep  on  the  rag- 
ing sea.  The  shipmaster  came  unto  him  and  said:  "Oh, 
sleeper,  what  meanest  thou,  arise,  call  upon  thy  God,  if  per- 
chance He  will  have  mercy  upon  us,  that  we  all  perish  not.'' 
The  affrighted  Jonah  sprang  up  and  saw  they  were  all  trem- 
bling on  the  verge  of  ruin.  The  sailors  said,  "Come,  let  us 
cast  lots,  to  see  for  whose  cause  this  evil  is  upon  us."  And 
so  they  cast  lots  and  the  lot  fell  upon  Jonah.  And  let  every 
young  man  and  young  woman  who  runs  away  from  duty, 
know  assuredly  that  his  sins  will  find  him  out  either  in  time 
or  eternity.  The  sailors  said,  "Why  hast  thou  done  this  evil, 
and  brought  this  ruin  on  us.  What  shall  we  do  unto  thee?" 
Jonah,  deeply  convicted  of  his  sins,  said  with  noble  heroism: 
"Cast  me  overboard  and  the  sea  shall  be  quiet  unto  you." 
But  with  great  magnanimity,  the  sailors  shrank  from  hurling 
a  man  overboard  into  the  raging  billows  and  rowed  harder 
and  harder.  But,  alas,  no  man  can  escape  the  justice  of  God, 
and  the  sea  still  raged  fiercer.     Finally  the  sailors  cast  him 


528  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

head  foremost  into  the  raging  sea.  And  the  billows  became 
calm  as  a  May  morning.  The  Lord,  ever  mercifiJ  even  in 
punishment  for  our  sins,  prepared  a  great  whale  to  swallow 
Jonah.  "And  Jonah  was  in  the  bellv  of  the  whale  three 
days  and  three  nights."  Oh,  what  a  time  for  prayer  and 
fasting  and  repentance  for  running  away  from  duty.  Oh, 
that  every  young  man  and  young  lady  that  reads  this  ar- 
ticle may  shudder  at  the  great  sin  of  running  away  from  duty. 

But  when  the  Lord  saw  that  the  repentance  of  Jonah 
was  a  Godly  sorrow  that  worketh  a  complete  change  of  heart 
and  life,  and  that  he  would  never  again  run  away  from  duty, 
"He  spake  unto  the  fish  and  it  vomited  out  Jonah  on  the 
land."  The  Lord  again  spake  unto  Jonah  and  said,  "Arise 
and  go  into  Ninevah,  that  great  city,  and  preach  unto  it,  say- 
ing, "If  thou  repent  not  I  will  come  down  and  destroy  thee 
with  fire  and  brimstone,  as  I  did  Sodom  and  Gomorah."  And 
all  Ninevah,  from  the  king  on  the  throne  to  the  humblest 
beggar  on  the  street,  repented  and  put  on  sackcloth  ancl  ashes 
and  cried  to  Heaven  for  mercy,  and  the  Lord  heard  their 
prayer. 

From  this  great  lesson  I  trust  the  young  will  learn  the 
lesson  that  was  deeply  engraved  upon  my  heart  more  than 
sixty  years  ago.. 

That  it  was  a  fearful  thing  to  run  away  from  duty,  and 
that  by  the  help  of  God  I  would  never  shrink  from  any  duty, 
however  perilous.  I  trust  the  young  people  will  all  learn 
and  practice  the  same.  If  any,  like  Jonah,  have  run  away, 
let  them  return  to  the  straight  and  narrow  pathway  of  duty, 
that  leads  to  honor,  usefulness  and  happiness  on  earth  and  a 
resplendent  mansion  and  home  in  Heaven. 


DO  THYSELF  Ts^q  HARM. 

ACTS,  16-18. 

I  have  selected  these  few  remarkable  words  as  a  theme 
for  my  talk.  These  words  were  uttered  to  the  jailor  at  Phil- 
ippi,  who,  aroused  from  his  sleep  at  the  hour  of  midnight, 
saw  the  prison  doors  open,  and  supposing  the  prisoners  had  all 


Dk,  Rufus  C.  Bukleson.  529 

fled,  drew  out  his  sword  and  was  about  to  kill  himself,  when 
Paul,  forgetting  all  of  his  cruel  treatment,  cried  with  a  loud 
voice,  "Do  thy  self  no  harm." 

Time  and  space  allow  us  to  note  only  a  few  of  the  re- 
markable lessons  suggested  by  these  words. 

First,  that  man,  with  all  of  his  self-love,  should  harm 
himself,  is  marvelous.  But  it  is  a  painful  fact  that  there  are 
to-day  ten  thousand  young  men  and  twenty  thousand  older 
men  in  our  land,  who,  during  this  Christmas,  will  need  the 
voice  of  the  mother,  the  father  and  the  pieacher  crying 
aloud,  "Do  thyself  no  harm." 

And  scores  of  tbem  will  commit  moral  suicide  during  the 
rejoicing  days  of  Christmas.  Let  me,  then,  as  an  ardent  lover 
of  the  youth,  having  devoted  fifty  years  to  their  instruction, 
point  out  faithfully  and  tenderly  some  of  the  ways  in  which 
young  men  commit  suicide. 

The  first  and  most  common  way  is  using  whisky,  or  the 
intoxicating  cup.  The  ofiicial  statistics  show  that  60,000 
men,  one-third  of  them  young  men,  commit  suicide  every 
year  by  strong  drink.  And  yet  that  same  old  serpent  that  in 
the  Garden  of  Eden  told  Eve  that  there  was  no  harm  in  eating 
the  forbidden  fruit  is  telling  these  young  men,  "There  is  no 
harm  in  a  social  glass;  and  it  is  so  pleasant  to  the  eye  and  good 
to  the  taste — governors,  congressmen  and  fashionable  ladies 
all  use  it." 

And  though  thfe  loving  voice  of  a  mother  and  father 
and  conscience  all  cry  aloud,  "Do  thyself  no  harm,"  twenty 
thousand  young  men  every  year  commit  moral  suicide  by 
strong  drink. 

Every  man,  old  and  young,  should  hear  the  voice  of  God, 
saying,  in  His  Holy  Bible,  "Look  not  upon  the  wine  cup  when 
it  is  red,  for  at  last  it  biteth  like  a  serpent  and  stingeth  like  an 
adder." 

Another  fearful  means  by  which  thousands  of  young 
men  harm  themselves  and  commit  suicide  is  card  playing  and 
other  games  of  chance. 

The  mania  of  card  playing,  when  it  gets  a  firm  hold,  is 
just  as  fatal  as  intoxicating  drinks.  It  harden?  the  heart  and 
blots  out  all  the  nobler  sensibilities  of  the  soul. 

34 


530  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

The  Holy  Bible  gives  us  a  mournful  incident  of  this  fact. 
In  the  case  of  the  soldiers  who  sat  down  beneath  the  bleeding, 
dying  Saviour  and  gambled  or  "cast  lots"  for  His  seamless 
robe.  Though  the  sun  blushed  and  hid  his  face  from  that  aw- 
ful scene;  though  the  earth  trembled  and  the  rocks  rent, 
and  the  dead  arose  and  came  out  of  their  graves,  and  the 
weeping  mother  stood  there,  yet  these  soldiers  sat  down  on  the 
trembling  earth  and  gambled  for  that  precious  relic  for  which 
the  loving  mother  would  have  given  her  heart's  blood. 

I  have  known  men  who  took  the  bread  from  the  mouths 
of  their  hungry  children,  and  others  who  have  squandered  in 
card  playing  money  they  had  solemnly  sworn  to  keep.  T 
knew  a  noble  young  man  to  break  the  heart  of  his  loving 
young  wife  by  gambling  away  her  father's  money.  And 
when  dying  she  telegraphed  him,  "Oh,  husband,  I  am 
dying;  come  home;  I  must  see  you  before  I  die."  But,  being 
absorbed  in  card  playing,  he  replied,  "I  am  busy  and  cannot 
come." 

I  know  a  learned  preacher  in  Texas  who  has  acquired 
such  a  passion  for  dominoes  that  when  sent  for  to  see  a  dying 
lady — a  member  of  his  church — he  said,  "I  have  a  special  en- 
gagement, and  will  come  as  soon  as  I  can."  But,  alas,  the 
lady  died  while  her  pastor  was  playing  dominoes. 

All  games  of  hazard,  such  as  dominoes,  checkers.,  etc., 
burden  the  heart  and  deaden  all  the  nobler  feelings  of  the 
soul,  when  played  to  excess. 

Oh,  that  I  could  speak  in  a  voice  of  love  and  thunder.  J 
would  cry  aloud,  "Oh,  young  man,  do  thy  self  no  harm;  shun 
gambling  and  all  games  of  chance  as  you  would  the  bite  of  the 
serpent  and  the  sting  of  the  adder." 

I  am  rejoiced  to  see  that  our  greatest  generals  have  for- 
bidden all  card  playing  in  the  army,  and  I  pray  God  that  the 
time  may  soon  come  when  all  gambling  houses  and  all  euchre 
parties  may  be  blotted  out  for  forever. 

A  third  means  by  which  young  men  and  young  ladies 
harm  themselves  and  commit  suicide  is  by  bad  company. 
They  can  no  more  keep  bad  company  and  not  be  injured  than 
they  can  breathe  the  air  of  yellow  fever  or  cholera  and  not 
contract  these  monster  epidemics. 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Bukleson.  531 

"When  I  was  a  pastor  at  Houston,  I  was  culled  in  1848-49 
to  visit  the  sick  and  dying  with  yellow  fever  and  cholera,  and 
though  I  used  every  caution  and  disinfectant  that  medical 
skill  could  prescribe,  yet  I  fell  a  victim  to  these  terrible  dis- 
eases. When  seized  with  the  terrible  crampings  of  cholera, 
the  blood  receded  from  my  brain,  and  I.  fell  blind  in  the 
street.  But  God  is  my  judge,  I  would  rather  breathe  the  air 
infected  by  yellow  fever  and  cholera  than  to  associate  daily 
with  impure  men  and  "fast  women." 

To  all  the  young  of  our  beloved  Southland,  I  would 
cry  aloud,  "Do  thyself  no  harm"  by  associating  with  hvA  men 
and  "fast  women"  in  ball  rooms,  theaters,  card  parties  or  any 
place  of  impurity. 

Remember,  also,  that  bad  books  and  papers  filled  with 
obscene  details  of  crime  are  the  most  dangerous  companions 
on  earth.  They  secretly,  under  the  guise  of  literary  taste, 
corrupt  and  ruin  the  morals  of  thousands  of  young  men  and 
young  women. 

It  should  be  made  a  penitentiary  offense  to  print  or  circu- 
late any  impure  book  or  paper. 

An  empty  sack  cannot  stand  erect,  buc  only  the  sack 
filled  with  precious  grain.  So  young  people  to  stand  erect 
and  walk  in  the  straight  and  narrow  path  of  purity,  honor 
and  glory,  must  not  only  shun  these  evils,  but  have  their 
hearts  filled  with  the  lessons  of  purity,  patriotism  and  religion 
as  taught  in  the  holy  Bible  and  in  the  lives  of  our  Washing- 
tons,  Franklins  and  Lees.  They  should  also  breathe  the  pure 
atmosphere  of  the  Sunday  school,  the  church,  the  Christian 
association,  and  also  the  home  and  social  parties  of  the  pure 
and  good. 

In  this  way  they  will  do  themselves  no  harm,  but  become 
the  joy  of  fathers  and  mothers;  the  glory  of  our  country, 
and  at  last  secure  a  home  in  paradise. 


ABSALOM  OR  FILIAL  INGRATITUDE. 

The  history  of  Absalom,  son  of  David,  is  a  striking  illus- 
tration of  the  fact  that  "all  scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of 
God,  and  is  profitable  for  doctrine  for  reproof,  for  correction 


■532  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

in  righteousness  that  the  man  of  God  maj  be  perfect,  thor- 
oughly furnished  in  every  good  work.  No  book  on  earth,  nor 
all  the  books  combined,  so  clearly  point  out  every  duty  and 
every  sin,  and  give  such  incentive  to  virtue  and  such  restraints 
to  crime  as  the  Bible.  And  as  "God  in  mercy  and  wisdom 
hath  set  the  children  of  men  in  families"  parental  loving 
watchcare  and  filial  ajffection  are  among  the  first  and  greatest 
■duties  of  parents  and  children.  Filial  ingratitude  is,  there- 
fore, one  of  the  blackest  sins  of  the  human  heart. 

When  God  came  down  to  earth  and  gave  His  ten  great 
commandments  from  Sanai's  quaking  summit  to  the  whole 
human  family,  He  said  in  thundering  tones:  "Honor  thy 
father  and  thy  mother  that  thy  days  may  be  long  upon  the 
land  which  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee."  And  the  great 
Apostle  Paul  says  this  is  "the  first  commandment  Avith 
promise."  Yet  it  is  appalling  to  see  how  much  filial  ingrat- 
itude there  is  in  the  world,  especially  to  aged  and  decrepit 
fathers  and  mothers.  I  wish,  therefore,  in  my  talk  to  portray 
the  black  and  ruinous  sin  of  filial  ingratitude  as  seen  in  the 
terrible  downfall  and  bloody  death  of  the  brilliant  and  gifted 
Absalom,  the  idolized  son  of  King  David. 

Absalom  was  a  remarkable  young  man,  mentally  and 
physically.  The  Bible  says,  "In  all  Israel  there  was  none  to 
be  so  much  praised  as  Absalom  for  his  beauty,  from  the  sole 
of  his  foot  to  the  crown  of  his  head,  there  was  not  a  blemish  in 
him."  But,  like  all  young  people  remarkable  for  beauty, 
especially  if  they  are  greatly  flattered,  Absalom  was  filled 
with  mad  ambition.  He  built  a  splendid  monument  and 
■called  it  "Absalom's  Place,"  to  perpetuate  his  name  and  glory. 
He  also  prepared  him  chariots  and  horses,  and  fifty  men  to 
run  before  him.  And  Absalom,  in  his  damnable  ingratitude, 
sought  to  dethrone,  and,  perchance,  murder  his  aged  and 
■devoted  father.  Absalom  rose  up  and  stood  lieside  the  gate, 
and  when  any  man  that  had  a  controversy'  came  to  the  King 
for  judgment  Absalom  said,  "thy  matter  is  good  and  right, 
but  there  is  no  man  deputized  by  the  King  to  hear  thee.  Oh, 
that  I  were  made  judge  in  the  land,  any  man  that  hath  any 
suit  or  cause  might  come  unto  me  and  I  would  do  him  justice." 
■"And  when  any  man  came  nigh  to  do  obeisance  he  ]:)ut  forth 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burlesois".  533 

liis  hand  and  kissed  them.  And  in  this  way  Absalom  stole 
away  the  hearts  of  the  men  of  Israel."  And  after  years  of 
vile  ingratitude  to  his  loving  father  he  marshalled  an  immense 
army  of  traitors  to  dethrone  his  father  and  seize  upon  the 
throne.  David,  though  his  heart  was  crushed  and  bleeding, 
marshalled  an  army  to  protect  his  throne  and  preserve  law  and 
order.  ''And  as  the  armies  went  forth  to  battle  the  aged 
King  stood  by  the  gateside,  saying  tenderly,  '"'Deal  gently  for 
my  sake  with  the  young  man,  even  Absalom."  The  fierce 
battle  was  fought  and  Absalom  and  his  forces  were  routed. 
And  Absalom,  retreating  on  his  royal  white  mule,  rode  under 
an  oak  tree,  and  his  long  raven  locks  caught  in  the  limbs  and 
his  mule  running  from  under  him,  left  him  dangling  in  the 
air.  And  Joab  took  three  darts  and  thrust  them  through 
his  heart.  The  battle  was  over,  and  there  hung  the  ungrate- 
ful son  dangling  in  the  air,  pierced  with  darts.  When  the 
swift  courier  Cushi  bore  the  dreadful  news  to  his  loving 
father  he  cried : 

"Oh,  my  son  Absalom!  My  son!  My  son  Absalom! 
AVould  to  God  I  had  died  for  thee !  Oh,  Absalom !  My  son 
Absalom !" 


THEEE  IS  A  TIME  TO  LAUGH. 

I  will  make  this  talk  for  the  young  cu  the  manner  in 
which  we  are  to  spend  our  days  and  occasions  of  rejoicing. 

Solomon,  the  wisest  man  that  ever  has  lived  or  ever  will 
live,  declared  "there  is  a  time  to  laugh."  But  Satan,  the 
arch  enemy  and  deceiver  of  the  human  family,  not  only  de- 
ceived Eve,  the  mother  of  the  human  race,  and  brought 
death  and  ruin  on  her  and  her  posterity,  but  is  still  deceiving 
young  people. 

Laughing  is  here  used  as  synonymous  with  merriment. 
Let  us  mark  some  of  Satan's  delusions.  Eirst  he  persuades 
thousands  that  all  amusement  is  sinful,  and  ihat  all  Chris- 
tians should  wear  long  faces  and  never  laugh. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  rebuke  a  good  old  deacon  gave 
me  soon  after  I  joined  the  church,  fifty-eight  years  ago.  As 
lie  passed  by  the  playground  at  noon,  he  found  me  with  some 


534  The  Life  and  Wkitings  of 

other  students  in  some  innocent  amusements,  laugliing  heart- 
ily. He  called  me  aside  and  said  with  the  saddest  counten- 
ance :  "Rufus,  my  dear  son,  don't  you  know  that  you  have 
joined  the  church,  and  that  it  is  wrong  for  young  Christians 
to  be  laughing  and  playing  with  these  lost  sinners?  You 
ought  to  be  weeping  and  praying  for  them."  I  told  him  I 
thought  the  Bible  said  there  "Was  a  time  to  laugh  and  a  time 
to  mourn;"  that  I  had  talked  privately  to  each  of  my  young 
friends  and  prayed  for  them  daily.  But  the  old  man,  with 
tears,  said :  "My  young  friend,  I  am  afraid  that  you  were 
never  converted." 

I  remember  a  similar  case  in  Houston  some  fifty-one 
years  ago.     A  long-faced  member  of  the  church  said  to  me, 

"I  do  think  our  brother  is  the  best  Christian  in 

the  world;  I  have  known  him  five  years  and  never  saw  him 
smile." 

Such  delusions  of  Satan  clothe  religion  in  the  garb  of 
mourning,  repulsive  to  all  men,  especially  the  young,  and 
make  them  think  that  all  amusements  of  life  belong  to  the 
kingdom  of  Satan,  and,  therefore,  if  they  have  a  good  time 
they  must  seek  it  in  the  ball  room,  theater,  gambling  houses 
and  saloons,  or  in  roaming     on  the  streets. 

Satan  is,  therefore,  leading  thousands  of  young  people  to 
ruin. 

To  correct  these  delusions  we  should  by  precept  and  ex- 
ample teach  the  world,  especially  the  young,  that  the  Bible 
says,  "There  is  a  time  to  laugh,"  and  that  Christians  are 
exhorted  to  "rejoice  evermore."  And  especially  every  father 
and  mother  should  study  by  all  innocent  amusements  to  make 
home  happy  and  joyful  to  their  children,  so  that  every  child 
will  say  and  feel  that  the  dearest  spot  on  earth  is  home. 

In  this  way  thousands  would  be  kept  from  the  streets 
and  out  of  the  pits  of  depravity.  And  every  teacher,  es- 
pecially of  boarding  schools,  should  seek  by  cheerfulness  and 
social  parties  on  holidays  and  picnics  and  other  innocent 
anr.i'^f'inents  to  break  the  monotony  of  school  life. 

A  hearty  laugh  is  not  only  relaxing  to  the  mind,  and 
a  preparation  for  hard  study,  but  it  is  healthy  for  the  body. 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  535 

I  have  made  it  a  rule  of  my  life  for  more  than  fifty 
years  to  have  a  hearty  laugh,  if  possible,  three  times  a  day. 
In  this  way  I  have  enjoyed  remarkable  health,  have  not  had 
headache  for  over  fifty  years.  Excepting  the  epidemics  at 
Houston,  I  have  not  had  ten  days'  sickness,  and  yet  I  am, 
|)erchance,  the  only  man  that  has  preached  the  gospel  to 
every  town  in  Texas,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  of  the 
newly  organized  towny  and  railroad  stations. 

But  let  it  never  be  forgotten  that  a  time  to  laugh  should 
never  interfere  with  any  of  the  other  and  great  duties  of 
life,  and  whenever  amusement  is  associated  with  sin,  or  injury 
to  our  neighbors,  it  then  becomes  sinful. 


THE  CRIME  OF  PARE^ttAL  PARTIALITY. 

I  have  selected  for  my  present  "talk  to  the  young"  the 
fearful  crime  of  parental  partiality.  God  in  wisdom  and 
mercy  "hath  set  the  children  of  men  in  families."  Gladstone 
has  wisely  said,  "the  family  is  the  bulwark  and  foundation 
stone  of  all  true  government  and  civilization."  Therefore, 
whatever  impairs  the  harmony  and  usefulness  of  a  family 
is  a  fearful  crime.  A  loving,  happy  and  united  family  is  a 
true  type  of  heaven.  And  a  divided  family,  filled  with  hate 
and  jealousy,  is  a  type  of  hell.  Alas,  how  few  real  united 
and  loving  families  do  we  find !  And  how  many  divided, 
jealous,  bitter  families  do  we  find,  even  in  Christian 
countries !  Preachers  and  teachers  are  fearfully  to  blame 
for  not  pointing  out  the  crime  of  family  division  and  bitter- 
ness, and  not  showing  how  all  families  may  become  joyful 
types  of  heaven.  The  Bible  that  God  has  suspended  as  a 
bright  lamp  from  His  throne  to  guide  us  into  all  truth  and 
duty  gives  us  many  great  lessons  and  fearful  warnings  on  this 
subject.  "We  call  especial  attention  to  the  sad  history  of 
Jacob's  criminal  partiality  for  his  son  Joseph,  and  the  fearful 
misery  and  woe  partiality  brought  to  the  family  of  even 
so  great  and  good  a  man  as  the  patriarch,  Jacob.  The  Bible 
says  in  Gen.  37,  3-5,  "N'ow  Jacob  loved  Joseph  more  than 
all  his  children,  because  he  was  the  son  of  his  old  age,  and 


536  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

he  made  him  a  coat  of  many  colors.  ISTow,  when  his  brethren 
saw  their  father  loved  him  more  than  all  hi?  brethren  they 
hated  him  and  could  not  speak  peaceably  to  him,  and  re- 
solved even  to  take  his  life."  The  loving  father,  not  dreaming 
of  the  bitterness  his  partiality  had  kindled,  sent  Joseph,  a 
lad  seventeen  years  old,  clad  in  his  shining  coat  of  many 
colors,  on  a  mission  of  love  to  his  brethren,  who  were  guard- 
ing their  immense  herds  in  the  land  of  Dothan.  When  they 
saw  Joseph  coming  they  said:  "Behold,  the  dreamer  cometh. 
Let  us  slay  him  and  cast  him  into  a  pit  and  say  some  evil 
beast  hath  devoured  him."  But  Keuben,  more  tender-hearted 
than  the  others,  said:  "Let  us  shed  no  blood,  but  cast  him 
into  this  pit  and  say  some  evil  beast  hath  devoured  him." 
This  he  said  that  he  might  deliver  him  out  of  their  hands 
and  return  him  to  his  devoted  father,  and  when  Joseph  came 
up  with  a  heart  full  of  love  and  joy  they  stripped  off  that 
coat  of  many  colors  and  cast  him  into  a  deep,  dark  pit.  What 
pen  or  pencil  can  portray  the  unutterable  horror  of  that  boy, 
weeping  his  life  away  in  that  dark  pit?  And  no  doubt  bitter 
pangs  were  piercing  the  hearts  of  his  brethren.  But  very 
soon  a  company  of  Ishmaelite  merchants  came  by,  going  down 
to  Egypt,  bearing  spices,  balm  and  myrrh.  Judah  said, 
"What  profit  is  it  if  we  slay  our  brother  and  conceal  his 
blood?  Come,  let  us  sell  him  to  these  Ishmaelites."  And 
they  drew  the  weeping  young  brother  out  of  the  pit  and  sold 
him  for  twenty  pieces  of  silver.  The  guilty  brothers  then 
killed  a  kid,  and  dipped  that  beautiful  coat  of  many  colors 
in  its  blood  and  sent  it  to  their  father,  saying:  "This  have 
we  found,  know  whether  it  by  thy  son's  coat  or  no."  And  he 
knew  it  and  said,  "It  is  my  son's  coat.  An  evil  beast  hath 
devoured  him,  and  Joseph  is  without  doubt  rent  in  pieces." 
And  Jacob  rent  his  clothes,  and  put  sack-cloth  upon  hip  loins 
and  mourned  for  his  son  many  days,  and  all  his  sons  and 
daughters  rose  up  to  comfort  him.  But  he  refused  to  be 
comforted,  saying:  "I  will  go  down  into  the  grave  unto 
my  son  mourning."  Thus  Jacob  spent  bcventeen  years 
mourning  on  account  of  his  criminal  partiality  for  his  son 
Joseph,  and  who  can  tell  the  heart-stricken  grief  of  his  guilty 
brothers  when  they  saw  their  gray-headed  father  weeping 


De.  Eufus  C.  Buelesox.  537 

daily  over  his  son,  and  who  can  tell  also  the  grief  of  the 
unfortunate  victim  of  his  father's  partiality,  as  he  goes  down 
to  the  dark  land  of  Egypt  as  a  slave,  and  is  sold  as  a  slave 
to  Potiphar,  an  eminent  official  under  the  King  of  Egypt! 
As  Joseph  grows  up  to  vigorous,  noble  manhood  he  becomes 
the  victim  of  the  basest  passions  of  his  master's  wife,  but 
nobly  repels  all  her  devices  to  entangle  him  in  guilt,  till 
finally,  under  her  false-  charge,  he  is  arrested  as  a  guilty 
criminal  and  thrust  into  the  dark  dungeon.  Here  he  lays  two 
years  in  unutterable  grief.  But  God,  who  ever  hears  the 
cry  of  the  innocent,  especially  those  who  prefer  death  to 
dishonor,  miraculously  raised  Joseph  out  of  that  dungeon 
and  placed  him  on  the  throne  beside  the  King  and  made 
him  governor  of  Egypt.  He  also  made  him  the  savior  of 
Egypt,  and  his  father  and  his  guilty  brothers  from  the  seven 
years'  famine.  Who  can  tell  the  astonishment  and  horror 
of  his  guilty  brothers  when  they  went  down  to  Egypt  to  buy 
food  for  their  starving  families,  but  were  arrested  as  spies, 
and  when  brought  to  trial  they  saw  the  magnificent  judge, 
seated  on  the  bench,  clad  in  knightly  robes,  was  their  brother 
Joseph,  whom  seventeen  years  before  they  sold  into  Egyptian 
slavery.  And  they  were  more  humiliated  when,  in  nobleness 
of  heart  he  forgave  their  crime  and  sent  horses  and  chariots 
to  bring  his  aged  father  and  his  brethren  down  to  Egypt  dur- 
ing the  terrible  famine.  We  see  also  a  striking  example 
of  the  crime  of  parental  partiality  in  the  case  of  David  and 
his  petted,  spoiled  son,  Absalom.  Parental  partiality  not  only 
sows  the  seed  of  bitterness  and  strife  in  families,  but  drives 
many  sons  to  dram  shops  and  gambling  houses,  and  many 
daughters  to  ruin.  Many  years  ago  my  heart  was  deeply 
pained  at  this  sad  result  of  parental  partiality.  There  were 
two  lovely  students,  daughters  in  a  wealthy  family.  One  was 
remarkably  beautiful  and  winning,  and,  like  Joseph,  had  filled 
the  hearts  of  her  father  and  mother  with  partiality.  The 
other  was  not  ugly,  as  ladies  are  never  ugly,  but  she  lac^ked  as 
much  of  being  pretty  as  any  lady  in  Texas.  She  felt  sadly 
grieved  at  the  partiality  of  her  parents,  and  was  discouraged 
and  about  to  marry  a  worthless  fellow  who  loved  her  money 
more  than  anything  else.     I  approached  her  delicatelv  and 


538  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

tenderly  on  the  great  mistake  she  was  about  to  make.  She 
said,  with  tears:  "Dr.  Burleson,  I  am  miserable  at  home. 
My  sister  absorbs  all  the  love  and  affection  of  father  and 
mother,  and  I  am  in  the  way."  And  her  life  became  a  wreck, 
and  the  beautiful,  petted  daughter  demonstrated  the  old 
proverb,  "calamity  always  comes  to  a  pet."  We  see  therefore, 
why,  Paul  commands  fathers  and  mothers,  "Provoke  not  your 
children  to  anger,  lest  they  be  discouraged."  But  some  will 
say  children  are  so  different  in  their  dispositions  and  talents. 
How  can  we  help  loving  the  dutiful  and  brilliant  and  prom- 
ising more  than  the  disobedient  and  stupid?  The  heroine  of 
the  Alamo  uttered  a  sentiment  on  this  subject  that  should 
touch  the  heart  of  every  parent. 

When  weeping  over  the  wayward  tendency  of  "the  babe 
of  the  Alamo"  she  said :  "I  know  she  got  all  her  bad  blood 
from  me."  Let  all  parents,  then,  when  weeping  over  the 
faults  of  their  sons  and  daughters,  ask:  "Did  they  not  in- 
herit all  from  me?"  Having  mtnessed  so  many  sorrows, 
bitter  strifes,  and  wrecks  in  families  from  parental  partiality, 
T  have  often  said:  "If  I  knew  there  was  one  drop  of  my 
blood  that  loved  my  son  more  than  my  daughter,  or  my 
daughter  more  than  my  son,  I  would  open  my  veins,  if  pos- 
sible, and  tear  the  monster  from  his  den  and  roast  him  in 
the  flames." 

Oh,  may  our  Heavenly  Father  inspire  the  mothers  and 
fathers  of  our  beautiful  Southland  to  banish  all  parental 
partiality;  to  love  all  their  children  tenderly  and  make  every 
family  a  type  of  heaven  and  a  perpetual  fountain  of  love 
to  each  other  and  love  to  God  and  our  native  land.    * 


PART  IV. 


ADDRESSES  AND  ARTICLES 


BY  DR.  BURLESON. 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  543 


ADDRESSES  AND  ARTICLES 

BY  DR.  BURLESON. 


GENERAL  SAM  HOUSTON. 

ADDRESS  DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE  TEXAS  LEGISLATURE  MARCH  2,  1893, 
AT  THE  MEMORIAL  SERVICES  OF  THE  ONE  HUNDREDTH  ANNI- 
VERSARY OF  THE  BIRTH  OF  GEN.  SAM  HOUSTON,  AND  THE 
FIFTY-SEVENTH  OF  TEXAS  INDEPENDENCE.  (THIS  ADDRESS 
COVERS  ALL  THE  VARIOUS  POINTS  OF  GEN.  HOUSTON'S  EVENT 
FUL  LIFE.) 

[By  unanimous  consent,  Messrs.  Rogers  of  McLennan 
and  Henderson  of  Milam  offered  the  following : 

Resolved,  by  the  House  of  Representatives,  That  the  ad- 
dress of  Rev.  R.  C.  Burleson  on  the  life  and  character  of  G-en- 
eral  Sam  Houston,  delivered  before  this  bodj  on  the  2d  day  of 
March,  1893,  be  printed  as  an  appendix  to  the  journal  of  this 
House. 

The  resolution  was  read  second  time  and  adopted. 

See  House  Journal,  May  9th,  page  1206.] 

At  3  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  March  2,  1893,  Dr. 
Burleson,  escorted  by  Governor  Hogg,  Lieutenant-Governor 
Crane,  ex-Governor  Lubbock,  ex-Governor  Roberts,  Hon, 
John  H.  Reagan,  Hon.  A.  "W.  Terrell,  Hon.  J.  H.  Cochran 
and  Dr.  Waggener,  President  of  the  University  of  Texas,  en- 
tered the  Representatives  hall  amid  many  cheers. 

After  prayer  by  Rev.  Dr.  Dodge,  Governor  Lubbock 
arose  and  said : 

"As  the  oldest  Texan  present  and  the  early  and  devoted 
friend  of  General  Houston,  I  have  been  assigned  the  pleasant 
task  of  introducing  Dr.  Burleson  as  the  orator  of  this  occasion. 
Dr.  Burleson  has  given  forty-five  years  of  his  life  to  the  great- 


544  .    The  Life  and  Writings  of 

est  and  best  interests  of  Texas.  He  was  tlie  early,  ardent  and 
confidential  friend  of  Sam  Houston.  Under  his  preaching 
the  old  hero  was  converted  and  by  him  baptized.  He  is  the 
oldest  and  most  successful  educator  in  Texas.  From  such  a 
man  you  will  now  hear  about  the  grand  old  hero  of  San  Ja- 
cinto." 

Dr.  Burleson  then  delivered  the  f ollomng  address : 

Honorable  Governor,  Senators,  Legislators  and  Fellow  Citi- 
zens : 

The  second  day  of  March  should  ever  be  memorable  in 
Texas  history.  On  the  second  day  of  March,  1793,  just  one 
hundred  years  ago,  in  an  humble  cottage  near  Lexington,  Va., 
was  born  Sam  Houston,  destined  to  become  the  Father  of 
Texas,  and  the  greatest  General  and  statesman  that  ever 
walked  on  Texas  soil  or  looked  upon  a  Texas  sun.  On  the 
second  day  of  March,  1836,  fifty-seven  years  ago,  in  a  rough 
board  storehouse  in  Washington,  on  the  banks  of  the  Brazos, 
was  born  "the  Lone  Star  Republic,"  destined  as  "the  Lone  Star 
State"  to  become  the  brightest  star  in  the  galaxy  of  states. 
Thus  on  the  second  day  of  March  was  born  the  illustrious 
sire  and  the  beautiful  daughter.  You  have  therefore  dis- 
played great  patriotism  and  wisdom  in  celebrating  this  day, 
not  for  dsplay  nor  recreation,  but  to  teach  the  rising  gener- 
ation lessons  of  patriotism,  and  to  fire  their  hearts  with  a 
burning  love  of  Texas,  liberty,  and  native  land.  In  celebrat- 
ing the  deeds  of  our  heroes  we  follow  the  example  of  the 
world's  greatest  philosophers,  statesmen  and  nations.  A 
great  philosopher  has  said :  "History  is  philosophy  teaching 
by  example."  A  greater  philosopher  has  said :  "History  is 
God  teaching  by  example."     Our  great  Longfellow  says : 

"Lives  of  great  men  all  remind  us, 
'!  '■    ,  ■  ^  We  can  make  our  lives  sublime, 

And  departing,  leave  behind  us 
I  Footprints  on  the  sands  of  time." 

Livy  says:  "Romulus,  the  founder  of  Rome — the  mistress 
of  the  world — was  not  only  an  actor  of  great  deeds,  but  the 
greatest  commemorator  of  great  deeds  the  world  ever  saw." 
Greece  celebrated  in  song,  in  poetry  and  on  marble  the  hero- 
i?]n  of  Leonidas  and  the  three  hundred  at  Thermopylae,  and 


Dr.  E.UFUS  C.  BuRLESoisr.  545 

every  great  deed  of  her  sons.  Therefore  hundreds  and  thou- 
sands of  Greeks  looking  on  these  monuments  said,  as  Themis- 
tocles  did,  gazing  on  the  monument  of  Miltiades,  "That  monu- 
ment ^vill  not  let  me  sleep  until  I  have  done  some  deed  that 
will  glorify  Greece."  And  to-day  England,  "the  Empress 
Isle"  that  girdles  the  world  with  her  colonies,  her  commerce 
and  her  armies,  surpasses  all  nations  in  commemorating  the 
glorious  deeds  of  her  sons,  both  in  peace  and  in  war.  AVhen 
Macaulay,  an  obscure,  scholarly  man,  wrote  his  essays,  and 
especially  his  History  of  England,  the  first  real  history  of 
England  ever  written,  Queen  Victoria  made  him  "Lord 
Macaulay,"  welcomed  him  to  a  seat  in  the  House  of  Lords 
and  affixed  a  splendid  salary  for  life. 

Colonel  Henry  Havel ock  was  an  obscure  officer  in  the 
British  East  India  army,  often  ridiculed  as  "the  praying 
colonel,"  but  by  wonderful  heroism  and  generalship  he  routed 
the  bloody  Sepoys  at  Lucknow  and  saved  British  India  from 
plunder  and  ruin.  As  soon  as  the  glorious  news  could  be 
telegraphed  to  England,  Queen  Victoria  made  him  "Lord 
Havelock,"  with  a  splendid  salary  for  life. 

But  a  still  more  remarkable  act  of  rewarding  and  com- 
memorating noble  deeds  is  the  case  of  Sir  Samuel  and  Sir  Mor- 
land  Peto.  These  were  humble  carpenters  and  deacons  in 
Spurgeon's  church,  but  as  soon  as  they  displayed  their  won- 
derful genius  in  erecting  buildings  that  added  beauty  and 
glory  to  London  and  rivaled  the  grandest  monuments  of 
Greece  and  Kome,  Queen  Victoria  conferred  upon  them  the 
title  of  Sir  Samuel  and  Sir  Morland  Peto. 

But  it  is  an  appalling  fact  that  our  love  for  heroic  deeds 
and  devotion  to  our  country  and  republican  simplicity  are 
being  swallowed  up  in  a  greed  for  money,  passion  for  display 
and  scramble  for  office.  I  repeat,  therefore,  with  emphasis, 
you  have  shown  great  wisdom  in  following  the  example  that 
made  Greece,  Rome  and  England  immortal.  There  never 
was  an  age  or  nation  that  so  much  needed  the  fires  of  patriot- 
ism and  heroism  rekindled  as  this  land  of  Washington  and 
Houston.  Gladstone,  the  greatest  statesman  England  ever 
produced,  recently  said:  "The  United  States  must  be  the 
banner  bearing  nation  of  the  earth  in  civilizing  and  redeem- 
ing all  nations."     Yet  every  patriot  heart  bleeds  to  see  how 


35 


546  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

fearfully  our  people  and  rulers  are  degenerating  from  the  re- 
publican honesty  and  patriotism  of  Washington,  Jefferson, 
Austin  and  Houston.  Sixty  years  ago,  the  charge  of  corrup- 
tion and  bribery  was  first  made  in  the  United  States  Congress. 
A  patriotic  senator  repelled  the  charge  as  "a  slander  on  our 
free  institutions  and  a  thing  incredible  in  the  land  of  Washing- 
ton." But  alas,  who  now  considers  it  a  thing  impossible  to 
buy  votes,  office,  and  fat  government  contracts?  The  fact  is 
we  are  fast  drifting  into  the  foolish  pomp,  extravagance  and 
corruption  of  all  declining  nations.  One  young  broken-down 
bogus  lord  or  duke  at  any  of  our  fashionable  watering  places 
will  run  a  hundred  silly  heiresses  and  their  more  silly  mothers 
crazy  to  wed  a  sprig  of  nobility.  Our  great  hotels  assume  the 
name  "Hotel  Royal."  Even  our  patent  medicines  and  baking 
powders  must  add  "Royal."  Even  our  colleges  have  caught 
the  contagion.  A  distinguished  editor  recently  apologized  for 
the  blunder  of  a  great  scholar  by  saying  "he  is  a  graduate  of 
an  American  college,  and  American  colleges  do  not  teach 
American  history."  All  these  appalling  facts  proclaim  in 
trumpet  tones  the  importance  of  celebrating  the  deeds  of  our 
own  heroes  and  bringing  our  whole  people  back  to  the  repub- 
lican simplicity,  honesty  and  patriotism  of  better  days.  And 
next  to  Washington  our  Houston  is  the  grandest  type  of  pa- 
triotism and  republican  simplicity  that  adorns  the  pages  of 
American  history.  A  great  New  York  journal  says :  "The 
life  of  Sam  Houston  is  a  grander  theme  for  an  epic  than  the 
Hiad  of  Homer  or  the  ^neid  of  Virgil."  An  illustrious  judge 
and  historian  of  Virginia  has  said :  "Tf  the  colonial  history 
of  Texas  and  her  heroes  is  ever  truly  written,  it  will  rival  the 
glory  of  old  Virginia."  But,  my  hearers,  I  am  here  to  tell 
you  a  plain,  simple  story  of  Houston  as  he  was  and  as  I  knew 
him,  and  not  to  attempt  an  epic  or  eloquent  oration;  and  I 
devoutly  pray  that  his  example  may  fire  a  hundred  thousand 
Texans  to  forget  self  and  to  live  and  die  for  the  glory  of  Texas. 
General  Houston,  physically,  intelledtually  and  mor- 
ally, is  a  grand  model  for  the  youths  of  Texas.  Even  his 
vices  and  mistakes  are  fearful  warnings  to  young  men  and 
statesmen.  He  was  six  feet  six  inches  tall,  and  stood  erect 
and  stately  as  the  forest  oak.  He  weighed  215  pounds,  solid 
flesh,  had  an  eagle  eye .  and  broad,  lofty  forehead,  blazing 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  547 

with  intelligence.  Indeed  all  nature  combined  to  present  in 
him  a  model  man.  He  was  descended  from  Scotch  ancestors 
who  caught  the  fires  of  liberty  amid  the  highlands  of  Scot- 
land, and  fought  side  by  side  with  John  Knox  "for  God, 
liberty  and  native  land."  The  father  of.  General  Houston 
was  a  colonel,  and  fought  side  by  side  with  Washington  and 
Lafayette  for  American  independence  in  1776.  The  mother 
of  General  Houston  was  remarkable  for  her  tall,  dignified 
bearing,  lofty  courage,  and  above  all  her  purity,  piety  and 
maternal  love.  He  was  also  fortunate  in  being  born  amid 
the  sublime  mountain  scenery  and  gushing  streams  of  grand 
old  Virginia,  the  mother  of  heroes,  heroines  and  presidents. 

Houston's  father  died  when  he  was  thirteen  years  old, 
leaving  a  widow  with  nine  children,  six  sons  and  three  daugh- 
ters. He  therefore  inherited  the  special  blessing  of  being 
reared  by  a  poor,  pious,  widowed  mother,  and  compelled  to 
acquire  early  the  lessons  of  industry,  economy,  self-reliance 
and  reverence  for  God.  The  heroic  mother,  seeing  her  little 
farm  too  small  to  rear  and  educate  nine  children,  sold  it,  and 
moved  to  the  fertile  valley  of  Tennessee,  and  settled  in  Blount 
county,  on  the  very  border  of  the  Cherokee  nation.  In  this 
frontier  forest  home  young  Houston  providentially  enjoyed 
another  great  blessing,  a  good  and  great  teacher.  Rev.  Dr. 
Anderson  had  just  opened  an  academy,  which  afterwards 
became  Maryville  College.  IlTone  but  the  truly  great  can 
ever  realize  the  value  and  influence  of  a  great  teacher.  Eang 
Philip,  when  "Alexander  the  Great"  was  born,  wrote  to  Ari- 
stotle, the  great  teacher :  "I  thank  the  Gods  profoundly  for 
giving  me  a  son  to  inherit  my  throne  and  splendid  fortune, 
but  I  thank  them  more  for  giving  me  that  son  during  the 
life  of  Aristotle,  the  great  teacher,  who  can  teach  him  to 
act  worthy  of  his  inheritance."  The  orphan  boy,  Sam  Hous- 
ton, found  in  Dr.  Anderson  a  greater  teacher  than  Aristotle. 
He  did  for  him  all  that  the  greatest  universities  can  do  for 
students.  He  taught  him,  first,  what  to  study;  second,  how  to 
study;  third,  he  gave  him  the  books  or  the  helps  to  study. 
He  gave  him  first  the  Bible,  the  book  of  God,  or  as  Byron 
fitly  called  it,  "The  God  of  Books."  He  gave  him  next  Bun- 
yan's  Pilgrims  Progress,  the  Vicar  of  TVakefield,  Plutarch's 
Lives,  Pope's  translation  of  Homer,   Shakespeare,  and  the 


548  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

writings  of  Franklin  and  Washington.  When  forced  by 
poverty  to  leave  school  and  become  a  clerk  in  a  country 
store,  he  carried  his  favorite  books  and  pored  over  them  at 
night  by  a  pine-knot  fire,  and  when  forced  by  the  tyranny 
of  older  brothers  to  seek  a  refuge  among  the  Cherokee  In- 
dians, in  the  family  of  old  Chief  Oulooteka,  he  carried  his 
favorite  authors;  and  when  wearied  with  the  chase  pored  over 
these  rich  stores  of  wisdom.  He  could  repeat  the  whole  of 
Pope's  Iliad  by  heart,  which  no  college  graduate  or  professor 
of  America  can  do  to-day.  How  much  of  Houston's  burning 
eloquence,  profound  statesmanship  and  common  sense  he 
learned  from  these  authors,  all  can  see. 

In  addition  to  what  he  learned  from  these  grand  authors, 
he  learned  his  first  lessons  in  Indian  character,  which  became 
of  such  priceless  value  to  him  in  consummating  his  grand 
life-work  in  Texas. 

But  young  Houston's  clothes  wore  out,  and  he  had  con- 
tracted debts  that,  as  an  honest  man,  he  resolved  to  pay; 
and,  like  so  many  illustrious  men,  he  became  a  "school 
teacher."  His  high  reputation  may  be  learned  from  the 
fact  that  he  did  what  no  other  teacher  dared  do,  raised  the 
price  of  tuition  from  $6  to  $8  a  year  for  each  scholar,  one- 
third  to  be  paid  in  cash,  one-third  in  shelled  com  at  33  1-3 
cents  per  bushel,  and  one-third  in  home-spun  cloth.  Though 
he  charged  this  extraordinary  tuition,  his  log  cabin  school- 
house  was  crowded,  "for  the  regular  session  of  twelve  months 
in  the  year."  Just  as  he  had  paid  his  debts,  and  was  ready 
to  return  to  the  academy  of  his  beloved  teacher.  Dr.  Ander- 
son, the  tocsin  of  war  sounded  amid  the  hills  and  valleys  of 
Tennessee.  Old  England  had  invaded  our  shores  in  the  wai* 
of  1812-13,  and  her  allies,  the  Creek  Indians,  were  threaten- 
ing desolation  to  all  the  frontier  settlements  of  Georgia  and 
Tennessee.  A  recruiting  officer  came  to  Maryville,  but  young 
Houston  alone  was  willing  to  volunteer  as  a  private.  All 
others  wanted  office.  He  said:  "I  fall  into  ranks  and  do 
my  duty,  leaving  promotion  to  God  and  my  country." 

On  taking  leave  of  his  heroic  mother,  she  placed  the 
musket  in  his  hands,  saying,  with  the  courage  of  a  Spartan 
mother :  "My  son,  take  this  musket  and  do  your  duty.  Re- 
member, my  door  will  ever  be  open  to  a  brave  son,  but  shut 


Dr.  Eufus  C.  Burleson.  549 

against  cowards.  I  would  rather  all  my  six  sons  should  perish 
in  battle  than  one  should  be  a  coward."  Young  Houston, 
thus  inspired,  joined  the  army  of  General  Jackson,  who  had 
already  routed  and  driven  back  the  Indians  from  Emuckfaw, 
and  every  stronghold  except  Tohopeka,  or  "Horse  Shoe 
Bend,"  in  the  Talapoosa  river.  Here  the  brother  of  Te- 
cumseh  and  other  Indian  prophets  had  assured  them  the 
Great  Spirit  would  come  down  with  thunder  and  lightning 
and  utterly  destroy  the  palefaces. 

Thermopylae  was  not  half  so  well  fortified  as  Tohopeka. 
Here  the  deep  and  turbid  waters  of  the  Talapoosa  river  made 
a  bend  in  the  complete  shape  of  a  horse  shoe,  the  only  place 
of  entrance  being  at  the  narrow  heel  of  the  shoe.  This  nar- 
row entrance  the  Indians  strongly  fortified  with  three  rows 
of  pine  logs,  skilfully  arranging  port  holes  in  two  rows.  Be- 
hind these  strong  fortifications  over  two  thousand  brave  war- 
riors were  marshalled,  certain  of  victory.  On  the  27th  of 
March,  1814,  Jackson  arrayed  his  brave  heroes  to  capture 
this  last  stronghold  of  the  Creeks.  He  ofl:'ered  a  prize  of 
honor  and  promotion  to  the  soldier  who  first  scaled  that 
terrible  breastwork.  As  his  heroes  charged  up  in  front  of  a 
terrific  fire,  scores  of  them  f«ll  bleeding  and  dying.  Colonel 
Montgomery,  the  first  to  mount  the  breastwork,  fell  back 
dead,  pierced  with  a  dozen  bullets. 

Young  Houston  was  the  second,  calling  his  men  to  fol- 
low. He  fell  inside  of  the  breastwork,  pierced  with  an 
arrow.  Levi  Taylor,  of  Smithland,  Texas,  was  the  third  to 
leap  the  breastwork.  He  raised  up  Houston  and  pulled  the 
arrow  from  his  bleeding  wound.  The  young  hero,  though 
bleeding  and  almost  fainting,  joined  the  pursuit  of  the  re- 
treating Indians,  till  he  fell.  General  Jackson  ordered  his 
comrades  to  bear  him  to  the  rear.  Just  at  that  moment  a 
fearfully  dark  cloud,  charged  with  thunder,  gathered  over 
the  battlefield,  and  the  Indian  warriors  shouted  :  "The  Great 
Spirit  has  come  to  blot  out  the  palefaces."  Again  they 
rallied  their  desperate  warriors  in  a  deep  ravine,  and  in  an 
immense  cave.  The  position  seemed  to  defy  all  human  cour- 
age, and  to  be  certain  death  to  every  man  who  made  the 
attack.  General  Jackson  called  loudly  in  vain  for  volunteers 
to  storm  this  last  stronghold  of  the  enemies.     Young  Hous- 


550  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

ton,  though  bleeding  and  fainting,  heard  no  man  would  lead 
the  charge,  and,  as  if  nerved  with  divine  energy,  gathered 
his  sword  and  called  every  brave  man  to  follow.  The  furious 
warriors  were  killed  or  driven  from  their  last  stronghold,  but 
the  young  hero,  in  his  second  charge,  fell,  severely  wounded 
in  the  shoulder.  The  sun  set  on  more  than  1,000  dead  war- 
riors, and  the  last  hope  of  the  Creeks  was  crushed  forever. 
Young  Houston,  who  had  gained  the  prize  and  covered  him- 
seK  with  glory,  was  supposed  to  be  dying,  and  was  left  on  the 
battlefield.  Oh !  who  can  paint  that  sleepless  night  of  suf- 
fering and  horror  as  he  lay  on  the  bare  ground  and  thought 
of  mother  and  home,  and  prayed  his  mother's  God  to  re- 
store him  to  her  arms  ?  In  the  morning  all  were  surprised  to 
find  that  his  unfaltering  courage  had  not  only  vanquished 
the  Indians,  but  death  itself.  He  was  borne  on  a  rude  litter 
to  a  rude  hospital,  and  after  long  months  of  suffering,  and 
journeying  on  a  litter  through  the  wilderness,  he  reached  his 
mother's  home.  Her  door,  arms  and  heart  were  all  wide 
open  to  welcome  her  hero  son.  But  he  was  so  pale  and 
emaciated  she  could  only  recognize  him  by  his  brilliant  eyes 
and  forehead. 

The  young  hero  had  won  the  undying  love  and  confi- 
dence of  General  Jackson  and  the  whole  army,  and  was  at 
once  promoted  to  the  rank  and  pay  of  captain  in  the  legular 
service. 

But  his  wounds  were  never  healed  permanently,  even  to 
the  day  of  his  death.  After  two  years  of  surgical  treatment 
by  the  most  eminent  physicians  at  N'ashville,  Washington 
and  ISTew  York,  he  resigned  his  captaincy  and  resolved  to 
study  law.  He  entered  the  law  office  of  the  celebrated  Judge 
Trimble,  of  Nashville,  who  told  him  he  would  have  to  study 
eighteen  months  before  he  could  be  admitted  to  the  bar;  but 
in  six  months  he  stood  a  satisfactory  examination  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  at  Nashville,  the  ablest  in  the  Mississippi 
valley.  Very  soon  he  was  elected  district  attorney  of  the 
Nashville  district,  and  soon  after  he  was  elected  attorney- 
general  of  Tennessee,  with  the  rank  of  colonel.  He  displayed 
such  brilliant  talent  and  burning  eloquence,  that  in  1823, 
at  the  age  of  30,  he  was  elected  to  Congress.  Two  years 
afterwards  he  was  re-elected  without  opposition.     In  Con- 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  551 

gress  he  took  high  rank  with  such  statesmen  as  Clay,  Web- 
ster and  Calhoun. 

At  the  end  of  his  second  term  in  Congress  he  was  elected 
governor  of  Tennessee  by  an  overwhelming  majority.  He 
was  the  favorite  of  General  Jackson,  the  idol  of  the  people, 
and  without  an  opponent  in  the  Legislature.  His  first  term 
as  governor  was  a  brilliant  success.  He  discharged  every 
duty  with  the  republican  simplicity  of  a  Spartan  and  the 
stern  integrity  of  a  Eoman.  To  complete,  as  it  seemed,  his 
earthly  happiness  and  glory,  he  married,  December,  1829, 
a  lovely,  brilliant  young  lady.  Miss  Eliza  Allen,  daughter  of 
Colonel  Allen,  formerly  a  member  of  Congress  with  Hous- 
ton, and  one  of  the  most  influential  families  in  Tennessee. 
The  full-orbed  sun  of  Houston's  glory  had  risen  amid  poverty 
and  gloom,  scattered  the  fogs  and  clouds  of  his  early  youth, 
and  from  the  bloody  field  of  Tohopeka  had  reached  its  mer- 
idian splendor.  He  was  adored  by  the  people,  and,  as  a 
favorite  of  General  Jackson,  it  was  confidently  predicted  his 
next  step  in  glory  would  be  the  president's  chair  of  the 
United  States.  But  that  brilliant  noon-day  sun  suddenly 
passed  under  a  total  eclipse,  and  was  shrouded  in  clouds  dark 
as  midnight.  One  morning  all  Nashville  was  startled  and 
appalled  to  learn  that  the  brilliant  young  governor,  against 
all  the  entreaties  and  tears  of  friends,  had  resigned  his  office 
as  governor,  abandoned  his  wife,  cursed  the  hollow  shams 
of  civilized  life,  and  gone  into  exile  among  the  Cherokee 
Indians,  400  miles  west  of  Little  Rock,  Ark. 

Such  a  sudden  eclipse  and  downfall  was  never  known 
before  or  since  in  American  history.  The  cause  of  this  down- 
fall will  never  be  fully  known  till  the  secrets  of  all  hearts 
are  revealed  at  the  judgment  day.  Many  of  his  devout  ad- 
mirers, to  vindicate  him  from  the  charge  of  fickleness  and 
the  crime  of  abandoning  a  public  trust,  declared  that  detect- 
ing his  young  and  beautiful  wife  in  crime,  goaded  him  to 
madness  and  exile;  but  I  have  the  highest  evidence  for  de- 
claring before  this  august  assembly  that  this  charge  is  utterly 
false.  As  my  old  and  beloved  friend,  Governor  Lubbock, 
told  you  in  introducing  this  service,  General  Houston  and  I 
were  exceedingly  intimate.  He  was  converted  under  my 
preaching,  and  I  buried  him  in  holy  baptism.     Both  of  us 


552  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

were  devout  lovers  of  General  Jackson  and  the  American 
Union,  as  cemented  by  the  blood  and  tears  of  our  ancestors. 
Both  of  us  hated  abolition  fanaticism  and  confidently  believed 
that  secession  would  result  in  the  downfall  of  our  beloved 
South, 

We  often  talked  till  after  midnight  and  sometimes  till 
two  o'clock  in  the  morning.  General  Houston  was  a  firm 
believer  in  the  augury  of  birds.  He  as  firmly  believed  in  the 
divine  instincts  of  the  eagle  as  Romulus  or  any  of  the 
Grecian  or  Roman  philosophers  and  kings.  One  night  we 
were  discussing  the  subject  until  after  midnight.  Among 
the  many  marvelous  proofs  he  gave  for  his  belief,  he  said: 
"When  I  was  going  into  exile  I  took  the  steamboat  at  ISTash- 
ville,  bound  for  New  Orleans.  That  boat  was  delayed  at 
the  different  landings  taking  in  freights,  and  the  brothers  of 
Mrs.  Houstop,  riding  direct  across  the  country,  overtook  us 
at  Clarksville,  Tenn.  They  came  aboard,  greatly  excited  and 
heavily  armed,  and  said :  ^Governor  Houston,  the  manner  in 
which  you  have  left  ISTashville  has  filled  the  city  with  a 
thousand  wild  rumors,  among  others,  that  you  are  goaded  to 
madness  and  exile  by  detecting  our  sister  in  crime.  We  de- 
mand that  you  give  a  written  denial  of  this  or  go  back  and 
prove  it.'  I  replied,  'I  will  neither  go  back  nor  write  a  re- 
traction, but  in  the  presence  of  the  captain  and  these  well- 
known  gentlemen,  I  request  you  to  go  back  and  publish  in 
the  ISTashville  papers  that  if  any  wretch  ever  dares  to  utter 
a  word  against  the  purity  of  Mrs.  Houston  I  will  come  back 
and  write  the  libel  in  his  heart's  blood.' 

"That  evening  as  I  was  walking  on  the  i:pper  deck  of 
the  boat,  reflecting  on  the  bitter  disappointment  I  had  caused 
General  Jackson  and  all  my  friends,  and  especially  the  blight 
and  ruin  of  a  pure  and  innocent  woman  who  had  trusted  her 
whole  happiness  to  me,  I  was  in  an  agony  of  despair  and 
strongly  tempted  to  leap  overboard  and  end  my  worthless 
life.  But  at  that  a^vful  moment  an  eagle  swooped  down 
near  my  head,  and  soaring  aloft  with  wildest  screams,  was 
lost  in  the  rays  of  the  setting  sun.  I  knew  that  a  great  duty 
and  glorious  destiny  awaited  me  in  the  West."  •  Besides,  I 
hold  in  my  hand  a  book  written  by  James  Guild,  on  the 
"Lives  of  the  Eminent  Men  of  Tennessee."     In  this  book  is 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Buklesox.  553 

a  letter  written  by  General  Houston  to  his  father-in-law,  on 
the  day  of  his  separation  from  his  -wife.  In  that  letter  I  read 
as  follows:  "If  any  man  dares  accuse  my  wife  of  crime  or 
say  aught  against  her  purity,  I  will  slay  him."  But  while 
I  have  vindicated  Mrs.  Houston  from  crime,  yet  I  am  sad  to 
say  their  married  life  and  home  was  miserable.  General 
Houston  writes  to  his  father-in-law :  "Eliza  knows  that  I  am 
thoroughly  unhappy,"  and  Eliza  declares,  "I  am  too  misera- 
ble to  live."     ' 

But  this  unhappy  marriage  and  miserable  home  was 
only  one  of,  the  three  causes  that  maddened  the  brain, 
crushed  the  heart  and  drove  our  hero  from  the  halls  of 
splendor  into  the  exile  in  the  wilderness.  And  as  these  three 
causes  are  wrecking  ten  thousand  homes  and  driving  a  hun- 
dred thousand  men  to  gambling  dens,  drunkard's  graves  and 
eternal  ruin,  I  deem  it  due  to  the  fame  of  Houston,  and  to 
so  many  crushed  hearts  and  ruined  homes,  to  discuss  them 
briefly  in  this  presence,  and  ask  is  there  no  remedy? 

The  first  of  these  causes  is  unhappy  marriages  and  mis- 
erable homes.  The  second  is  the  abuse  of  "the  freedom 
of  speech  and  the  press."  Third,  is  the  wine  cup  and  saloon. 
These  are  the  three  eating  cancers  of  our  homes  and  civiliza- 
tion, and  more  destructive  than  cholera,  yellow  fever,  and 
smallpox  all  combined. 

The  first  of  these  evils,  unhappy  homes,  is  most  dread- 
ful, because  it  leads  to  all  others.  The  immortal  Gladstone 
has  wisely  said,  "A  happy  home  is  the  only  safeguard  and 
foundation  of  the  church,  the  state,  and  civilization."  Every 
statesman  and  philosopher  knows  these  words  to  be  true,' 
and  worthy  to  be  written  in  letters  of  gold  and  engraved  on 
marble.  When  every  father,  mother,  son  and  daughter  can 
say,  "Home,  sweet  home,  all  the  world  I  have  slighted  for 
home,  sweet  home,"  the  individual,  the  church,  and  the  state 
are  all  secure.  But  where  there  are  no  sweet  homes  all  is 
rushing  headlong  to  anarchy  and  ruin.  Brutes  have  no  homes; 
and  when  men  have  no  homes,  but  only  eating  and  sleeping 
places,  they  soon  become  brutes.  Hence  the  first  law  of 
God,  the  church,  and  the  state  has  ever  been  to  secure  happy 
homes. 


554  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

The  causes  of  unliappy  homes  is  clearly  seen  in  the  fall 
of  General  Houston.  It  was  a  marriage  utterly  wanting  in 
congeniality,  and  only  for  ambition.  The  beautiful  bride  was 
eighteen  years  old;  the  bridegroom  was  thirty-six.  She  had 
been  brought  up  amid  all  the  elegancies  of  a  fashionable 
home.  He  had  been  brought  up  in  poverty,  in  the  wilder- 
ness among  the  Indians,  and  had  a  loathing  for  the  restraints 
and  shams  of  fashionable  life.  Colonel  Allen  had  served 
one  term  in  Congress  with  General  Houston  and  admired 
him  greatly,  and  was  ambitious  to  see  his  lovely  daughter 
become  the  wife  of  the  Governor  and  the  man  who  some  day 
might  be  President  of  the  United  States.  Two  more  uncon- 
genial hearts  never  joined  hands  before  the  hymeneal  altar. 
The  result  was  bitter  disappointment,  fault-finding,  heart- 
breaking, and  early  separation.  While  a  student  in  Nash- 
ville University  I  boarded  with  a  cousin  of  Mrs.  Houston, 
and  he  gave  this  among  many  illustrations  of  their  domestic 
misery. 

He  said :  "One  evening  when  cousin  Eliza  was  worn 
out  by  fashionable  dining  and  throngs  of  company,  and  was 
seeking  a  little  rest,  a  fashionable  gossip  entered  the  Gover- 
nor's mansion,  and  she  exclaimed  involuntarily:  'Oh,  yon- 
der comes  that  horrible  Mrs.  S to  bore  me  to  death. 

I  wish  she  would  stay  at  home  or  torment  somebody  else.' 
Yet  she  sprang  up,  adjusted  her  beautiful  toilet,  put  on  her 

sweetest  smiles,  and  met  'the  horrible  Mrs.  S '  with  a 

kiss  and  protestations  of  joy  at  her  coming."  (This  may 
seem  incredible  to  some  of  my  female  hearers,  but  I  give  it 
as  I  received  it.)  "That  night  General  Houston  rebuked 
her  sharply  for  such  insincerity,  and  as  the  discussion  grew 
warmer  he  said  :  'Such  conduct  is  nothing  but  base  hypocrisy 
and  lying,  and  unworthy  the  Governor's  mansion;'  which 
caused  my  beautiful  cousin  to  weep  all  night." 

The  second  cause  was  the  perversion  of  "the  freedom  of 
speech  and  the  press,"  or  the  unbridled  abuse  of  public  men. 
It  is  a  humiliating  fact  that  hundreds  of  men  feel  it  is  one 
of  the  highest  privileges  of  freemen  to  criticise  and  abuse 
our  rulers.  General  Houston  had  just  entered  the  canvass 
for  second  term  as  governor.  His  opponent  was  the  dis- 
tinguished ex-Governor  Carroll,  who  had  served  two  terms 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  555 

as  governor  and  was  a  candidate  for  a  third.  Scores  and 
hundreds  of  men  who  had  failed  to  get  office  under  Hous- 
ton were  clamorous  for  Carroll,  and  scores  who  held  office 
under  Houston,  fearing  that  Carroll  might  be  elected,  were 
as  silent  as  the  grave.  A  thousand  vile  tongues  and  penny 
scfribblers,  envious  of  Houston's  great  popularity,  turned 
loose  on  the  man  who  had  been  the  most  popular  governor 
of  Tennessee.  Every  virtue  was  distorted,  every  mistake 
magnified  ten  fold.  These  slanderous  tongues  and  pens,  and 
especially  the  base  ingratitude  of  friends,  were  to  the  sensi- 
tive heart  of  Houston  terrible  as  the  sting  of  the  scorpion 
or  the  fang  of  the  adder.  Added  to  all  these,  some  of  Hous- 
ton's friends  believed  that  Carroll  would  be  elected.  But 
there  was  a  third  and  more  terrible  cause  than  even  a  mis- 
erable home  and  the  fierce  attack  of  politicians.  That  evil 
was  the  wine  cup  and  the  saloon.  Wine  suppers  and  treating 
in  saloons  had  become  a  baneful  part  of  political  and  social 
life,  and  the  strong  nerves  and  mighty  brain  of  Houston 
were  unstrung  and  beclouded  by  strong  drink.  His  worst 
passions  were  aroused,  "the  whole  course  of  nature  was  set 
on  fire  of  hell."  Under  these  terrible  influences  he  fought 
a  duel  with  General  White  and  was  challenged  to  fight  Colonel 
Irwin.  He  was  utterly  disqualified,  mentally,  morally  and 
physically  to  meet  the  duties  and  perils  of  the  hour  at  home 
and  abroad.  No  human  being  who  has  not  studied  pro- 
foundly their  history  or  experienced  their  bitterness  can  form 
the  faintest  conception  of  the  power  of  these  three  great 
eating  cancers. 

King  David,  "a  man  after  God's  own  heart,"  who  never 
felt  a  tithe  of  the  evils  our  Houston  did,  in  bitterness  of 
soul  cried  out :  "Oh !  that  I  had  a  place  in  the  wilderness, 
a  place  for  wayfaring  men ;  Oh !  that  I  had  the  wings  of  a 
dove,  I  would  fly  away  and  be  at  rest." 

Who  can  wonder  that  our  hero,  goaded  by  these  calam- 
ities, deserted  a  miserable  home,  abandoned  his  office  as  Gov- 
ernor, cursed  the  hollow  shams  of  fashionable  life,  and  sought 
refuge  in  the  \vilderness? 

While  we  drop  a  tear  for  the  fallen  hero,  let  us  not 
forget  that  these  three  eating  cancers  are  today  gnawing  at 


556  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

the  hearts  of  hundreds  and  thousands  of  our  citizens.  It  is 
an  appalling  fact  that  last  year  1,750  divorces  were  granted 
in  Texas,  In  one  county  there  were  an  equal  number  of 
divorces  and  marriages;  and  I  hope  another  marriage  will 
never  occur  in  that  county  till  the  morals  of  the  people  im- 
prove. If  Texas  continues  her  downward  course  in  infamy 
she  will  equal  Chicago,  where  it  is  said  that  railroad  con- 
ductors cry:     ^'Twenty  minutes  for  dinner  and  divorces." 

But,  fellow-citizens,  let  us  as  Christians,  patriots  and 
statesmen,  blot  out  these  cancers.  Let  us  place  these  three 
evils,  more  dreadful  than  cholera,  smallpox  and  yellow  fever, 
under  eternal  quarantine. 

First,  let  us  educate  our  whole  people  to  higher  and 
profounder  views  of  marriage.  Let  parents,  preachers,  teach- 
ers and  statesmen  all  combine  in  this  glorious  work.  Let 
us  teach  the  people,  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave,  that  God, 
amid  the  bowers  of  Eden,  ordained  marriage  for  the  happi- 
ness of  man  and  the  foundation  of  society.  He  declared  the 
husband  and  wife  should  become  "bone  of  one  bone,  flesh 
of  one  flesh,  and  blood  of  one  blood." 

He  commands  every  man  "to  love  his  wife  even  as  his 
own  flesh,"  and  to  leave  father,  mother  (and  office)  and  all 
the  world  for  his  wife.  And  each  must  admire  the  other's 
excellencies,  bear  Avith  each  other's  failings,  and  love  each 
other  next  to  God  himself.  All  marriages  for  money,  ambi- 
tion or  convenience  are  abominations  to  God  and  are  legal- 
ized adultery.  ISTothing  but  congeniality  of  tastes  and  dis- 
position, ripening  into  undying  devotion,  can  be  the  bond 
of  marriage. 

All  true  love  springs  from  the  heart,  is  guided  by  the 
intellect  and  limited  by  conscience.  Every  young  man  and 
young  woman  should  be  profoundly  penetrated  with  the 
conviction  that  marriage  should  never  be  entered  into  thought- 
lessly or  from  impulse,  but  from  deep  and  earnest  considera- 
tion and  consultation  with  parents  or  guardian,  and  prayer 
to  God;  for  the  wisest  of  all  men  says :  "A  good  wife  is  from 
the  Lord." 

After  parents  and  teachers  and  preachers  have  done 
their  duty,  you  honorable  senators  and  legislators,  have  a 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  557 

great  duty  to  perform  by  enacting  laws  to  guard  the  sanctity 
of  home,  forbidding  all  runaway  marriages,  and  punishing 
every  violation  of  marriage  with  confinement  in  the  peni- 
tentiary. Finally,  amend  the  constitution  after  the  model 
of  grand  old  South  Carolina,  which  utterly  forbade  all 
divorces.  When  all  this  has  been  attained  our  homes  will 
be  Edens  of  joy  and  the  foundation  of  church  and  civiliza- 
tion, and  our  land  will  be  the  happiest  that  the  sun  visits. 
Let  us  correct  the  second  grand  evil  by  teaching  our  whole 
people  that  God  says:  "Thou  shalt  not  speak  evil  of  the 
ruler  of  thy  people,"  and  commands  us  to  pray  for  all  who 
are  in  authority  "and  honor  them  as  God's  ministers,"  ap- 
pointed for  the  good  of  society,  that  "we  may  lead  a  peaceable 
life  in  all  godliness."  Let  us  teach  our  people  that  our  presi- 
dents, governors,  judges,  senators  and  legislators  are  repre- 
sentatives of  God  himself  and  the  sovereignty  of  the  people. 
The  man  that  reviles  Governor  Hogg  reviles  Texas,  and  he 
that  reviles  Grover  Cleveland  reviles  the  whole  United  States. 
In  violation  of  these  great  duties  to  God  and  our  native  land, 
things  were  said  against  the  Governor  of  Texas  and  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  in  the  late  political  canvass  that 
should  cause  the  darkness  of  midnight  to  blush. 

While  God  and  our  highest  duties  as  citizens  may  re- 
quire us  to  criticize  the  conduct  of  our  rulers,  we  should  do 
it  with  the  courtesy  due  the  representatives  of  the  sovereignty 
of  our  beloved  State  and  Nation.  In  1872  I  wrote  over  two 
hundred  letters  to  beat  Hon.  E.  J.  Davis  for  governor,  and 
yet  I  never  uttered  a  disrespectful  word  against  him.  This 
indiscriminate  reviling  of  our  rulers,  and  utter  want  of  re- 
spect, is  fast  plunging  our  nation  into  anarchy.  I  do  not 
wonder  that  such  slanders  aided  in  driving  the  sensitive 
Houston  into  exile,  but  I  wonder  that  they  do  not  drive 
hundreds  of  others  to  follow  his  example. 

But  the  last  great  evil  or  eating  cancer  of  our  body 
politic  is  the  saloon  and  the  wine  cup.  I  heard  General 
Houston  say,  in  a  great  prohibition  speech,  "at  Huntsville,  in 
1848 :  "The  wine  cup  and  the  saloon  were  the  causes  of 
my  early  ruin,  and  they  are  to-day  ruining  more  homes  and 
young  men,  and  more  statesmen,  than  any  other  evil  in 
America."     And  with  a  clarion  voice  he  cried:     "Mothers, 


558  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

fathers,  Christians,  statesmen,  rise  up  and  let  us  blot  these 
fearful  curses  from  Texas  and  our  native  land."  Oh,  that 
the  voice  of  our  Houston  could  speak  from  his  grave  at 
Huntsville  and  arouse  every  Christian,  every  statesman  to 
battle  against  these  giant  evils.  And  though  I  am  nearly 
70  years  old,  I  do  not  despair  of  our  country.  I  expect  to 
live  to  see  the  day  when  there  shall  not  be  a  divorce,  a  reviler 
of  public  men  or  a  saloon  in  Texas.  Then  Texas,  from  the 
Sabine  to  the  Rio  Grande,  will  be  filled  with  the  happiest 
homes,  the  noblest  men  and  the  purest  women  between  the 
oceans.  But  while  we  drop  a  tear  of  pity  for  our  fallen 
hero  in  his  Indian  exile  home,  let  us  not  forget  to  rejoice 
that  "God  moves  in  a  mysterious  way,  His  wonders  to  per- 
form; He  plants  His  footsteps  in  the  sea  and  rides  upon  the 
storm."  The  Bible  declares  that  "He  causes  the  wrath  of 
man  to  praise  Him,  and  the  remainder  of  wrath  He  re- 
straineth."  That  AUwise  Providence  overruled  the  wicked- 
ness of  men  to  prepare  Houston  to  become  the  savior  of 
Texas.  His  rude  home  among  the  Indians  gave  him  a 
knowledge  and  power  over  the  30,000  Indians  bordering  on 
Texas  that  did  more  to  save  Texas  than  the  battle  of  San 
Jacinto.  That  kind  Providence  wisely  provided  the  exile 
Houston  a  "lodging  place  in  the  wilderness."  As  soon  as 
the  venerable  chief  of  the  Cherokees,  Oulooteka,  then  65 
years  old,  heard  of  his  coming,  he  took  his  whole  family 
and  went  out  to  meet  him,  and  throwing  his  arms  around 
him,  said:  "My  son,  I  am  glad  to  see  you;  I  heard  a  dark 
cloud  had  fallen  on  your  pathway  of  glory,  and  you  had 
turned  your  thoughts  to  my  wigwam,  that  had  sheltered  you 
in  boyhood.  I  am  glad.  It  was  done  by  the  Great  Spirit. 
There  are  many  wise  counselors  in  your  nation,  but  we  are 
in  trouble  and  threatened  with  ruin,  and  the  Great  Spirit  has 
sent  you  to  take  away  trouble  from  us."  Oulooteka  was  the 
father  of  Bowles,  a  young  Cherokee  chief,  that  brought  a 
colony  to  Texas  and  settled  between  the  ISTeches  and  the 
Angelina  rivers;  but  having  no  title  from  the  Mexicans,  and 
becoming  a  great  nuisance  to  the  people  of  Eastern  Texas, 
he  was  killed  and  his  people  driven  beyond  the  Eed  river 
by  Thomas  J.  Rusk,  John  H.  Reagan,  General  Burleson  and 
other  Texas  heroes. 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Buelesox.  559 

General  Houston  spent  three  years  among  the  Indians. 
He  studied  their  character  profoundly  and  gained  their  con- 
fidence as  no  other  man  ever  did,  except  William  Penn.  He 
attended  their  great  councils,  but  took  no  part,  except  to  give 
advice  privately.  But  his  righteous  soul  was  so  outraged  by 
the  frauds  of  our  government  agents  on  the  poor  Indians,  he 
consented  to  go  with  their  chiefs  to  Washington,  to  remon- 
strate against  these  outrages;  but,  alas,  nothing  could  be 
done.  "Too  many  of  the  jury  had  got  a  share  of  the  beef." 
One  of  the  secret  and  powerful  advocates  of  these  public 
thieves  was  Mr.  Stansberry,  a  congressman  from  Ohio.  He 
was  so  stung  by  the  scathing  rebuke  of  General  Houston 
he .  resolved  to  attack  him  on  the  streets,  and,  perchance, 
murder  him.  For  this  purpose  he  armed  himself  with  a 
pistol  and  attacked  him;  but  with  one  blow  of  an  "honest 
hickory  stick,"  Houston  felled  him  to  the  ground  and  left 
him  bleeding  and  insensible. 

Fellow-citizens  and  Representatives — I  am  sad  to  say 
that  two  years  ago  I  was  one  of  an  educational  committee 
to  examine  into  some  frauds  on  the  poor  Indians  by  govern- 
ment agents  and  their  allies;  and  I  firmly  believe,  if  all  the 
money  stolen  from  the  poor  Indians  in  the  last  fifty  years 
could  be  piled  up  it  would  make  a  pyramid  higher  than  the 
dome  of  this  capitol.  We  found  one  sect  had  stolen  over 
$2,000,000,  and  because  the  Indian  agent.  General  Mor- 
gan, determined  to  expose  these  frauds,  he  was  denounced 
by  a  thousand  subsidized  editors  and  orators.  Oh !  that  we 
had  a  hundred  Houstons  to  scourge  these  thieves  from  our 
temples  of  liberty.  But  General  Houston  left  Washington 
more  profoundly  disgusted  than  ever  with  the  shams  and 
political  frauds  of  civilized  life.  Ke  returned  by  Blount 
county,  Tennessee,  to  visit  his  aged  mother,  and  to  receive 
her  dying  kiss.  She  threw  her  feeble  arms  around  his  neck, 
and  kissing  him,  said :  "Oh !  my  noble  son,  live  for  the 
benefit  of  man  and  the  glory  of  God.  Bad  as  this  world  is, 
let  us  strive  to  make  it  better.  I  pray  God  that  you  may  re- 
member the  curse  on  that  man  who  'buried  one  talent,'  and 
what  will  be  your  guilt  if  you  bury  ten  talents  ?"  The  sweet 
odor  of  that  dying  mother's  kiss  and  prayer  followed  him 
back  to  his  forest  home.     Scarcely  had  he  reached  the  home 


560  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

of  Oulooteka^  when  a  government  courier  brouglit  him  a 
dispatch  from  General  Jackson,  whom  he  loved  as  a  father 
and  reverenced  next  to  God.  That  dispatch  reminded  him 
that  in  removing  the  Cherokees,  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws 
to  their  homes  west  of  Arkansas,  the  United  States  had  guar- 
anteed them  protection  against  the  plunders  of  the  Com- 
anches  and  other  wild  savages.  The  President  therefore  re- 
quested General  Houston  to  go  to  San  Antonio,  Texas,  via 
Nacogdoches  and  San  Felipe,  and  hold  a  council  with  the 
Comanches  and  their  associate  bands,  and  inform  them  of 
the  plighted  faith  of  the  United  States,  and,  if  need  be,  the 
whole  army  of  the  government  would  be  marshalled  to  protect 
the  civilized  Indians.  No  mission  could  have  been  dearer  to 
the  heart  of  Houston,  and  he  set  out  with  a  small  guard  on 
a  journey  through  the  wilderness  of  more  than  1,500  miles. 
There  were  but  two  houses  between  Fort  Towson  and  Nacog- 
doches. As  he  stood  on  the  lofty  dividing  ridge  overlooking 
the  grand  valleys  of  Arkansas  and  Red  rivers,  a  strange  dread 
of  ^'coming  events  cast  their  shadows  before"  and  filled  his  soul 
with  awe.  While  he  stood  there,  "doubting,  dreaming  dreams 
no  mortal  ever  dared  'to  dream  before,"  his  guardian  angel, 
as  he  declares,  the  American  eagle,  swooped  down  near  his 
head,  and  with  loud,  beckoning  screams,  bent  liis  flight 
toward  the  prairies  of  Texas.  Following  what  he  deemed 
duty  and  destiny,  he  pressed  forward.  At  Nacogdoches  he 
was  received  joyfully  by  scores  of  distinguished  Texans  and 
old  friends,  who  astonished  him  by  stating  that  at  a  public 
meeting  it  was  proposed  to  send  a  delegation  to  his  forest 
home  and  urge  him  to  come  and  lead  Texas  in  her  fearful 
struggle  with  Mexico.  Houston  assured  them  Texas  had 
many  noble  sons  of  great  courage  and  talents  that  could  lead 
her  people  against  the  Mexicans.  They  replied :  "We  know 
Texas  has  some  of  the  brightest  intellects  and  bravest  men 
on  the  continent;  yet  we  have  no  man  who  can  smite  8,000,000 
Mexicans  with  one  hand  and  hold  30,000  Indians  in  check 
with  the  other,  and  guide  Texas  to  her  grand  destiny." 
Houston  hurried  away  from  these  entreaties  of  friends,  to 
the  commission  assigned  him  by  General  Jackson.  At  Na- 
cogdoches he  was  joined  by  his  friend,  James  Bowie,  who 
had  just  married  the  beautiful  Castilian  daughter  of  Vera- 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Bukleson.  561 

mendi,   of  San  Antonio,   whose  name  was  a  magic  power 
over  all  the  Indians  and  Mexicans  of  Western  Texas. 

By  special  courier  of  the  United  States  army  the  Com- 
anche chiefs  and  all  their  associate  bands  met  General  Hous- 
ton as  a  special  messenger  of  General  Jackson  in  the  Council 
House  at  San  Antonio.  Houston's  princely  bearing,  lofty 
courage,  long  residence  among  the  Indians  and  his  undying 
love  for  the  red  men  were  so  great  that  the  chiefs  all  de- 
clared "He  is  a  messenger  from  the  'Great  Spirit'  to  save  the 
Indian  race."  After  forming  a  most  satisfactory  treaty  he 
returned  to  ISTacogdoches.  Traveling  through  the  scattered 
settlements  and  broad  prairies  and  fertile  valleys  he  realized 
that  Texas  had  been  rightly  called  the  Paradise  of  the  iN'ew 
"World,  and  must  become  the  home  of  a  noble  people.  His 
great  heart  was  stirred  with  the  terrible  thought  that  this 
beautiful  land  was  about  to  be  deluged  in  blood  and  chained 
in  bondage  by  Santa  Anna,  who  had  just  slaughtered  two 
thousand  Mexican  patriots  at  Zacatecas.  He  was  still  more 
startled  upon  reaching  l^Tacogdoches  to  learn  that  he  had 
been  elected  a  delegate  to  a  "consultation  meeting"  to  be 
held  at  San  Felipe  to  consider  what  was  the  duty  of  Texas 
in  regard  to  the  perils  of  the  hour. 

He  hurried  on  to  ISTatchitoches,  La.,  headquarters  of  the 
United  States  army  under  General  Gaines,  and  delivered  to 
the  United  States  courier  his  treaty  with  the  Indians,  to  be 
forwarded  to  General  Jackson.  What  other  secret  agree- 
ments were  made  with  the  United  States  officers  and  soldiers 
on  future  contingency  no  human  being  will  probably  ever 
fully  know,  but  we  may  learn  something  further  on.  The 
convention  at  San  Felipe  was  composed  of  brilliant  men, 
who  would  have  made  splendid  statesmen  in  Massachusetts, 
Virginia,  South  Carolina  or  Georgia,  but  did  not  know  how 
to  lay  the  foundation  of  a  powerful  government  in  the  Avil- 
derness.  All  kinds  of  impracticable  schemes  regarding  banks 
and  commerce  were  proposed  by  several  brilliant  advocates, 
some  of  whom  desired  a  grand  banking  system  similar  to 
London,  l^ew  York  or  Charleston.  Some  hot-headed  men 
wanted  to  declare  immediate  and  eternal  separation  from 
Mexico  and  set  up  an  independent  republic.  Houston,  plant- 
ino"  himself  upon  the  eternal  bed  rock  of  safety,  said :     "Gov- 

36 


562  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

ernments  long  established  sliould  not  be  destroyed  for  light 
and  transient  causes.  Every  effort  should  be  made  to  re- 
dress our  wrongs  before  revolutionizing." 

He  said :  "Banks  may  be  good  things  where  commerce 
is  overflowing  and  governments  are  well  established,  but 
curses  to  a  new  formative  state  like  Texas." 

Stephen  F.  Austin,  with  two  other  delegates,  were  ap- 
pointed to  go  to  the  City  of  Mexico  to  present  the  petition 
of  Texas  to  become  a  separate  State  of  Mexico.  That  con- 
sultation meeting  also  elected  Henry  S.  Smith  governor,  J. 
W,  Eobinson  lieutenant-governor,  and  nine  councilmen. 
General  Houston  was  elected  commander-in-chief  of  the  army 
to  be  raised,  but  he  protested  earnestly,  saying:  "I  had  re- 
solved never  to  hold  another  office.  I  came  here  at  the  earn- 
est importunity  of  old  friends,  who  assured  me  their  lives 
and  fortunes,  and  the  lives  of  their  wives  and  children  were 
all  about  to  be  sacrificed,  and  implored  me  to  aid  them  in 
escaping  the  threatened  ruin."  At  last  he  yielded  to  duty 
and  destiny.  But  alas !  that  advisory  committee  of  nine 
councilmen,  like  many  other  cabinets,  legislators,  school 
trustees,  etc.,  "clothed  with  a  little  brief  authority,  cnt  up 
such  fantastic  tricks  as  make  angels  weep  and  devils  laugh." 
These  "nine  Solomons,"  who  never  smelled  gunpowder,  in- 
formed General  Houston  that  he  was  to  await  all  orders  from 
them.  They  also  commanded  his  subordinate  officers  not  to 
obey  General  Houston's  orders  unless  countersigned  by  them- 
selves. Governor  Smith,  who  had  fortunately  been  "a  school- 
master" and  had  some  sense,  protested  against  such  unlieard 
of  proceedings.  He  told  them  that  General  Houston  iirul 
learned  war  at  the  feet  of  General  Jackson,  and  that  the 
general  in  the  field  alone  must  be  responsible.  But  the  afore- 
said "nine  Solomons"  proceeded  to  depose  the  governor  and 
assume  entire  control  of  Texas — military  and  civil.  As  soon 
as  Houston  received  their  foolish  orders  he  resigned.  But 
the  perils  of  the  hour  Avere  so  great  and  fearfully  increas- 
ing, another  and  larger  convention  was  called  to  meet  at  Wash- 
ington, March  1st,  JSoG,  and  declared  "as  Santa  Anna  and 
other  military  despots  have  overthrown  the  republican  con- 
stitution of  182+,  under  which  we  immigrated  to  Texas, 
and  has  established  an  odious  military  despotism  and  are  now 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  563 

sending  large  bodies  of  soldiers  into  Texas  to  disann  tlie 
citizens  and  leave  them  to  the  tender  mercies  of  30,000  In- 
dians in  and  near  our  borders;  therefore,  resolved,  we  no 
longer  owe  any  allegiance  to  Mexico."  If  they  had  acted 
otherwise  they  would  have  disgraced  their  Anglo-Saxon 
blood,  which  had  been  poured  out  at  Lexington,  Yorktown 
and  ISTew  Orleans.  The  heroes  of  Texas  proclaimed  a  declara- 
tion of  independence  from  Mexico.  George  C.  Childress, 
Sam.  Houston  and  four  others  were  on  the  committee  to  draft 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  a  Constitution.  Hous- 
ton moved  its  adoption  and  sustained  it  by  a  speech  of  burn- 
ing eloquence.  Hon.  D.  C.  Burnett  was  elected  president 
and  General  Houston  commander-in-chief,  and  the  "nine 
smart  Alecks"  "who  had  figured  so  disgracefully  as  an  ad- 
visory council  retired  to  dark  obscurity  and  have  never  been 
heard  from  since. 

General  Houston  set  out  to  join  the  army  at  Gonzales 
on  the  10th  of  March,  1836.  The  dreadful  news  that  the 
Alamo  had  fallen  and  the  last  hero  perished,  on  the  6th  of 
March,  flashed  like  lightning  over  Texas.  Santa  Anna,  mad- 
dened by  eleven  days'  delay  and  the  loss  of  1,600  of  his 
best  troops,  resolved  to  sweep  the  Texans  from  the  face  of 
the  earth.  Wlion  General  Houston  reached  the  lofty  ridge 
upon  the  magnificent  valleys  and  the  boundless,  beautiful 
prairies,  he  saw  scores  of  old  men,  women,  boys  and  girls, 
fleeing  from  Santa  Anna  and  his  thousand  Guatemalean  In- 
dians, black  angels  of  death,  to  do  his  bloody  work  of  mur- 
dering men,  women  and  children.  The  fugitives  were  on 
foot,  on  horseback  and  in  wagons,  driving .  their  stock  and 
hurrying  away  from  the  murderous  enemy.  As  he  gazed 
on  these  fugitives  from  burning  homes,  he  remembered  the 
words  uttered  by  vEneas  to  Chorebus  on  that  fatal  night 
when  Troy  was  burned  by  the  Greeks:  "All  is  lost;  you 
came  to  aid  a  burning,  captured  city."  But  as  gloomy  hor- 
rors were  filling  his  soul,  his  ever-watchful  guardian  angel, 
the  American  eagle,  swooped  down  over  his  head  and  bent 
his  flight  toward  San  Jacinto,  and  he  knew  that  victory  and 
glory  were  in  the  east. 

Houston  hurried  on  to  join  the  little  army  of  Texans 
near  Gonzales.     Before  he  arrived  two  stirrinc*  events  had 


564  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

occurred.  The  mounted  videttes,  who  had  been  stationed 
near  San  Antonio  to  watch  the  siege  of  the  Alamo,  dashed 
into  the  Texas  camp  on  the  7th  and  shouted:  "The  Alamo 
has  fallen  and  is  a  smoking  ruin,  and  every  hero  is  dead." 
As  it  was  supposed  Santa  Anna  would  sweep  over  Texas  like 
a  tornado,  there  was  a  general  panic  to  hurry  home  and  look 
after  their  families.  At  that  crisis  the  drum  beat,  and  all 
soldiers  were  requested  to  meet  at  General  Burleson's  tent. 
He  was  a  plain,  unlettered  soldier,  but  made  a  soul-stirring 
speech,  closing  with  the  memorable  words:  "Thermopylae 
had  her  messenger  of  defeat,  the  Alamo  has  none;  and  so 
let  it  be  with  all  Texas.  If  Texas  goes  down  in  this  unequal, 
bloody  contest  for  liberty,  let  no  Texan  soldier  ever  cross  the 
Sabine  as  a  messenger  of  our  defeat.  Let  every  soldier  die 
as  Travis,  Crockett  and  Bowie  have,  fighting  for  liberty." 
Wild  shouts  rent  the  air:  "That's  just  what  we  will  do; 
that  is  just  what  we  will  do." 

The  other  event  was,  Santa  Anna. sent,  on  the  8th,  "a 
messenger  of  defeat"  to  the  Texas  camp,  to  spread  terror  and 
panic.  He  mounted  Mrs.  Dickinson,  the  only  surviving  wit- 
ness of  the  butchery  of  the  Alamo,  on  a  mule,  with  her  babe 
in  her  arms,  both  sprinkled  with  the  blood  of  heroes.  He  sent 
as  her  guide  the  African  slave  of  Colonel  Travis.  As  she 
rode  into  the  Texas  camp  on  the  9th,  all  the  soldiers  gathered 
around  her  to  gaze  upon  the  mournful  sight.  She  shouted, 
with  her  clarion  voice :  "They  all  died  fighting  for  liberty, 
as  every  true  Texan  should."  So,  when  Houston  reached 
the  army,  they  were  all  in  fine  fighting  mood. 

Houston  formed  his  grand  campaign  with  the  skill  of 
a  Fabius  and  ISTapoleon,  ever  remembering  the  immortal 
words  of  Prince  Schomburg :  "A  great  general  never  fighta 
till  he  gets  ready,  and  always  chooses  his  battleground."  He 
said,  wisely:  "Texas  cannot  afford  another  Alamo  or  Goliad; 
we  must  retreat  before  Santa  Anna,  until  he  thinks  we  are 
utterly  routed  and  becomes  careless."  It  was  a  profound  war 
secret  that  if  it  became  absolutely  necessary,  the  Texans 
should  retreat  to  the  banks  of  the  Sabine,  when  4,000  United 
States  soldiers,  with  their  guns,  should  desert  from  General 
Gaines'  army  and  overwhelm  Santa  Anna  at  a  blow,  and 
throw  a  strong  cavalry  force  in  his  rear,  and  capture  the  last 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  565 

general,  the  last  soldier,  the  last  gun  and  the  last  dollar,  be- 
fore he  reached  the  Rio  Grande;  and  then  march  up  to  the 
banks  of  the  Rio  Grande  and  demand  Mexico  to  cease  her 
hostility  and  acknowledge  our  independence,  or  the  victorious 
army  would  invade  her  territory  and  make  her  pay  the  ex- 
penses of  war. 

A  grander  campaign  was  never  planned;  yet,  all  the 
"smart  Alecks,"  the  bane  and  curse  of  every  enterprise,  and 
many  good  men,  knowing  nothing  of  Houston's  secrets,  con- 
demned him  bitterly  for  retreating  from  the  Colorado. 

On  the  20th  of  April  the  immortal  spy.  Deaf  Smith, 
captured  Siinta  Anna's  courier,  with  his  dispatches,  in  which 
he  spoke  contemptuously  of  Texans,  and  his  "disgust  at  chas- 
ing them  like  mule-eared  rabbits  over  the  prairies,"  and  said 
he  would  return  home  and  leave  his  generals  to  continue  the 
chase.  The  eagle  eye  of  Houston  saw  the  golden  moment 
iiad  come.  Next  morning,  April  21,  he  ordered  Deaf  SmltJi 
to  cut  down  Vince's  bridge,  to  cut  off  all  recruits  and  all  re- 
treat. He  ordered  every  commander  to  be  ready  at  3  o'clock 
p.  m.  He  selected  3  o'clock  in  the  evening  because  he  knew 
every  Mexican,  according  to  custom,  would  be  asleep,  taking 
his  usual  siesta.  Just  eighteen  minutes  after  three  the  Spar- 
tan band  of  782  Texans,  in  regular  order,  rushed  to  the  charge 
with  the  appalling  battle  cry,  "Remember  the  Alamo  !  Re- 
member Goliad !"  Two  thousand  four  hundred  Mexicans, 
startled  from  their  sleep,  in  wild  confusion,  formed  their  line 
of  battle.  The  Texans  reserved  their  fire  until  within  full 
gunshot,  and  took  deliberate  aim.  At  the  first  fire  600  Mex- 
icans fell  dead  or  wounded.  The  Texans  reloaded,  continued 
the  charge  and  fired  again,  shouting,  "Remember  the  Alamo  ! 
Remember  Goliad !"  The  astonished  Mexicans  threw  down 
their  arms  and  fled.  Santa  Anna,  waking  ouL  of  his  usual  si- 
esta, hurriedly  put  on  his  magnificent  uniform  and  mounted 
his  fiery  war  horse  and  rushed  to  the  front.  But  utterly  be- 
wildered and  horrified,  he  saw  his  heroes  of  Zacatecas  and  thir- 
ty-two other  battlefields,  falling  like  wheat  before  the  mow- 
er's scythe,  or  throwing  down  their  guns  and  fleeing  in  con- 
fusion, shouting,  "Me  no  Alamo!  Me  no  Goliad!"  He  saw 
his  awful  day  of  destruction  and  doom  had  come,  and  wheeling 
his  fierv  steed,  he  fled  toward  Vince's  bridge,  but  found  it 


566  The  Life  and  Wkitings  of 

burned  down.  He  spurred  his  fiery  steed  into  the  deep 
streani  and  immediately  bogged  up  to  liis  neck.  But  Santa 
Anna  scrambled  out  on  the  other  side,  and  said:  "'These 
Texas  devils  will  know  me  by  my  uniform  and  kill  me,"  and 
tore  off  ]iis  magnificent  military  coat,  pants,  boots  and  golden 
spurs,  and  fled,  barefooted  and  bareheaded,  like  a  ''mule- 
eared  rabbit"  across  the  prairie.  About  dark,  tired,  and  over- 
whelmed with  astonishment  and  grief,  he  hid  in  a  little  live 
oak  grove.  Soon  he  heard  innumerable  droves  of  wolves,  at- 
tracted by  the  smell  of  blood,  howling  fearfully  and  moving 
toward  the  field  of  slaughter.  When  they  drew  near,  he 
climbed  a  live  oak  tree,  and  spent  that  fearful  night  all  alone, 
surrounded  by  that  awful  serenade  of  wolves,  reflecting  upon 
the  Alamo  and  Goliad,  and  his  dark  and  bloody  career.  ISText 
morning,  hungry  and  weary  of  life,  he  bent  his  steps  toward 
the  Brazos  bottom,  without  hat,  coat,  boots,  or  pants.  The 
flight  of  Xerxes  was  eclipsed  by  Santa  Anna.  Oh !  how  dif- 
ferently he  expected  to  return  to  the  halls  of  the  Montezu- 
mas! 

Soon  he  spied  three  of  General  Burleson's  soldiers  on  his 
track  and  hid  in  the  tall  prairie  grass,  but  the  sharp  eye  of 
young  Lieutenant  James  Sylvester  saw  him,  and  riding  dp 
near,  called  out:  "Come  out  of  there,  old  coon!"  Santa 
Anna  made  out  he  was  dead.  Sylvester  said:  "Come  out 
quick,  old  coon,  or  I  Avill  put  two  more  bullet  holes  in  you." 
Santa  Anna  came  out  trembling,  and  said :  "Young  man,  T 
will  give  you  this  gold  watch  and  chain  if  you  will  let  me  go." 
Sylvester  replied:  "I  don't  want  your  watch  and  chain;  you 
go  to  General  Houston."  Seeing  his  magniflcent  gold  shirt 
buttons,  he  began  to  suspect  he  was  Santa  Anna.  Santa 
Anna  then  said :  "Young  man,  I  have  a  gold  mine  in  Mex- 
ico worth  millions;  I  will  give  you  that  gold  mine  and  this 
watch  and  chain  if  you  will  let  me  have  your  mule  and  es- 
cape." Sylvester  replied :  "I  don't  want  your  watch  and 
chain,  nor  your  gold  mine,  you  just  march  off  to  General 
Houston."  He  pretended  that  he  could  not  v/alk,  as  his  feet 
were  so  torn  and  bleeding  on  account  of  the  briars  and  the  race 
of  the  day  before.  In  the  meantime  Joel  Robinson  and  an- 
other hero  joined  Sylvester,  and  in  mercy  for  the  wretched 
captive  they  let  him  get  up  behind  Sylvester  on  his  mule.  And 


De.  Kufus  C.  Burleson.  567 

Santa  Anna  took  "his  mule  ride  across  the  prairie."  Oh !  what 
bitter  remorse  filled  his  soul  when  he  remembered  that  just 
f orty-iix  days  before,  after  the  horrible  butchery  of  the  Alamo, 
he  had  mounted  Mrs.  Dickinson  on  a  mule  to  go  and  spread 
consternation  in  the  Texas  camp.  His  only  hope  was,  that 
stripped  of  his  miltiary  suit,  the  Mexicans  would  not  recog- 
nize him.  But  as  soon  as  he  reached  the  encampment,  his 
vast  herd  of  Mexican  captives  shouted  mournfully:  "El 
Presidente  Antonio  Lopez  de  Santa  Anna !"  El  Presidente 
Antonio  Lopez  de  Santa  Anna !"  Immediately  vast  crowds 
of  infuriated  Texans  gathered  around  Houston's  tent,  some 
with  ropes  and  some  with  chunks  of  fire,  shouting:  "Burn 
him,  hang  him;  he  murdered  my  father;  he  murdered  my 
brother  at  the  Alamo  or  Goliad  !"  The  trembling  JSTapoleon  of 
the  West,"  entering  the  tent  of  General  Houston,  fell,  with 
tears,  at  his  feet,  crying :  "You  are  born  to  no  common  des- 
tiny; you  have  conquered  the  ISTapoleon  of  the  West.  Oh ! 
spare  a  fallen,  ruined  man  !"  Houston  sat  on  his  couch,  suffer- 
ing terribly  with  his  wounded  ankle,  but  sent  Generals  Rusk 
and  Burleson  and  others  of  his  more  thoughtful  ofiicers,  say- 
ing :  "Tell  the  boys  to  be  quiet;  we  must  not  disgrace  our  glo- 
rious victory  by  mobbing  and  murdering  a  prisoner  of  war. 
We  will  have  a  council  of  ofiicers,  civil  and  military,  and  will 
do  for  Santa  Anna  what  will  be  for  the  highest  glory  of 
Texas." 

General  Houston  sent  for  General  Almonte  and  other 
Mexican  generals.  Their  meeting  was  touching  beyond  de- 
scription. Santa  Anna  cried:  "Oh,  give  me  a  bottle  of 
opium  to  drown  the  unutterable  horrors  that  madden  my  brain 
and  crush  my  heart."  They  gave  him  enough  to  quiet  him, 
but  not  enough  for  suicide. 

The  military  and  civil  council  decided  that  while  Santa 
Anna  deserved  to  be  executed  immediately  as  a  bloody  mur- 
derer and  traitor,  it  would  blur  the  fair  name  of  Texas  to  exe- 
cute- a  prisoner  of  war.  It  was,  therefore,  agreed  that  he 
should  be  released  and  sent  home  to  Mexico;  that  he  should 
disband  his  army,  secure  a  ratification  of  independence  of 
Texas  and  a  treaty  of  peace  and  commerce. 

Qeneral  Jackson  and  the  wisest  American  and  English 
statesmen  declare  that  the  sparing  of  Santa  Anna,  under  the 


568  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

circumstances,  was  a  grander  victory  for  Texas  than  tlie  battle 
of  San  Jacinto. 

General  Houston  addressed  a  letter  to  the  people  of 
Texas  saying :  "By  the  blessing  of  God  the  war  is  over.  The 
Mexicans  are  driven  beyond  the  Kio  Grande.  Return  home, 
rebuild  your  homes  and  fences,  plant  com,  be  free,  prosperous 
and  happy." 

But  his  wounds  threatened  to  become  dangerous,  and 
Dr.  Ewing  and  other  surgeons  decided  he  should  go  imme- 
diately to  New  Orleans  for  special  treatment.  When  it  was 
known  that  the  hero  of  San  Jacinto,  who  with  782  Texans, 
conquered  2,400  Mexicans,  was  coming  to  JSTew  Orleans  for 
surgical  treatment,  the  heart  of  that  great  city  was  stirred, 
and  ten  thousand  men  and  women  crowded  the  banks  of  the 
Mississippi  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  man  who  had  conquered 
"the  ISTapoleon  of  the  West."  Amid  that  vast  and  eager 
throng  stood  the  beautiful  belle  of  Alabama,  who  had  come 
with  her  former  teacher.  Dr.  McLean,  and  schoolmates,  to 
visit  the  queen  city  of  the  South. 

As  General  Houston  came  ashore,  pale  and  almost  faint- 
ing, borne  between  two  comrades,  wildest  shouts  and  thou- 
sands of  waving  handkerchiefs  filled  the  air.  General  Hous- 
ton halted  on  the  deck  of  the  ship  "Liberty,"  with  a  voice 
trembling,  yet  ringing  like  a  trumpet,  said :  "My  kind  phy- 
sicians say  I  must  not  speak,  yet  I  must  thank  you  for  your 
sympathy  for  Texas  and  the  honor  you  have  this  day  shown 
me.  But,  fellow  citizens,  remember  while  Texas  has  con- 
quered Santa  Anna  and  his  bloody  soldiers  by  her  own  brave 
arm,  she  has  another  grander  victory  to  gain  before  she  is 
really  free  and  great;  she  must  conquer  herself,  her  passions 
and  her  sins.  And  in  this  second  greater  battle  we  need 
large  recruits  of  pious  women  and  ministers  of  the  Gospel." 

These  strange  words  fell  with  magic  power  on  the  heart 
of  the  queenly,  pious  belle  of  Alabama.  She  trembled,  she 
knew  not  why,  but  felt  it  would  be  a  glorious  thing  to  aid  in 
that  second  grander  victory. 

The  hero  of  San  Jacinto  and  the  lovely  belle  of  Alabama 
met,  by  chance,  at  the  home  of  Colonel  Christy,  but  after- 
wards they  met  by  choice,  and  finally  the  hero  of  San  Jacinto, 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  569 

gazing  on  the  rosy,  modest  cheeks,  raven  black  hair  and  deep 
blue  eyes  of  undying  devotion,  and,  above  all,  listening  to 
her  voice,  softer  than  that  of  a  lute  string,  surrendered  and  laid 
his  honors  down  at  her  feet.  And  after  many  prayers  and  con- 
sulting with  mamma,  she  became  his  guiding  star  and  guard- 
ian angel,  until  his  great  heart  ceased  to  beat  at  Hunts- 
ville,  Texas,  July  28,  1863.  Her  sincerity,  her  purity  and 
her  sublime  devotion  to  God  and  duty  filled  all  his  ideal  of 
woman  as  taught  him  by  his  devout  mother. 

Under  the  magic  influence  of  the  beautiful  belle  of  Ala- 
bama the  hero  of  San  Jacinto  gained  a  grander  victory  than 
ever  achieved  by  Alexander  the  Great;  he  conquered  himself. 
He  ceased  his  dissipation  and  bcame  a  teetotaler  and  a  tern-, 
perance  lecturer.  He  ceased  his  profanity,  established  in  his 
family  an  altar  of  prayer,  was  converted  and  became  a  leading 
member  of  the  Baptist  church. 

But  while  Houston's  ankle  was  being  healed  and  his 
head  and  heart  and  his  whole  being  clothed  with  "the  armour 
of  righteousness,"  he  heard  that  wild  anarchy  and  ruin  were 
threatening  Texas.  Texas  at  that  time  was  a  boiling  ocean 
of  excitement.  The  struggle  of  30,000  Texans  against 
8,000,000  Mexicans,  and  especially  the  bloody  scenes  of  the 
Alamo,  Goliad  and  San  Jacinto  had  stirred  the  hearts  of  free- 
men the  world  over,  and  scores  of  noble  patriots  rushed  to  the 
banner  of  freedom.  But  alas,  as  the  tarantula  and  the  cen- 
tipede and  hissing  adder  always  come  fofth  with  the  fragrant 
flowers  of  spring,  so  along  with  these  noble  patriots  came  a 
number  of  hot-headed  men  with  a  desire  to  be  leaders.  Sev- 
eral of  these  men  came,  as  such  men  generally  do,  when  the 
danger  was  over  and  the  smoke  of  battle  had  died  away. 
These  wretched,  turbulent  spirits,  led  by  such  men  as  H.  Mil- 
lard and  Jeff  Green,  resolved  to  depose  the  great  and  good 
President  Burnet  and  establish  a  military  despotism — the 
very  evil  for  which  Texas  took  up  arms  against  Santa  Anna. 
They  issued  the  following  order  to  an  officer : 

"You  are  hereby  ordered  to  proceed  from  Quintana  to 
Velasco  and  arrest  the  person  of  David  G.  Burnet.  Take 
into  your  possession  the  books  and  papers  of  his  office,  and 
you  will  also  take  into  your  possession  the  books,  papers  and 


570  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

records  of  the  secretaries  of  state,  of  war,  and  of  the  treasury, 
and  them  safely  keep  and  report  forthwith. 

(Signed)  "H.  MILLAED." 

Houston,  hearing  of  this  raging  sea  of  commotion,  hur- 
ried back  to  Texas,  and,  like  ISTeptune,  stretched  forth  the  tri- 
dent, and  the  wild  sea  of  anarchy  hushed.  He  issued  an  ad- 
dress to  the  soldiers,  warned  them  against  following  the  coun- 
sel of  rash  men,  and  above  all,  to  submit  to  the  ci\al  authori- 
ties. But  President  Burnet  and  his  cabinet  wisely  decided  to 
order  an  election  for  permanent  officers  of  the  new  republic. 
Texas,  amid  the  perils  of  the  hour,  needed  a  Hercules  strong 
enough  with  one  arm  to  ward  olf  8,000,000  Mexicans,  and 
Avith  the  other  arm  to  hold  in  check  30,000  Indians,  and  place 
his  right  foot  squarely  on  the  375  "smart  Alecks"  and  would- 
be  leaders,  and  at  the  same  time  guide  Texas  to  her  glorious 
destiny.  Let  it  never  be  forgotten  that  Texas  had  at  that  time 
scores  of  men  that  would  have  made  able  governors  or  con- 
gressmen of  Massachusetts,  J^ew  York,  Virginia,  South  Caro- 
lina or  Georgia.  My  friend.  Judge  A.  W.  Terrell,  has  shown 
that  there  were  more  educated  men  and  college  graduates  in 
the  convention  that  proclaimed  the  Declaration  of  Inaepen- 
dence  and  adopted  the  Constitution  of  the  Republic  of  Texas 
than  ever  assembled  in  any  constitutional  convention  of  this 
continent.  For  as  Texas  was  to  become  the  empire  State, 
God  selected  giants  to  lay  the  foundation.  But  few  of.  these 
great  men  fully  understood  the  perils  of  the  hour  or  had  been 
trained  in  war  and  peace,  in  crowded  cities  and  forests,  so  as 
to  realize  and  meet  the  wants  of  Texas.  All  eyes  were  turned 
to  Houston  as  the  giant  to  meet  these  mighty  perils.  Yet,  he 
was  not  a  giant  among  pigmies,  but  a  Titan  among  Titans. 
Houston  at  first  refused  the  use  of  his  name  for  president, 
but  insisted  that  Austin  or  Burnet  be  placed  at  the  helm. 
Only  twelve  days  before  the  election  did  he  yield  to  the  en- 
treaties of  friends,  yet  he  was  elected  by  an  overwhelming  ma- 
jority. Well  might  the  perils  that  surrounded  the  infant  re- 
public appall  the  heart  of  a  great  man,  capable  of  comprehend- 
ing all  the  issues  involved.  Texas  had  not  a  dollar  in  the 
treasury  and  no  credit  abroad.  She  owed  a  revolutionary 
debt  of  $1,250,000.     The  people  lived  in  tents  and  board  shan- 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleso]!^.  5Y1 

ties  or  log  cabins.  The  convention  that  declared  the  inde- 
pendence of  Texas  and  adopted  the  Constitution  met  in  "the 
board-shanty  storehouse"  of  Rev.  'N.  T.  Bvars.  There  were 
not  a  dozen  churches  or  school  houses  in  Texas.  And  yet, 
8,000,000  Mexicans  and  30,000  Indians  were  ready  to  blot 
out  Texas.  But  Houston,  Austin,  Burnet,  Rusk,  Ed  Burle- 
son, Lamar,  Anson  Jones,  W.  H.  Jack  and  E.  M.  Pease  and 
scores  of  others  were  fully  adequate  to  the  herculean  task. 
They  said:  Eirst — We  must  accept  the  situation  as  it  is. 
Second — Texas  is  poor,  and  $1,250,000  in  debt;  we  must  levy 
a  small  tax,  practice  rigid  economy  and  pay  as  we  go.  Third 
— Texas  must  cultivate  peace  with  our  neighbors,  American 
Indians  and  Mexicans.  Fourth — Texas  must  plant  corn, 
raise  cotton,  establish  churches,  schools  and  courts  of  justice, 
must  worship  God  and  love  our  neighbor.  The  president  set 
a  good  example  of  economy,  wore  coarse  clothes,  brogan  sho-js, 
and  drank  his  coffee  without  cream  or  sugar.  When  some 
petty,  strolling  politician  ridiculed  Houston's  dress  and  fare 
in  the  presence  of  General  Jackson,  the  old  hero  replied  :  "I 
rejoice  that  there  is  one  statesman  that  God  made,  and  not  the 
tailor."  In  one  year  Texas  began  to  reap  the  benefits  of 
Houston's  grand  policy.  She  raised,  in  1837,  30,000  bales 
of  cotton;  vast  herds  of  cattle  and  horses  were  covering  the 
prairies,  and  thousands  of  immigrants  were  crowding  along  all 
the  great  thoroughfares.  Schools  and  churches  were  spring- 
ing up  all  over  the  land.  Houston's  name  and  vast  influence 
over  the  Indian's  kept  them  quiet  during  his  first  term  as 
president,  which  was  limited  by  the  Constitution  to  two  years. 
It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  the  Indians  never  violated  a 
treaty  made  with  General  Houston,  and  never  kept  one  made 
with  any  other  man.  The  wisdom  of  Houston's  policy  was 
painfully  conspicuous  when  contrasted  with  that  adopted  by 
his  successor,  the  heroic  and  brilliant  Lamar.  This  brilliant 
orator  and  soldier,  with  scores  of  others,  believed  Houston's 
policy  was  too  plain,  too  timid.  They  believed  that  a  policy 
more  brilliant  in  display  and  more  military  in  regard  to  the 
Indians  and  Mexicans  would  increase  the  respect  for  Texas 
among  other  nations.  In  his  inaugural  he  said,  among  other 
things:  "The  boundary  line  of  the  Republic  will  be  drawn 
with  the  sword,   and  every  invasion  of  our  rights  will  be 


572  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

speedily  chastised.  We  must  also  lay  the  foundation  of  such 
institutions  and  such  a  system  of  agriculture  and  commerce  as 
will  develop  all  the  resources  of  Texas.  These  things  will 
give  us  security  as  home  and  respectability  abroad." 

The  sad  result  was,  Texas  was  plunged  into  debt.  Infu- 
riated by  the  killing  of  Bowles  and  the  expelling  of  the  Chero- 
kees  from  Eastern  Texas,  the  killing  of  twelve  chiefs  in  their 
council  house  at  San  Antonio,  and  the  threatened  invasion  of 
Santa  Fe,  30,000  Indians  and  8,000,000  Mexicans  were  filled 
with  revenge.  Mexico  sent  her  infamous  secret  agents,  Cor- 
dova and  Flores,  to  visit  all  the  Indian  tribes  and  infuriate 
them  to  kill,  bum,  and  in  every  way  harrass  and  destroy  the 
Texans.  Cordova  and  Flores,  assured  the  Indians  that  Mexico 
was  preparing  a  large  army  to  aid  the  Indians  in  destroying 
and  driving  the  Texans  beyond  the  Sabine.  The  Indians,  un- 
der the  influence  of  these  men,  raided  from  the  mountains  to 
the  gulf,  along  the  Guadalupe  and  Colorado,  burning  the  to^vn 
of  Linville,  sacking  Victoria  and  hundreds  of  happy  homes. 
As  a  part  of  this  wicked  programme,  the  next  year  Vasquez 
and  Woll  invaded  Texas  and  captured  San  Antonio,  and  car- 
ried away  Judge  Hutchinson  with  his  entire  court,  lawyers, 
witnesses,  jury,  clients  and  records,  as  he  found  them  in  the 
midst  of  an  important  trial.  In  addition  to  all  these  evils, 
discontent  and  bankruptcy  ruled  every^vhere. 

In  Congress  a  resolution  was  passed,  that  "we  end  this 
farce  of  a  government  and  go  home;"  but  in  the  midst  of  the 
excitement  the  clarion  voice  of  Houston,  who  at  that  time  wa^ 
a  member  of  Congress,  was  heard  ringing  through  the  hall, 
"Texan  Congressmen,  hear  me !  All  is  not  lost.  God  and 
our  country  yet  remain.  And  if  we  will  be  true  to  ourselves 
and  to  Texas,  and  to  the  memory  of  the  Alamo,  Goliad  and 
San  Jacinto,  all  will  be  well."  And,  with  a  speech  of  such 
burning  eloquence  as  could  never  be  reported,  he  induced  them 
to  rescind  the  resolution  of  dissolution,  and  "to  adjourn  to 
meet  the  next  day."  The  sensitive  and  brilliant  Lamar  was 
so  overwhelmed  by  this  accumulation  of  woes,  he  became 
gloomy  and  despondent,  and  begged  Congress  to  relieve  him 
of  his  official  duties,  and  he  retired  to  his  old  home  in  Georgia, 
leaving  Vice-President  Burnet  to  finish  his  term  of  office. 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Buklesois".  573 

In  this  terrible  hour  of  gloom  and  anarchy,  all  hearts 
turned  to  Houston,  and  he  was  re-elected  by  an  almost  unani- 
mous vote,  with  General  Ed  Burleson  as  vice-president.  Hous- 
ton was  inaugurated  in  1841.  In  dread  of  the  terrible  dis- 
order of  the  land,  one  of  the  first  acts  of  the  Congress  was  to 
declare  Sam  Houston  dictator  for  ten  years.  But  the  grand 
old  hero  vetoed  the  bill.  In  a  brief  message  of  burning  power, 
he  said:  "We  want  no  dictator;  we  want  a  republic.  We 
want  peace,  and  quiet  and  industry  at  home,  and  good  will 
and  friendship  with  our  neigbors;  all  of  which  can  be  ob- 
tained by  the  blessings  of  God."  Houston,  leaving  Vice- 
President  Burleson  in  charge  of  the  government,  moujited  a 
fleet  horse,  and  with  a  small  guard,  mostly  of  friendly  Indians, 
passed  along  the  hostile  frontier  for  over  .five  hundred  miles. 
He  rode  fearlessly  into  the  hostile  camp  of  the  Indians;  with 
tears  he  embraced  and  kissed  the  stern  wi:>rriors,  and  made 
presents  of  beads  and  ribbons  to  the  women  and  children,  and 
told  them :  "We  are  children  of  the  same  Great  Spirit.  If 
bad  men  have  stirred  up  my  people  to  do  you  wrong,  we  will 
do  so  no  more.  We  will  leave  you  to  your  own  hunting 
grounds,  and  let  us  live  as  children  of  the  same  Great  Spirit, 
in  peace  and  harmony."  He  sent  three  commissioners  to 
Mexico  to  negotiate  terms  of  peace  and  commercial  relations. 
He  cut  o£P  all  needless  expenses;  reduced  everything  to  the 
strictest  republican  economy.  Peace  and  confidence  were 
restored,  "the  trident  of  E'eptune  again  calmed  the  turbid 
ocean,  and  joy  and  plenty  smiled  upon  Texas." 

But  Houston,  feeling  that  annexation  to  the  United 
States  was  essential  to  promote  the  permanent  peace  and  pros- 
perity of  Texas,  appointed  as  special  minister  to  the  United 
States,  Isaac  "Van  Zandt,  to  secure  annexation.  But  powerful 
agencies  had  worked  up  violent  opposition  to  annexation : 
Hrst — The  whole  ISTorthj,  jealous  of  the  predominence 
of  Southern  influence  in  the  national  councils,  opposed  the 
annexation  of  more  Southern  territory.  Second — The  iVboli- 
tion  party,  with  all  their  wild  fanaticism,  clamored  against 
the  annexation  of  Texas,  with  her  274,000  square  miles  of 
slave  territory.  They  said :  This  will  give  the  slave  power, 
territory  as  large  as  ISTorth  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Georgia, 
Alabama  and  Mississippi,   and  will  perpetuate  slavery  for 


574  The  Life  and  Writings  of  ' 

ages  to  come.  Third — The  leading  papers  of  the  North,  and 
some  of  the  South,  teemed  with  the  vilest  abuse  of  the  Texans, 
as  thieves,  murderers  and  runaways.  Fourth — Thousands  of 
timid  men  feared  annexation  would  bring  war  with  Mexico, 
aided  by  England  and  France.  These  powerful  political  in- 
fluences induced  the  two  great  political  parties.  Democrats 
and  Whigs,  to  rule  Texas  out  of  the  presidential  election  of 
1844.  Both  candidates,  Van  Buren  and  Clay,  committed 
themselves  against  annexation.  Annexation  was  therefor© 
apparently  hopeless.  But  one  wave  of  Houston's  trident 
changed  these  great  political  currents.  He  withdrew  General 
Van  Zandt  as  minister,  and  also  the  application  of  Texas  for 
annexation.  He  wrote  a  personal  letter  to  General  Jackson, 
regretting  deeply  that  the  United  States  had  repelled  Texas 
scornfully.  He  said  this  would  compel  Texas  to  form  an  al- 
liance with  England,  by  which  England  would  guarantee  the 
freedom  of  Texas  from  Mexican  interference,  and  by  which 
England's  manufactures  and  Texas'  cotton  would  be  ex- 
changed without  tariff,  which  would  not  only  increase  the 
power  of  English  influence  on  this  continent,  but  seriously 
damage  American  manufacturing  and  shipping  and  all  other 
commercial  interests. 

As  he  clearly  foresaw,  this  awakened  General  Jackson's 
hatred  to  England,  and  aroused  more  fiercely  all  the  New 
England  manufacturers  and  commercial  and  shipping  men  of 
New  York  and  Philadelphia.  The  result  was,  the  whole  na- 
tion was  aroused  in  favor  of  annexation.  The  roar  of  the  old 
lion  of  Democracy  had  stirred  up  the  masses  North  and  South. 
As  soon  as  the  far-seeing  Henry  Clay  heard  of  the  nomination 
of  Polk  on  the  "Texas  platform,"  he  said  to  the  crowds  of  his 
admirers,  assembled  in  Raleigh,  North  Carolina,  "Beat  again." 
James  K.  Polk  was  elected.  President  Tyler  and  the  leading 
politicians  "^ded  with  each  other  in  their  zeal  for  annexation. 

Texas  was  annexed  on  the  5th  of  July,  1845,  as  the  his- 
toric Fourth  of  July  came  on  Sunday.  All  this  wonderful 
revolution  in  favor  of  annexation  was  consumm-ated  by  the 
master  generalship  of  Sam  Houston. 

As  was  meet  and  proper.  General  Sam  Houston  and  Thos. 
J.  Rusk  were  elected  United  States  senators,  and  Houston's 
broad  statesmanship  was  speedily  called  into  exercise  on  a 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Buklesoi\^.  575 

broader  scale.  The  Santa  Te  territory,  including  98,000 
square  miles,  was  a  part  of  Texas,  but  she  had  never  been 
able  to  assert  her  authority  over  it,  and  the  United  States 
claimed  it  as  a  part  of  the  territory  ceded  to  the  United  States 
by  Mexico  on  account  of  the  Mexican  war.  Both  the  presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  and  the  governor  of  Texas  sent  of- 
ficers to  organize  and  control  the  Santa  Fe  territory.  These 
officers  came  into  violent  conflict,  and  the  president  of  the 
United  States  and  the  governor  of  Texas  both  sent  armed  men 
to  sustain  their  officers.  The  older  States  felt  indignant  that 
Texas,  already  seven  times  larger  than  Xew  Yx)rk,  thirty-six 
times  larger  than  Massachusetts  and  two  hundred  and  sixty 
times  larger  than  Rhode  Island,  should  want  to  grasp  98,000 
square  miles  more.  Civil  war  was  imminent.  A  congress- 
man from  South  Carolina  addressed  a  letter  to  President  Tyler 
saying :  "The  first  gun  fired  on  the  plains  of  Santa  Fe  or 
l^ev7  Mexico  to  coerce  Texas  mil  be  a  signal  for  the  whole 
South  to  rush  to  her  defense."  But  the  profound  statesman- 
ship of  Houston  and  Rusk,  aided  by  such  statesmen  as  Thos. 
H.  Benton  and  Frank  Pierce,  affected  a  peaceable  compromise. 
Texas  sold  her  interest  in  the  Santa  Fe  territory  for  fifteen  mil- 
lion dollars.  This  paid  the  last  cent  of  her  public  debt, 
and  left  a  handsome  sum  in  her  treasury.  Houston's  pro- 
found statesmanship  stipulated  that  two  millions  of  this  sum 
should  be  set  apart  forever  for  free  schools,  the  interest  alone 
to  be  used.  Thus  our  hero  in  war  secured  the  first  dollar  for 
free  schools  ever  placed  in  the  Texas  treasury,  and  laid  the 
foundation  of  our  present  grand  system  of  education. 

But  Houston  looked  at  every  department  of  progress  and 
prosperity  for  Texas.  He  was  one  of  the  first  of  our  great 
statesmen  that  saw  the  indispensable  necessity  of  railroads  for 
the  full  development  of  Texas.  But  one  of  the  first  giant 
frauds  ever  committed  on  Texas  was  the  charter  for  a  "Texas 
Railroad,  ISTavigation  and  Banking  Company,"  in  1839,  with 
a  capital  stock  of  five  million  dollars,  to  be  increased  to  ten 
millions — all  on  paper.  This  huge  fraud,  after  cheating 
innocent  men  out  of  fifty  or  sixty  thousand  dollars,  evaporated. 

This  first  attempt  at  railroads  gave  Texas  a  supreme  dis- 
gust for  the  whole  system.  Added  to  this,  the  city  of  Hous- 
ton with  her  Houston  Telegraph  with  a  circulation  ten  times 


576  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

larger  tliaii  any  other  paper  in  Texas,  all  bitterly  opposed  rail- 
roads, and  denounced  any  movement  on  their  behalf  as  an 
effort  to  revive  the  old  fraud  of  1837.  But  Houston,  Rusk, 
E.  M.  Pease,  Bermond  and  a  few  other  far-seeing  men  were 
the  ardent  advocates  of  railroads. 

I  shall  never  forget  General  Houston's  visit  to  my  house 
in  1853.  He  and  General  Rusk  had  visited  Austin  and  made 
addresses  before  the  Legislature  on  the  great  importance  of 
railroads  for  the  future  development  of  Texas.  He  said  to  me : 
"I  come  by  request  of  our  committee  in  favor  of  railroads  to 
enlist  you  in  a  subject  that  should  be  dear  to  every  Texan 
heart.  Texas  must  now  decide  whether  she  is  to  be  a  mere 
cow  pen  and  sheep  ranch,  or  a  great  Empire  State.  H  she  is 
content  to  be  a  sheep  ranch  or  cow  pen  she  has  about  all  she 
needs;  but  if  she  wishes  to  be  the  grandest  State  on  the  conti- 
nent she  must  have  railroads.  She  has  no  navigable  rivers,  no 
inland  bays  or  seas,  but  is  the  best  adapted  for  a  grand  system 
of  cheap  railroads  of  any  State  on  the  continent.  She  has  no 
mountains  to  tunnel,  and  is  almost  a  natural  grade  and  can  be 
fitted  for  ties  and  roailroad  irons  at  comparatively  little  cost. 
But  she  has  no  freights  and  no  travel  to  pay  capitalists  to 
build  her  roads;  therefore  she  must  give  the  railroad  man  a 
heavy  bonus  of  sixteen  sections  to  every  mile  after  the  first 
twenty-five  miles  are  put  in  running  order.  We  can  make 
an  arrangement  to  give  this  bonus,  reserving  every  alternate 
section  for  free  schools,  and  when  the  roads  are  built  the  re- 
served alternate  section  will  be  worth  five  times  as  much  as 
both  sections  were  before  the  railroad  was  built.  But,"  he 
added,  ^'short-sighted  men  and  demagogues,  headed,  I  am 
sorry  to  say,  by  the  gallant  city  of  Houston  and  the  learned 
but  impracticable  T)r.  Francis  Moore,  are  bitterly  opposed  to 
railroads,  but  propose  to  build  an  ^adobe  road'  from  Houston 
to  the  Brazos  timbers  at  Hempstead.  To  overcome  this  vast 
array  of  opposition  we  must  have  the  vigorous  aid  of  every 
man  who  thinks,  whether  he  wears  a  black  cravat,  a  white  cra- 
vat, or  no  cravat  at  all.  And  our  committee  wants  you  to 
spike  the  big  cannon  at  Houston  and  silence  its  thunders 
against  railroads  and  use  all  your  influence  for  railroads." 

T  promised  to  enter  the  fight  with  "fervency  and  zeal," 
provided  the  State  reserved  the  right  to  control  the  roads  as 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Buelesox.  577 

highways.  The  historic  citv  went  to  work  on  her  "'adobe 
road,"  graded  it  up  to  Hockley,  with  the  assurance  of  the 
learned  Dr.  Moore  that  the  farmers  would  pack  it  down  in  the 
summer  and  fall,  and  its  large  amount  of  lime  would  convert 
it  into  "'an  adobe  surface"  as  hard  as  the  ''adobe  brick"  of 
which  the  halls  of  the  Montezumas  were  built  centuries  ago. 
But  alas,  "the  best  laid  schemes  of  mice  and  men  aft  gang 
aglee."  The  whole  "adobe  road  bogged  down  in  a  continent  of 
mud."'  But  the  merchant  princes  and  the  grand  practical 
men  of  Houston  rushed  up  to  Austin,  got  a  charter  for  the 
Houston  and  Texas  Central  railroad  and  clapped  the  ties  down 
on  the  well  graded  "adobe  road,"  and  pushod  foi-ward  the 
Houston  and  Texas  Central,  and  Houston  became  the  grand 
railroad  center  and  pride  of  all  Texas. 

How  few  men  enjoj-ing  the  luxury  of  riding  over  the 
vast  prairies  of  Texas  in  a  magnificent  Pullman  car  ever  think 
how  much  they  owe  to  Houston,  Rusk,  Pease,  Bremon  and 
their  compeers  who  fought  the  first  grand  battle  for  railroads ! 
The  crowning  glory  of  their  plan  is,  they  so  combined  the  rail- 
road interests  and  the  interests  of  education  that  to-day  Texas 
has  the  largest  educational  fund  of  any  country  on  the  globe 
— over  $200,000,000 — and  is  to-day  the  fourth  railroad  State 
in  the  Union  and  w^ill  soon  quadruple  any  other  State.  But 
another  grand  index  of  Houston's  profound  statesmanship 
was,  he  detected  the  blighting  influence  of  foreign  immigra- 
^tion,  largely  of  paupers  and  convicts,  on  the  prosperity  of 
America.  Houston  saw,  forty  years  ago,  our  Chinese  trouble, 
and  sought  to  guard  against  it.  He  and  other  great  statesmen 
were  profoundly  penetrated  with  the  con^action  that  "  Ameri- 
cans should  rule  America,"  and  that  Washington  was  right 
vdien  on  the  nia'ht  before  the  battle  of  Yorktown  he  issued 
the  order,  "Put  none  but  Americans  on  guard."  He  com- 
prehended the  eternal  truth  of  the  Bible,  "that  nations  that 
mix  themselves,  part  iron  and  part  clay,  are  weak."  Hence, 
he  and  other  profound  statesmen  organized  "The  American 
Party,"  which  became  familiarly  known  as  the  "Knownothing 

Party." 

The  true  object  of  this  party  was  not  to  exclude  or  op- 
press foreigners,  but  to  adopt  the  old  Roman  law,  by  which 
no  man  became  a  citizen  of  Rome  by  residing  three  years,  or 

37 


578  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

fifty  years,  and  paying  $3  for  his  naturalization  papers.  The 
old  Roman  law  allowed  no  man  to  become  a  iloman,  unless 
he  was  eminent  for  his  honesty,  intelligence  and  patriotism, 
and  all  the  virtues  of  a  Brutus  or  a  (^ato.  The  American 
party  wanted  not  only  to  adopt  this  grand  old  law  of  the  Ro- 
mans, but  to  blot  out  the  disgraceful  scramble  for  office,  and 
especially  for  the  loaves  and  fishes  thereof. 

But  these  noble  ends  were  misunderstood;  were  fearfully 
opposed  by  all  men  who  coveted  the  foreign  vote.  The  Amer- 
ican party  itself  made  a  fearful  mistake  by  waging  Avar  against 
foreigners  and  against  the  Catholic  religion.  The  funda- 
mental principles  of  the  American  party  mil  live  again  and 
will  prove  a  blessing,  not  only  to  all  native  Americans,  but  a 
protection  to  all  honest  foreigners  and  Catholics. 

ISTothing  showed  the  profound  statesmanship  of  Houston 
so  grandly  as  his  devotion  to  the  Federal  Union  founded  by 
the  toils  and  tears  and  blood  of  our  revolutionary  fathers. 
Every  grand  thinker  and  philosopher,  from  Bishop  Berkley 
to  Webster  and  Gladstone,  has  firmly  believed  that  God  so 
formed  the  majestic  rivers,  mountains  and  valleys  of  this  con- 
tinent, as  to  be  the  home  of  the  most  united  and  the  grandest 
nation  in  the  world.  Bishop  Berkley  was  so  profoundly  pene- 
trated with  this  conviction,  that  he  came  to  America,  in  1729, 
with  a  noble  aspiration  to  found  a  college  in  Rhode  Island,  to 
prepare  the  people  of  this  grand  continent  for  their  magnifi- 
cent and  united  destiny.  Washington,  Jefferson,  Clay,  Jack- 
son and  Houston  all  regarded  the  permanent  union  of  the 
United  States  as  the  only  hope  of  peace  and  prosperity  at 
home  and  protection  and  glory  abroad.  General  Jackson  ex- 
pressed the  sentiment  of  all  the  grandest  statesmen  when  he 
said :  "The  Federal  Union,  by  the  eternal,  must  and  shall  be 
preserved."  They  looked  with  shuddering  at  every  disposi- 
tion to  alienate  and  divide  the  different  sections  of  this  Union 
into  petty  States  or  kingdoms,  each  hostile  against  the  other, 
as  were  the  States  of  Greece,  and  as  are  the  present  govern- 
ments of  Europe,  requiring  2,000,000  of  armed  men  to  pro- 
tect and  destroy  each  other.  Hence  Houston  opposed  earn- 
estly the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  compromise.  He  said  this  is 
the  entering  wedge  of  untold  calamities  to  the  American  peo- 
ple.    He  said  by  the  compromise  measures  of  1850  we  had 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  570 

throttled  tlve  monster  of  abolitionism,  that  was  goading  to 
madness  the  hot-headed  men  of  the  South  and  preparing  for 
disunion  and  rivers  of  blood. 

I  never  shall  forget  his  prediction  and  portrayal  of  the 
horrors  of  disunion  and  secession,  as  we  stood  alone  in  the 
beautiful  live  oak  grove  in  front  of  the  Baptist  church  at  In- 
dependence. He  said:  "John  Bell  and  I  were  the  only 
Southern  men  who  voted  against  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri 
compromise,  and  we  have  been  bitterly  denounced  as  pander- 
ing to  I^orthem  fanaticism  to  secure  the  presidency.  I  see 
the  editors  and  politicians  of  Texas  are  denouncing  me,  and 
some  old  and  dear  friends  have  turned  away  from  me  rudely, 
saying  T  have  become  a  traitor  to  the  South..  But  while  that 
is  the  most  unpopular  vote  I  ever  gave,  it  was  the  wisest  and 
the  most  patriotic.  Stephen  A.  Douglass  introduced  the  re- 
peal of  the  Missouri  compromise  to  catch  the  vote  of  the 
South.  He  is  now  preparing  another  bill,  called  ^squatter  sov- 
ereignty,' to  catch  the  !N"orth,  and  he  hopes  that  the  two  will 
place  him  in  the  presidential  chair.  But,  alas,  it  opens  the 
agitation  of  the  slavery  question,  which  has  been  crushed  by 
the  compromise  measures  of  1850.  "W.  H.  Seward  and  the 
Abolitionists  are  rejoicing,  and  are  quoting  with  joy  the  fool- 
ish declaration  of  Ehett,  who  said :  ^The  slave  power  is  ag- 
gressive, and  I  expect  to  call  the  roll  of  my  slaves  at  the  foot 
of  Bunker  Hill,  in  Boston.'  The  result  of  all  this  will  be,  in 
1856,  the  Free  Soil  party  will  run  a  candidate  for  president, 
and  the  whole  vote  will  be  astounding.  In  1860,  the  Free 
Soil  party,  uniting  with  the  Abolitionists,  will  elect  the  presi- 
dent of  the  United  States.  Then  will  come  the  tocsin  of  war 
and  clamor  for  secession.  Led  on  by  Calhoun,  the  Rhetts, 
the  Yanceys  and  the  Wigfalls,  the  South  will  secede.  Each 
section,  in  profound  blindness  and  ignorance  of  the  other,  will 
rush  madly  into  war,  each  anticipating  an  easy  victory.  But, 
alas !  alas !"  he  said,  "Oh !  what  fields  of  blood,  what  scenes 
of  horror,  what  mighty  cities  in  smoke  and  ruins — it  is  brother 
murdering  brother,  it  is  Greek  meeting  Greek — rush  on  over 
my  vision.  But,  alas !  I  see  my  beloved  South  go  down  in  the 
unequal  contest,  in  a,  sea  of  blood  and  smoking  ruin.  I  see 
the  proud  neck  of  the  South  under  the  slimy  heel  of  the 
!N"orth,     I  see  slavery  abolished;  military  despotism  estab- 


580  The  Life  a^-d  AVrittxgs  of 

lished  over  the  South.  I  see  the  faithful  servants,  instead  of 
being  Christianized  and  sent-  home  to  Christianize  their  own 
Africa,  freed  from  all  guide  and  control,  turned  loose  to  go  to 
ruin  and  ultimate  extermination,  as  the  poor  Indian  has. 
And,  Oh  !  my  country  !  my  country  !  nothing  but  the  arms  of 
the  God  of  Liberty  can  save  America  from  anarchy,  lawless- 
ness, socialism  and  all  the  monster  evils  that  will  follow  the 
downfall  of  the  South  and  the  supremacy  of  the  Abolitionist 
party.  The  ISTorth,  after  crushing  the  South,  Avill  herself 
reap  the  bitter  curses  of  her  'higher  law'  doctrine,  which  sim- 
ply means  a  contempt  of  all  law,  and  makes  blind  passions  and 
the  spirit  of  the  Jacobin  mobs  rule  the  land.  Assassination, 
%un-powder  plots,"  and  wild  anarchy  will  engulf  her  cities. 
Oh !  my  dear  sir,  I  urge  you  and  all  Christian  men  to  appoint 
days  of  prayer  and  fasting,  that  God  may  avert  these  dreadful 
evils." 

Jeremiah  or  Daniel  could  hardly  have  predicted  more 
clearly  the  bloody  evils  of  secession  than  Houston  did  in  1852. 
All  the  world  admired  the  profound  penetration  of  Burke  in 
predicting,  years  beforehand,  the  terrible  convulsions  of  Eu- 
ope,  and  Napoleon,  who  when  a  prisoner  on  the  lonely  island 
of  St.  Helena,  foretold  the  do\vnfall  of  the  Bourbon  dynasty 
and  the  elevation  of  a  ISTapoleon  to  the  throne  of  France.  Our 
Houston,  with  equal  penetration,  predicted  the  horrors  of  the 
abolition  and  secession  war.  He  almost  beheld  the  infamous 
assassination  of  Lincoln  and  Garfield  and  the  horrors  of  the 
intended  explosion  of  the  "Haymarket"  by  l,he  anachists  in 
Chicago ;  also  the  hundred  thousand  charges  of  dynamite  now 
sleeping  under  Chicago  and  the  great  cities  of  the  I^orth.  How 
fearfully  these  convulsions  followed.  John  Brown  made  his 
infamous  raid  on  the  South.  Helper  had  published  his  infa- 
mous "Impending  Crisis"  (endorsed  by  thirty-two  congress- 
men), advising  the  negroes  of  the  South  to  rise  up  at  midnight, 
murder  their  masters  and  convert  the  South  into  blood  and 
ruin.  All  these  culminated  in  the  election  of  Lincoln,  the 
abolition  candidate,  as  Houston  predicted  eight  years  before. 
The  whole  South  was  goaded  to  madness.  But  Houston  de- 
termined to  exert  every  power  on  earth  to  save  Texas  from  the 
yawning  gulf.  He  had  stumped  the  State  against  secession, 
and  had  been  elected  governor  largely  by  his  personal  popu- 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Buklesoj\'.  581 

laritj.  But  a  convention  of  the  people  had  been  called,  and 
it  was  believed  the  ordinance  of  secession  would  be  passed. 

General  Houston  came  to  Independence,  and  when  we 
were  alone,  seated  under  a  live  oak  tree,  he  said :  "I  am  mak- 
ing mj  last  effort  to  save  Texas  from  the  yawning  gulf  of 
ruin.  I  have  been  to  San  Antonio,  Austin,  Houston,  Galves- 
ton, Huntsville,  and  now  come  to  Independence  as  the  great 
educational  center,  endeavoring  to  arouse  the  patriots  of 
Texas  to  a  imited  action  to  save  Texas.  Our  plan  is  for  lead- 
ing men  in  all  the  great  centers  of  influence  to  meet  simulta- 
neously in  their  different  localities  and  proclaim  their  unal- 
terable devotion  to  the  South  and  opposition  to  the  abolition 
fanaticism,  but  to  declare  that  our  wisest  and  safest  plan  is  to 
make  our  fight  in  the  Union  and  under  the  Stars  and  Stripes. 
I  am  happy  to  say  that  leading  men  in  all  these  localities  cor- 
dially approve  of  this  plan.  Will  you  aid  us  in  this  great 
struggle  ?" 

I  assuerd  him  I  would,  with  all  my  heart,  but  expressed 
great  fears  that  all  was  lost.  It  was  after  midnight.  He 
said :  "Our  only  hope  is  in  God.  Let  us  kneel  down  and 
pray  to  the  God  of  Liberty."  Oh !  what  prayers  and  tears 
fvere  poured  out  before  God. 

xlt  the  time  appointed,  a  noble  company  of  students  and 
citizens  assembled  on  the  public  square  at  Ir  dependence. 
Hesolutions  were  read  according  with  the  plan  suggested  by 
Houston,  "to  remain  in  the  Union  and  fight  for  our  rights 
under  the  Stars  and  Stripes."  Students  John  C.  Watson  and 
B.  IT.  Carroll  advocated  the  affirmative,  T.  I.  Dunklin  and 
M.  M.  Vanhurst  advocated  the  negative.  Dr.  D.  R.  Wallace 
and  other  eminent  men  say  that  the  speeches  would  have  done 
credit  to  the  halls  of  Congress.  The  affirmative  was  carried 
overwhelmingly,  and  the  Stars  and  Stripes  were  suspended 
from  a  liberty  pole  fifty  feet  high. 

We  waited  eagerly  to  hear  from  the  simultaneous  upris- 
ing of  other  centers  of  influence,  especially  the  roar  of  the  old 
lion  in  Austin.  But,  alas,  in  a  few  days  General  Houston 
sent  me  word :  "All  is  lost.  When  the  hour  came  we  could 
not  rally  a  dozen  men  bold  enough  to  come  to  the  front  and 
avow  their  con\^ctions." 


582  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

A  few  days  afterwards,  Mr.  Task  Clay,  mayor  of  Inde- 
pendence, cut  down  our  liberty  pole,  and  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
lay  tattered  and  torn  in  the  dust. 

A  few  days  afterwards  General  Houston  was  deposed 
from  the  governor's  chair,  and  all  his  gloomy  forebodings  and 
predictions  ridiculed  as  the  vagaries  of  an  old  fogy.  A  lead- 
ing member  of  the  convention,  of  the  smart  Aleck  family,  said 
he  would  drink  all  the  blood  that  was  shed.  But,  alas,  when 
the  blood  began  to  flow  in  torrents  at  Bull  Run  and  Manas- 
sas, he  put  on  a  white  cravat,  turned  up  the  whites  of  his  eyes 
and  said :  "I  will  play  Jonah  no  longer.  I  must  preach  the 
gospel."  And  he  became  a  chaplain  in  the  home  guard  di- 
vision. Another  leading  member  of  the  convention  said : 
"Not  a  gun  will  be  fired.  Nobody  will  fight  but  the  Abo- 
litionists, and  if  they  fire  a  gun  I  will  take  fifty  buck  negroes 
and  march  into  Boston."  Thus  madness  reigned.  Horace 
Greeley  said :  "I  spit  on  any  theory  that  does  not  end  war 
and  restore  the  Union  in  six  months."  And  at  the  first  battle 
of  Manassas  the  great  Abolitionist  leader,  Wilson,  with  a 
dozen  other  congressmen,  went  out  with  baskets  of  champagne 
to  drink  with  shouts  of  applause  when  they  reached  Richmond. 
The  battle  cry  was :  "On  to  Richmond  !  Bag  Jefferson  Davis 
and  his  cabinet  before  sundown  !"  But,  alas  !  instead  of  bag- 
ging Jefferson  Davis  and  his  cabinet,  he  had  to  desert  his  car- 
riage, mount  a  bare-back  mule  and  make  his  escape  through 
the  woods,  and  rushing  into  Washington,  cried :  "All  is  lost. 
The  Southern  devils  have  sacked  everything." 

But  while  such  folly  and  madness  were  ruling  our  Na- 
tional councils,  Houston  and  the  wiser  men  retired  to  weep 
and  pray.  ;     ;  ''  I 

Just  before  Houston  was  deposed  Lincoln  sent  a  special 
messenger  to  Austin  disguised  as  "a  horse  trader,"  proposing 
to  send  at  once  fifty  thousand  men  to  hold  Texas  in  the  Union 
with  Houston  as  governor.  But  Houston  replied :  "Every 
drop  of  my  blood  will  I  give  for  Texas,  and  not  one  drop 
against  Texas." 

After  he  was  deposed  and  thrust  out  of  ofiice  he  passed 
through  Independence  with  his  angel  wife  and  lovely  family 
on  his  way  to  Cedar  Bayou,  north  of  Galveston.  He  ?pent  a 
few  days  in  Independence,  much  of  the  time  in  prayer  and 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Buelesois^. 


;83 


tears.  In  his  lonely  forest  home  he  looked  with  a  sad  heart 
on  fields  covered  with  smoke  and  blood;  brother  arrayed 
against  brother.  He  lived  to  hear  that  his  own  first  born  had 
been  badly  wounded  on  the  battlefield.  Finally,  God  in 
mercy  relieved  him  from  his  sufferings. 

The  last  address  he  ever  made  was  to  a  vast  audience 
who  had  gathered  in  front  of  the  hotel  in  Houston  to  pay  their 
respects  to  a  hero  who  had  done  so  much  for  Texas.  He  said : 
"I  have  been  buffeted  by  the  waves;  I  have  been  borne  along 
Time's  ocean  until  shattered  and  worn  I  approach  the  narrow 
isthmus  which  divides  me  from  the  sea  of  eternity.  Ere  I 
step  forward  to  journey  through  the  pilgrimage  of  death,  I 
would  say  that  all  my  thoughts  and  hopes  are  with  my  country. 


'3      •:s^   ■.#-    ' 


GENERAL  SAM  HOUSTON'S  GRAVE. 

If  one  impulse  rises  above  another  it  is  for  the  happiness  of 
these  people.  The  welfare  and  glory  of  Texas  will  be  the 
uppermost  thought  while  a  spark  of  life  lingers  in  this  breast." 

Under  these  terrible  accumulations  of  sorrow  his  health 
speedily  declined,  and  he  died  July  26,  1863,  aged  seventy 
years. 

The  Houston  Telegraph  announced  his  death,  and  said : 
"Let  us  shed  tears  to  his  memory,  due  one  who  has  filled  so 
much  of  our  affection.  Let  the  whole  people  bury  with  him 
what  unkindness  they  may  have.  Let  his  monument  be  in  the 
hearts  of  all  Texans." 


584  The  Life  axd  Writi^'gs  of 

Thus  lived  "and  thiis  died  General  Sam  Houston,  one  of 
the  few  immortal  names  that  were  not  born  to  die."  Though 
thirty  years  have  passed,  every  year  demonstrates  more  his 
profound  wisdom  and  patriotism  and  causes  every  true  Texan 
to  say :  "Oh !  that  America  had  only  liad  a  hundred  Hous- 
tons,  Clays  and  Jacksons."  It  would  have  saved  her  two 
million  lives,  and,  including  pensions,  two  hundred  billion  dol- 
lars. 

In  conclusion  I  wish  to  state  clearly  and  emphasize  earn- 
estly the  seven  great  characteristics  that  made  Sam  Houston 
the  hero  of  San  Jacinto  and  the  father  of  Texas : 

1.  Love  of  Mother- — His  love  of  mother  filled  his  whole 
soul  and  permeated  his  whole  being.  Her  prayers,  her  faith, 
her  counsels  and  her  examples  followed  him  from  the  cradle 
to  the  grave;  followed  him  in  city  and  in  wilderness,  in  pros- 
perity and  adversity.  Her  influence,  in  connection  with  his 
angel  wife,  Maggie  Lee,  brought  him  back  from  his  wander- 
ings to  duty,  glory,  and  to  God. 

2.  Reverence  for  God  and  Religion — General  Houston 
is  a  striking  illustration  of  the  declaration  of  the  great  Thomas 
Carlyle :  "A  strong  religious  sentiment  is  a  characteristic  of 
all  great  minds."  He  said  to  me  :  "In  all  my  dark  trials  and 
struggles,  I  have  always  gone  alone,  at  night,  for  special  se- 
cret prayer.  My  retreat  from  Gonzales  to  San  Jacinto  was 
the  most  remarkable  ever  known  in  history.  Every  day  I 
dreaded  my  own  men  more  than  Santa  Anna.  The  great  ma- 
jority of  the  men  were  eager  for  the  battle  at  once,  and  hot- 
headed men,  not  knowing  the  great  plan  of  my  campaign, 
were  ready  to  excite  mutiny,  depose  me,  rush  headlong  to  bat- 
tle, and,  perchance,  make  another  Alamo  or  Goliad.  Goaded 
to  madness  by  these  men,  I  sometimes  raved  and  cursed  like 
a  madman,  yet  every  night,  when  all  was  quiet,  I  went  alone 
and  spent  a  half  an  hour  on  my  knees  in  prayer,  though  so  un- 
worthy." I  never  shall  forget  that  half  hour  spent  with  him 
in  prayer,  just  before  he  was  deposed  from  the  governorship, 
in  1861.  It  was  midnight;  we  were  all  alone,  and  kneeling 
by  a  rock  under  a  live  oak  tree,  in  Independence,  we  poured 
out  our  tears  and  prayers  before  the  God  of  Washington  and 
liberty,  to  save  our  country  from  the  bloody  vortex  of  civil 
war.      It  was  this  profound  religious  feeling,  misguided,  that 


De.  Rufus  C.  Burleso^n^.  585 

caused  liim  to  place  such  coufidenec  in  the  flight  of  eagles  that 
were  so  abundant  fifty  years  ago,  in  the  Southwest. 

3.  Unfaltering  Courage,  Moral  and  Physical — As  a 
boy  he  charged  amid  showers  of  arrows  and  bullets  the  strong 
fortifications  of  the  Indians,  at  Tohopeka  or  Horseshoe. 
There  was  never  a  moment  that  he  would  not  have  charged 
into  a  cannon's  mouth  at  the  call  of  duty.  He  was  the  peer 
of  Alexander,  of  Caesar,  of  Washington.  In  the  path  of  duty 
he  could  smile  at  the  frowns  and  curses  of  the  whole  world. 

4.  Profound  Penetration — He  read  at  a  glance  the  se- 
cret motives  of  men.  He  penetrated  the  depths  and  heights 
and  breadths  of  every  question.  He  could  banish  all  personal, 
all  local  feeling,  and  look  at  the  facts  just  as  they  were,  strip- 
ped of  all  colorings  and  all  disguises.  I  have  known  men  and 
grappled  with  them  on  the  great  questions  of  education  and 
religion,  from  San  Antonio,  Texas,  to  Bangor,  Maine,  but 
have  never  known  Houston's  equal  in  profound,  far-seeing 
penetration.  Hence,  while  so  many  great  men  blundered,  he 
roresaw  and  foretold  the  results. 

5.  Love  of  Country- — -His  love  of  country,  like  his  love 
of  mother,  intensified  his  whole  being.  He  could  ever  say, 
as  King  David :  '^If  I  forget  thee,  let  my  right  hand  forget 
her  cunning.  If  I  prefer  not  thee  to  my  chief  joy,  let  my 
tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth."  His  great  soul 
(while  an  intense  Southerner)  embraced  our  whole  country, 
from  ocean  to  ocean  and  from  gulf  to  lakes. 

6.  Kepublican  Simplicity — He  had  a  supreme  contempt 
for  all  display  and  extravagance  in  dress,  equipage  and  build- 
jngs.  He  regarded  all  such  extravagance  as  criminal,  not 
only  because  it  wasted  money,  that  should  be  used  for  higher 
and  nobler  purposes,  but  tended  to  bribery,  corruption  and 
bankruptcy. 

Y.  Political  Honesty — He  would  sooner  have  put  his 
arm  in  the  fire  than  take  one  cent  by  fraud  from  the  ]')ublic 
treasury.  He  would  as  soon  have  defrauded  his  widowed 
mother  as  his  mother  country.  He  gave  his  blood,  his  toil, 
his  prayers  and  his  whole  life  to  his  mother  country,  and  died 
poor,  as  Thomas  Benton  says,  all  honest  public  men  should 
die.  But,  alas !  how  fearfully  we  have  apostatized !  Oh ! 
whither  are  our  millionaire  congressmen  driving  out  nation  ? 


586  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

But,  finally,  let  us  examine  still  more  intently  wkat 
were  the  causes  that  moulded  and  erected  those  seven  grand, 
golden  pillars,  on  which  rests  the  fame  of  Houston,  and  from 
which  it  will  grow  brighter  and  brighter  till  the  stars  grow 
dim.  But  I  entreat  you  to  beware  of  that  fearful  delusion,  that 
all  great  men  like  Houston,  ISTapoleon,  jSTewton  and  Columbus, 
were  born  great;  that  greatness  was  "thrust  upon  them,"  and 
that,  "if  we  fail  and  are  underlings,  our  stars  and  not  our- 
selves are  to  be  blamed."  The  true  history  is,  all  great  men 
reach  to  the  Alpine  heights  of  fame  and  greatness  by  intense 
toil.  It  is  a  fiat  of  fate,  "there  is  no  excellency  without  great 
labor,"  I  would  be  glad  if  some  great  painter  would  paint 
ISTapoleon  when  a  boy  at  Brienne,  lying  down  on  the  ground 
and  drawing  a  map  of  Europe  on  the  sand,  while  other  boys 
were  playing  marbles  or  ball.  These  same  maps  on  the  sand 
guided  him  in  his  invasion  of  Russia.  I  would  be  glad,  also, 
to  see  a  painting  of  Sam  Houston  lying  down  by  that  pine-knot 
fire  in  that  rude  country  store,  committing  to  memory  Pope's 
Iliad  of  Homer,  or  poring  over  Plutarch's  Lives,  while  other 
boys  were  chasing  foxes  over  the  mountains.  Ko  man  has  a 
profounder  sense  of  reliance  on  Providence  than  I  have;  yet 
Providence  only  helps  those  who  help  themselves.  Pro- 
foundly penetrated  with  this  great  truth,  let  us  trace  the  four 
great  causes  that  made  our  Houston  illustrious  and  will  make 
every  boy  in  Texas  great  and  illustrious,  who  follows  those 
same  rules. 

1.  First  of  all  his  mother,  whom  he  worshiped  and 
obeyed.  Poets  have  asked:  "What  is  home  without  a 
mother?"  The  patriot  and  philosopher  may  ask  with  deeper 
anxiety:  "^VTiat  is  a  nation  without  mothers?"  Houston, 
Washington,  Marion  and  all  great  men  owe  their  greatness  to 
mother.  "A  dewdrop  on  the  baby  plant  may  warp  the  giant 
oak  forever,  or  nourish  that  baby  plant  into  the  giant  oak  of 
the  forest."  Oh !  that  the  Lord  would  send  us  a  Luther,  a 
Calvin,  a  Wesley  and  a  Spurgeon  to  arouse  the  world  to  the 
importance  of  real  mothers.  One  such  mother  as  Mary  Wash- 
ington or  Mrs.  Houston  is  worth  a  whole  brigade  of  preaching 
or  political  "female  brethren." 

2.  The  second  great  formative  power  that  erected  these 
pillars  of  Houston's  greatness,  was  his  dear  old  teacher,  Dr. 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Bubleson.  587 

Anderson.  This  grand  old  man  quickened  into  intense  activ- 
ity and  molded  all  the  powers  of  his  soul.  He  caught  him  how 
to  think,  how  to  commune  with  his  own  soul,  with  books,  and 
above  all,  with  God,  the  father  of  light.  And,  next  to  pious 
mothers,  our  country  needs  great  teachers,  but  I  do  not  mean 
^'lesson  hearers,  time  killers  and  salary  grabbers."  These  are 
already  about  as  numerous  and  about  as  profitable  as  the  lo- 
custs of  Egypt. 

At  the  great  ISTational  Educational  Association  at  St.  Paul 
I  met  an  army  of  about  ten  thousand  teachers  representatives 
of  every  State  in  the  Union;  yet  I  fear  if  Socrates,  Anderson, 
Wayland,  or  our  own  Texas  McKenzie  had  been  there  they 
would  have  been  compelled  to  borrow  the  lamp  of  Diogones 
and  walk  through  that  mighty  army  crying:  "I  seek  a 
teacher;  who  can  show  me  a  teacher;  a  real  God  sent  teacher?" 
Elijah,  a  teacher  sent  from  God,  is  a  gi-and  model.  When  he 
would  restore  the  son  of  the  Shunamite  mother  to  life  he  lov- 
ingly put  his  hands  in  the  child's  hands,  his  feet  on  the  child's 
feet,  his  mouth  on  the  child's  mouth,  his  heart  on  tne  child's 
heart  and  prayed,  "Oh,  God,  let  this  child  live  again."  The 
boy  was  quickened  into  vigorous  life  and  flew  into  the  loving 
embrace  of  mother.  So  the  real  teacher  never  stands  upon  the 
stilts  of  normal  or  abnormal  methods,  nor  clothes  himself  with 
the  mantle  of  professional  dignity,  but  with  the  tender  love 
of  a  father  he  takes  the  student  by  the  hand,  places  his  mind, 
his  heart  and  his  whole  being  in  loving  sympathy  with  the 
student  and  thus  quickens  his  whole  being  into  activity.  A 
great  teacher  not  only  seeks  to  make  his  students  scholars, 
but  true  citizens  and  patriots  and  a  blessing  to  their  fellow- 
men,  and  to  elevate  them  to  usefulness  on  earth  and  glory  in 
heaven. 

General  Houston,  in  the  last  trying  hours  of  his  life, 
quoted  the  sayings  of  mother  and  Dr.  Anderson  more  than 
all  others,  and  he  longed  to  meet  that  angel  mother  and  his 
noble  teacher  in  that  "land  that  is  fairer  than  day." 

3.  The  third  cause  forming  his  great  character  was  his 
devotion  to  reading  good  books  and  the  "God  of  Books"  se- 
lected by  his  wise  teacher.  He  had  a  profound  disgust  for 
novels  and  sensational  reading  in  every  form,  whether  in  po- 
etry or  prose;  books  or  newspapers.     We  all  know  how  im- 


588  The  Life  and   Writings  of 

portant  to  health  and  strength  of  the  body  is  nutritious  foody 
but,  alas,  how  few  know  the  importance  of  healthy  and  abund- 
ant food  for  the  mind  and  soul. 

4.  But  the  crowning  glory  and  power  of  the  formative 
influences  was  his  firm  and  ever  abiding  faith  iii^od  as  an 
all-wise  and  ever  present  HeaA^enly  Father.  This  was  hi*^ 
anchor  of  hope  on  the  dark  and  stormy  ocean.  This  was  his- 
Gibralter  when  assailed  by  a  thousand  adversities.  Like  Lu- 
ther before  the  Diet  of  Worms,  he  said :  "On  this  firm  rock 
I  stand,  and  living  or  dying  all  will  be  well."  Oh,  that  these 
powerful  formative  influences  might  erect  seven  golden  pil- 
lars of  character  on  which  every  young  man  and  young  woman 
in  Texas  may  become  a  moral  temple  of  beauty  and  glory. 


GE^^ERAL  LAWRENCE  SULLIVAIS^  ROSS. 

A  TKUE  MODEL. 

All  Texas  is  mourning  for  our  noble  and  distinguished 
fellow-citizen,  General  Lawrence  Sullivan  Ross.  I  rejoice  to 
see  the  leading  journals  of  Texas  are  teeming  with  eulogies 
on  his  long,  varied  and  distinguished  success  as  a  citizen^ 
soldier,  governor  and  college  president,  all  of  which  positions 
he  filled  with  honor  to  himself  and  great  profit  to  the  whole 
State  of  Texas,  I  wish  to  present  him  briefly  as  a  model  for 
the  youth  of  Texas  and  the  South.  There  never  was  a  time 
when  Texas  and  the  South,  and  indeed  the  whole  world^ 
needed  great  and  good  men  more  than  at  the  present  hour. 
Longfellow  has  truly  said : 

"Lives  of  great  men  all  remind  ns, 
We  can  make  our  lives  sublime; 
And,  departing  leave  behind  us 
Foot-prints  on  tlie  sands  of  time. 

Therefore  the  youth,  especially  of  our  ov/n  land,  should 
study  profoundly  the  lives  of  such  good  and  great  men  as 
General  Ross.  General  Ross  was  born  at  Bentonsport,  Ohio^ 
in  1838.  'Next  year  his  father  came  to  Texas.  He  died  at 
the  A.  and  M.  College,  College  Station,  Texas,  on  the  third 


Dr.  Kufus  C.  BruLESox.  589 

■of  January,  1898,  amid  a  noble  arniv  of  loving  students  and 
professors.     I   have   known   General   Eoss   intimately  from 
boyhood  and  loved  him  tenderly.     In  18  5  G  he  entered  Baylor 
University.     He    was    then    eighteen  years    old.     He    was 
noted  for  modesty,  firmness,  good  nature,  a  clear,  well  bal- 
anced mind,  and  devotion  to,  duty.     His  record  in  Baylor 
will  show  that  he  never  received  a  single  demerit,  was  prompt 
in  every  duty  and  among  the  best  in  all  his  classes.     He  was 
especially  prompt  and  attentive  at  all  the  chapel  services,  and 
has  often  said  that  my  chapel  talks  and  clear  explanations  of 
Scripture  had  been  a  grand  inspiration  to  him  through  his 
whole  life.     In  a  great  revival  at  Independence  he  became 
deeply  concerned  about  religion,  but  his  roommates  were  all 
older  than  himself,  and  ridiculed  the  idea  of  boys  becoming 
Christians,  and  neither  his  parents  nor  the  family  where  he 
boarded  were  at  that  time  Christians.     !N"otwithstanding  all 
these  obstacles,  he  attended  the  meetings  every  night  and  was 
.an  earnest  listener  and  inquirer  after  the  way  of  salvation. 
One  night,  while  I  was  preaching  on  the  work  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  aiding  our  infirmities  and  leading  sinners  to  Jesu?, 
he  saw  and  joyfully  embraced  the  plan  of  salvation,  and  ac- 
cepted Jesus  as  his  Savior.     It  is  a  remarkable  and  joyful 
coincident  that  in  the  same  hall  and  very  near  the  same  spot 
General  Sam  Houston  was  converted  just  two  years  before, 
while  I  was  preaching  on  the  text,  "Except  ye  be  converted 
and  become  as  the  little  child  ye  cannot  enter  the  kingdom  of 
God."     But  as  all  his  roommates  and  family  r.ssociations  dis- 
couraged young  Ross  he  did  not  join  the  church.     But  while 
a  student  of  the  Wesleyan  University  at  Florence,  Alabama, 
his  Christian  hopes  and  evidences  brightened,  and  he  joined 
the  Methodist  church,  and  lived  a 'Christian  life,  amid  all  the 
varied  scenes  and  duties  of  life,  whether  on  the  battlefield  or 
in  the  governor's  chair,  or  in  college  halls.     And  when  the 
last  moment  came,  when  loved  ones  were  weeping  around 
him,  he  was  enabled  in  joyful  confidence  to  commit  his  de- 
voted wife  and  children  and  students  to  God,  and  say  "All  is 
Avell,  all  is  well,  I  will  soon  be  free  from  dl  pain,  and  in  the 
land  of  the  redeemed."     General  Ross,  like  our  illustrious 
General  R.  E.  Lee,  believed  "duty"  one  of  the  greatest  words 
in  the  English  language.     He  asked  every  day,  "what  is  my 


590  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

duty,  and  how  can  I  discharge  it  in  the  fear  of  God  and  for  the 
good  of  men,  and  glory  of  Texas."  He  devoted  all  his  being 
to  his  duty  as  a  son,  a  brother,  a  student,  a  citizen,  a  husband, 
a  father,  a  soldier,  a  governor  and  a  college  president.  In  all 
these  spheres  he  has  left  glorious  monuments  of  success  chat 
will  live  as  long  as  the  flowers  bloom  on  the  prairies  or  the 
waves  of  the  gulfs  dash  on  our  shores.  Lest  some  may  think 
my  love  and  admiration  for  Governor  Ross  leads  me  to  over- 
estimate his  devotion  to  duty,  I  will  give  one  illustration  while 
he  was  a  student  of  Baylor  University : 

One  night,  between  eleven  and  twelve  o'clock,  I  was 
making  my  usual  round  of  inspection.  As  I  got  near  the  room 
where  young  Ross  and  his  two  friends  boarded,  I  heard  a  tre- 
mendous noise,  scuffling  and  turning  over  of  chairs,  mingled 
with  bitter  oaths.  "I  will  cut  your  heart  out,"  and  "Xo,  you 
won't.  I  will  cool  you  off."  Looking  in  at  the  widow  I 
saw  his  two  roommates,  one  weighing  about  164  pounds  and 
the  other  about  90.  They  had  got  to  ccuffliug  after  they 
had  gone  to  bed,  and  the  big  one  had  kicked  the  little  one  out 
on  the  floor;  and  he,  taking  a  chair,  was  going  to  deal  ven- 
geance on  his  antagonist,  but  the  big  boy  had  thrown  him 
down  and  gotten  on  top  of  him  and  bumping  his  head  on  the 
floor  saying,  "I  will  cool  you  off;"  while  the  little  one,  with 
bitter  oaths,  said :  "I  will  cut  your  heart  out."  I  looked  on 
for  a  few  minutes,  thinking  young  Ross  would  certainly  in- 
terfere for  the  little  fellow  that  was  being  treated  so  rudely, 
but  he  sat  at  the  table  poring  over  his  lessons  just  as  intently 
as  if  all  was  as  still  as  a  May  morning.  After  looking  at  this 
imposition  of  a  big  boy  over  one  so  much  smaller,  I  found  T 
was  getting  ardent  and  felt  I  might  violate  one  of  my  great 
maxims  of  life,  "Never  get  mad,"  I  pushed  open  the  door, 
rushed  in,  took  the  big  boy  by  the  shirt  collar,  jerked  him  off, 
and,  having  no  "Solomon's  friend,"  I  used  my  left  hand  so 
vigorously  that  it  was  very  red  next  morning,  and  setting  him 
doAvn  in  a  chair,  I  said,  "Sir,  you  sit  there,"  and,  turning  to 
Mr.  Ross,  I  said :  "Mr.  Ross,  what  do  you  mean  by  allowing 
this  big  boy  to  impose  upon  that  little  fellow?"  He  rose  up 
with  as  much  dignity  as  when  he  was  inaugurated  governor, 
and  said:  "Dr.  Burleson,  please  excuse  me.  I  came  to 
Baylor  University  to  study.     I  want  to  stand  head  in  all  my 


Dk.  Eufus  C.  Burleson.  591 

classes;  my  friends  and  roommates  here  never  study;  they  are 
always  scuffling  and  fussing  about  something,  and  if  I  at- 
tempted to  settle  or  take  any  part  in  their  fusses  I  would  have 
no  time  to  study;  you  will,  therefore,  please  excuse  me."  I 
took  him  cordially  by  the  hand,  saying :  "That  is  right,  my 
dear  young  friend;  you  go  out  on  that  line  and  you  will  be 
governor  of  Texas  some  day,  and  I  will  vote  for  you,  and 
these  boys  will  go  to  ruin."  Young  Eoss  has  ?iot  only,  as  I 
predicted,  become  governor  of  Texas,  but  has  left  a  monu- 
ment of  glory  never  to  be  forgotten;  while  his  roommates 
have  become  sad  failures.  One  of  them,  while  carrying  a 
drove  of  beeves  to  St.  Louis,  one  night  while  camping  in  the 
Indian  Territory,  attempted  "to  cool  off"  .ome  of  the  drivers, 
and  they  chopped  open  his  skull  and  buried  him  and  herded 
the  beeves  over  his  grave.  Some  days  after  the  hogs  rooted 
up  his  body,  and  the  Indians  buried  him  as  an  unknown  cow- 
boy. Oh,  what  an  example,  young  men,  you  have  here  of 
the  two  paths,  one  leading  upward  to  honor  and  glory  on 
earth,  and  in  heaven,  while  the  other  leads  down  to  shame 
and  an  unknown  grave  and  lake  of  fire  and  eternal  burning. 
Which  path,  I  ask  in  God's  name,  will  you  follow?  But, 
while  with  General  Lee,  Governor  Koss  regarded  "duty"  as 
one  of  the  greatest  words  in  the  English  language,  he  be- 
lived,  with  Ben  Franklin,  that  good  humor  was  one  of  the 
noblest  characteristics  of  true  manhood.  And  he  cultivated 
good  humor  and  cheerfulness  at  all  times.  He  had  a  good 
word  and  pleasant  smile  on  all  occasions  for  even  the  humblest, 
white  or  black,  native  or  foreign.  He  was  equally  eminent  for 
firmness,  without  which  life  must  ever  be  a  failure.  Thou- 
sands of  men  who  mJght  have  made  life  a  grand  succes?  allow 
some  pleasure  to  bewitch  them  or  some  difficulty  to  turn 
them  away  from  duty  and  they  become  sad  failures.  iN'oth- 
ing  but  iron  firmness  and  indomitable  will  enabled  General 
Ross  to  meet  and  overcome  the  great  difficulties  confronting 
him  as  a  student,  as  a  soldier,  as  a  governor  and  as  a  college 
president.  But  his  firmness,  combined  with  good  humor,  en- 
abled him  to  overcome  great  difficulties  with  the  least  possi- 
ble friction  and  offense  to  his  opponents.  Another  great  ex- 
cellence of  Governor  Ross,  which  I  implore  all  young  men  to 
study  and  follow  at  any  and  every  sacrifice,  is  full  preparation 


592  The  Life  a:n'd  AVritixgs  of 

for  life's  great  duties.  Alas !  how  many  thousands  of  young 
men  and  young  ladies  do,  like  Ahimaaz,  run  before  they  get 
ready,  and,  after  outrunning  their  associates  for  a  while,  just 
at  the  crisis,  when  expecting  a  glorious  reward,  they  arc  com- 
pelled to  stand  aside  as  shameful  failures.  The  curse  of  this 
age  is  superficial  men  in  every  department  of  life;  thousands 
of  teachers,  preachers,  doctors,  lawyers,  engineers,  like  Ahi- 
maaz, are  rushing  into  their  professions  without  preparation. 
I  am  happy  to  know  that  General  Ross  has  said  that,  hearing 
one  of  my  chapel  talks  or  Bible  lessons  in  Baylor  University 
on  the  "terrible  failure  of  Ahimaaz,"  fired  liis  soul  with  a 
sublime  determination  to  get  ready  and  prepare  for  the  bat- 
tle of  life.  It  was  his  fixed  purpose  to  get  ready  that  in- 
duced him,  after  his  first  great  victory  over  the  Comanches  at 
Antelope  Hills,  and  v.diile  all  Texas  was  ringing  with  his 
praises,  to  go  back  to  the  Wesleyan  University  at  Florence, 
Ala.,  and  graduate.  It  should  be  remembered  that  it  was  his 
great  patriotic  devotion  to  Texas  that  induced  him  as  a  col- 
lege student,  at  home  during  vacation,  to  rush  forward  to 
meet  and  repel  the  Comanches.  General  Boss  also  gives  to 
the  youth  of  the  South  a  glorious  example  of  magnamity 
and  honor  in  never  supplanting  or  undermining  any  man. 
He  would  sooner  have  plucked  out  his  right  eye,  or  cut  off 
his  right  arm,  than  be  guilty  of  such  infinite  meanness.  He 
ever  cherished  the  golden  rule  of  our  Saviour,  "In  honor  pre- 
fer one  another."  Personal  ambition,  self-promotion  and  self- 
praise  are  the  fearful  sins  of  this  age.  Oh,  that  our  whole 
country  was  full  of  such  men  as  Governor  Boss.  Another  glo- 
rious excellence  of  our  lamented  friend  is  his  heroic  courage, 
that  never  faltered  in  the  hour  of  peril,  as  was  dmonstrated 
in  scores  and  hundreds  of  instances,  in  peace  and  war.  His 
courage  in  his  early  victories  over  the  Comanches  at  Antelope 
Hills  and  Wichita  Mountains,  his  heroism  displayed  in  so 
many  battles  during  the  Confederate  w^ar,  would  fill  a  vol- 
ume. I  have  only  time  and  spa-ce  here  to  say  that  his  cour- 
age and  skill  as  a  general  made  him  the  peer  of  Bobert  E. 
Xee,  Stonewall  Jackson,  Albert  Sidney  .Johnson  and  that 
;galaxy  of  heroes  that  adorn  our  Southland.  But  the  crowning 
.'glory  of  his  excellency  is  his  patriotism  or  love  of  Texas.  He 
could  say  from  the  depth  of  his  soul"If  I  prefer  not  the  glory 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  593 

of  Texas  to  mj  chief  joy,  let  my  right  hand  forget  her  cun- 
ning and  my  tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth.'"  Texas 
was  from  his  childhood  the  field  of  his  earliest  toils  and  ex- 
ploits, and  Texas  crowned  him  wath  his  highest  honors,  and  I 
rejoice  to  hear  that  all  Texas  will  join  in  erecting  a  grand 
monument  to  the  spotless  life,  the  heroic  devotion  and  the 
glorious  achievements  in  peace  and  war  of  Lawrence  Sulli- 
van Ross. 


SENATOR  RICHARD  COKE. 

This  illustrious  Texan  is  a  grand  model  for  all  the  youth 
of  our  beautiful  Southland  to  study  and  imitiite.  JSTo  young 
man  can  fail  of  honorable  success  who  will  study  profoundly 
and  follow  strictly  the  example  of  this  great  and  good  states- 
man. He  was  a  splendid  example  of  what  every  young  man 
can  do  by  hard  study,  by  tireless  industry  and  incorruptible 
integrity. 

Governor  Coke  was  not  endowed  by  nature  with  extraor- 
dinary talent,  wit  nor  eloquence,  but  was  endowed  with  the 
nobler  qualities,  of  strong  common  sense,  judgment  and  un- 
swerving integrity. 

He  was  descended  from  an  old  and  highly  honorable 
family  in  Virginia.  He  was  born  in  that  grand  old  State  in 
1829.  He  graduated  at  William  and  Mary's  College,  the 
second  oldest  college  in  the  United  States,  and  the  Alma  Ma- 
ter of  such  illustrious  men  as  Benjamin  Harrison,  Thomas 
Xelson,  Peyton  Randolph,  Thomas  Jefferson,  James  Monroe, 
John  Marshall,  Go-vernor  Tyler  and  a  host  of  other  groat  and 
good  men. 

After  graduating,  he  studied  law  profoundly,  and  when 
admitted  to  the  bar  he  came  to  Texas  and  settled  at  Waco,  in 
1850,  being  twenty-one  years  old.  He  secured  a  little  office 
on  "Bridge  street,"  and  went  vigorously  to  work.  He  made 
a.  solemn  vow  that  he  would  never  ^dsit  saloons,  play  cards, 
nor  visit  race  grounds. 

The  following  fact,  illustrating  his  character  and  emi- 
nently instructive  to  all  young  men,  is  told  of  him  in  that 
early  day:     A  wealthy  farmer  came  to  Waco  to  employ  a 

38 


594  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

lawyer  to  prosecute  a  land  suit  involving  several  thousand 
acres  of  land.  He  had  been  advised  to  employ  a  certain  bril- 
liant young  lawyer,  but  found  him  drunk  in  a  saloon.  He 
was  then  advised  to  employ  another  very  talented  young  law- 
ler,  but  after  a  long  hunt  he  found  him  in  a  billiard  hall  in 
a  very  hotly  contested  game  of  billiards.  He  went  back  to 
his  Waco  friend,  saying,  "1  will  be  ruined  if  I  lose  my  case, 
and  I  cannot  afford  to  entrust  it  to  any  lawyer  who  gets 
drunk  or  fools  away  his  time  in  billiard  saloons.  Do  all  of 
your  lawyers  get  drunk  or  play  billiards?"  His  friend  said: 
"'No,  there  is  a  young  fellow  here  that  never  does  either,  but 
he  spends  his  whole  time  plodding  over  his  law  books  in  his 
office."  The  farmer  said,  "He  is  my  man.  I  will  give  him 
my  case."  And  the  plodding  young  lawyer  gained  the  im- 
portant case  with  a  large  fee  and  the  lifelong  friendship  of 
the  old  farmer,  who  secured  him  many  other  land  cases  and 
helped  to  elect  him  governor.  But,  alas,  the  two  brilliant 
young  lawyers  made  utter  failures. 

The  industrious  young  lawyer,  very  fortunately,  at  this 
time  met  a  young  lady  of  rare  beauty,  modesty  and  refine- 
ment. The  young  Virginian  confessed  that  he  had  never 
seen  so  lovely  a  young  lady  as  Miss  Mary  Home,  the  daugh- 
ter of  Dr.  Home. 

By  hard  study  and  work  he  found  time  from  his  other 
suits  to  file  the  most  important  suit  of  his  life,  the  suit  for  the 
heart  and  hand  of  the  wealthy  farmer's  daughter.  The 
young  lady  readily  recognized  the  noble  heart  and  gre".t 
soul  of  the  young  Virginian,  and,  refusing  many  brilliant, 
fascinating  suitors,  she  gave  her  heart  and  hand  to  Richard 
Coke,  and  became  his  guiding  star  and  inspiration  till  his 
heart  ceased  to  beat.  May  14,  1897. 

Thus  happily  equipped,  the  young  lawyer  entered 
fully  the  battle  of  life.  Very  soon  his  devotion  to  duty,  his 
clear,  cool  judgment  and  reliability  were  universally  recog- 
nized and  admired.  He  was  deemed  capable  of  filling  any  po- 
sition, public  or  private.  He  never  sought  office,  but  was 
■  ever  ready  to  heed  the  call  of  his  fellow-citizons.  When  the 
dark,  stormy  clouds  of  Secession  darkened  our  horizon  in 
1861,  while  he  deeply  deplored  the  terrible  condition  of  things, 
he  shouldered  his  musket,  and  bidding  his  lovelv  wife  and 


Dr.  Rurus  C.  Burleson.  595 

children  good-bye  entered  the  ranks  as  a  private  soldier  in 
Colonel  Speight's  regiment.  His  great  worth  was  at  once 
recognized,  and  he  was  elected  Major.  He  performed  his 
duties  through  the  whole  war  with  great  courage  and  fidelity, 
never  shrinking  from  the  perils  of  battle,  however  fierce  and 
deadly. 

When  the  dark  storm  clouds  were  over,  he  returned  to 
his  beloved  home,  and  resolved  to  do  his  whole  duty  and  be 
an  honest,  faithful  citizen  of  the  United  States.  In  the  dark 
and  terrible  hour  of  reconstruction  his  clear  judgment  was 
sought  on  all  important  issues.  He  was  first,  in  1865,  ap- 
pointed District  Judge.  Then  he  was  elected  as  one  of  the 
Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court.  In  1873  he  was  elected  Gov- 
ernor over  the  unfortunate  and  ill-fated  E.  J.  Davis.  In 
1876  he  was  re-elected  by  an  overwhelming  majority.  A  few 
days  after  his  inauguration  he  was  elected  to  the  United 
States  Senate,  which  office  he  held  until  1895,  when  his  fee- 
ble health  demanded  that  he  should  retire  to  the  privacy  of 
home  life. 

In  all  of  these  various  and  important  duties  he  displayed 
his  splendid  talent,  his  undying  courage  and  his  immaculate 
honesty. 


THE  MIRAGE  lisT  TEXAS. 

It  is  remarkable  how  few  writers  of  Texas  history  and 
scenery  have  described  this  beautiful  phenomenon  in  Texas. 

Mirage  is  a  French  word,  meaning  wonderful,  and  it  is 
truly  wonderful.  It  is  often  seen  and  accurately  described  in 
the  deserts  of  Africa.  Job  called  it  the  "Deceitful  Daughter 
of  the  Desert."  Philosophers  tell  us  it  is  produced  by  a  re- 
fraction of  the  sun's  rays  falling  on  a  strata  of  denser  air, 
usually  near  some  lake,  river  or  sea. 

The  refraction  of  the  rays,  reflected  on  the  denser,  humid 
air,  sometimes  presents  the  appearanc  of  a  bautiful  lake  of 
water.  And  it  usually  magnifies  all  objects  four-fold.  Some- 
times presenting  them  in  an  inverted  position. 

This  illusion  was  so  perfect  that  during  ISTapoleon's  inva- 
sion of  Egypt  his  men  were  sure  that  they  saw  beautiful  lakes 


596  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

of  water,  and,  breaking  ranks,  rushed  to  what  thej  thought 
was  lakes  of  water;  but,  alas,  it  was  only  the  mirage  or  Job's 
^'Deceitful  Daughter  of  the  Desert." 

That  this  illusion  might  not  deceive  travelers,  the 
scientist,  Monge,  wrote  a  very  learned  description  of  the 
mirage  and  its  cause. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  first  time  that  I  ever  saw  the 
mirage.  I  had  been  in  Texas  nearly  three  years,  but  had  never 
lieard  that  this  remarkable  phenomenon  was  visible  in  Texas. 

In  1850  I  was  going  from  Houston  to  AVharton  to  aid 
the  pastor.  Rev.  ISToa-h  Hill,  in  a  protracted  meeting.  As  it 
was  an  overflow  year,  the  whole  country  was  flooded.  Oyster 
creek,  Brazos  river  and  San  Bernard  were  all  overflowed,  I 
— swam  Oyster  creek  and  the  sloughs  on  both  sides,  and,  my 
feet  being  wet  all  day,  I  had  taken  a  terrible  cold  and  a  fever 
in  my  head.  And  on  the  vast  prairie  between  Richmond  and 
San  Bernard  I  saw  great  lakes  which  disappeared  as  T  came 
near  them.  I  was  amazed,  and  more  so  when  I  saw  the  cows 
and  wolves  on  the  prairie  fifteen  and  twenty  and  even  twenty- 
five  feet  high.  I  feared  the  burning  fever  in  my  head  had 
deranged  all  my  senses  and  might  dethrone  reason  and  leave 
me  all  alone  on  that  vast  prairie  amid  the  enormous  cattle  and 
wolves.  It  was  an  awful,  solemn  moment.  As  I  rode  along 
I  tested  my  mental  faculties  by  repeating  a  number  of  pass- 
ages in  Virgil  and  Homer  and  other  favorite  authors. 

I  reviewed  also  some  sermons  on  difficult  subjects,  and 
found  my  mind  unusually  clear.  After  a  few  miles  I  saw 
Duncan's  ranch.  But  all  the  buildings  were  forty  or  fifty 
feet  high,  till  I  got  near  them  when  they  resumed  their  real 
size. 

I  fortunately  met  a  bright  shepherd  boy  16  or  17  years 
old.  I  said  "My  young  friend,  what  kind  of  cows  and  wolves 
are  these  that  you  have  out  here  on  the  prairie?" 

"O  Massy,  dej  is  jest  de  common  sort." 

I  asked  him  what  made  them  look  so  big  till  you  get  near 
them,  when  they  are  the  natural  size. 

"Oh,  dey  is  jest  loomin'  when  dey  do  dat." 

I  could  but  laugh,  for  I  never  before  realized  what  loom- 
ins:  meant.  I  then  said  "what  about  those  beautiful  lakes  of 
water  that  I  saw  on  the  prairie." 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Buelesox.  597 

He  laughed  heartily  and  said,  "God  bless  your  soul 
Massy,  dey  is  nothing  at  all,  dey  just  makes  out  like  dey  is 
something,  just  to  fool  people.  Massy,  you  just  ought  to  have 
seen  how  they  fooled  Jake  when  Massy  first  brought  him  from 
Old  Virginia  to  help  me  herd  cattle.  Jake  and  me  was  herd- 
in'  cattle  on  the  prairie  and  he  wanted  a  drink  and  said,  ^I 
will  run  over  to  that  lake  and  get  a  drink.'  I  told  him  there 
was  no  water  in  it,  but  he  declared  he  saw  it  with  his  own 
eyes;  then  he  galloped  over  there  and  found  nothing  at  all; 
then  he  seed  it  in  an  another  place  and  he  run  over  there,  but 
it  was  gone.  He  then  seed  it  over  on  the  Bernard,  and  it  was 
not  there,  and  he  came  runnin'  back  scared,  and  said  'I  do 
believe  dis  country  is  hanted,  and  I  am  going  to  beg  Massy 
to  carry  me  back  to  Old  Virginy." 

I  give  this  experience  of  Jake  and  myself  to  shov/  what 
a  complete  optical  illusion  the  Mirage  is.  When  I  reached 
Wharton,  I  told  my  dear  old  friend  and  brother,  GoA'-emor 
Horton,  of  my  experience,  and  found  that  liis  was  very  similar 
to  mine. 

It  is  worth  a  trip  to  the  coast  country,  especially  the  Ber- 
nard Valley,  to  see  the  Mirage  of  Texas. 

But  as  God  created  everything  for  some  purpose,  for  what 
purpose  was  the  Mirage  created  ?  I  think  it  may  be  to  teach 
all  men,  especially  the  young,  to  beware  of  things  that  look  so 
beautiful  in  the  future,  but  when  approached  they  vanish  into 
thin  air. 

Oh,  how  many  young  people,  like  Jake,  waste  their  livei 
in  chasing  phantoms  of  wealth,  political  fame,  social  favor 
and  the  other  modern  mirages,  when  they  should  only  seek 
what  they  know  to  be  real  and  abiding. 


AN"    EARLY    TEXAS    MISSIONARY    ^MONG    THE 

WOLVES. 

I  will  give  in  this  article,  a  =;prious  adventure  I  had 
among  the  wolves  one  night  in  1849.  I  was  then  pastor  at 
Houston  and  was  to  preach  the  introductory  sermon  before  the 
Union  Baptist  Association  that  met  at  Huntsville,  seventy- 


598  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

five  miles  from  Houston.  I  left  on  Wednesday  morning  and 
rode  on  horseback  thirty-five  miles.  I  spent  the  first  night 
with  Mr.  Arnold,  a  highly  intelligent,  wealthy  Methodist 
brother.  The  next  day  I  had  forty  miles  to  travel,  and  at  the 
breakfast  table.  Brother  Arnold  said  to  his  good  wife,  "Mrs. 
Arnold,  there  is  not  a  single  house  between  Montgomery  and 
Huntsville,  a  distance  of  twenty-five  miles,  and  Brother  Burle- 
son will  get  no  dinner  unless  you  put  him  up  a  lunch,  and  I 
see  he  is  fond  of  mutton."  And  the  good  lady  put  me  up  a 
"Benjamin's  portion"  of  the  good  fat  mutton  on  the  breakfast 
table. 

After  riding  fifteen  miles  I  reached  Montgomery  county. 
I  learned  a  Baptist  lady  had  recently  settled  there,  and  in  those 
days,  Baptists  being  so  scarce,  only  1,900  in  Texas,  when  the 
missionaries  heard  of  a  Baptist  in  a  destitute  town  they  always 
"rounded  him  up,"  as  stock  men  say  of  stock  on  the  range. 
So  I  called  to  see  this  Baptist  lady  and  was  delighted  to  find 
her  an  elegant  Christian  lady  from  Tuscaloosa,  Alabama,  the 
wife  of  Colonel  Aaron  Shannon,  a  wealthy  farmer,  and  also  a 
devoted  friend  of  Dr.  Basil  Manly,  president  of  the  Alabama 
University.  She  was  rejoiced  to  see  a  Baptist  preacher,  and 
was  longing  to  have  regular  preaching  and  a  church  organized 
in  Montgomery.  She  had  a  large  family  of  intelligent  chil- 
dren; the  eldest  daughter  was  grown,  thoroughly  educated  and 
performed  well  on  the  piano.  Very  soon  she  Laid,  "Brother 
Burleson,  there  is  another  Baptist  lady,  Mrs.  Dr.  Arnold,  just 
settled  in  Montgomery  from  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  and 
she  is  so  anxious  to  see  a  Baptist  preacher,  I  will  send  over 
for  her  and  she  will  come  and  we  will  all  be  together."  I 
said,  "I  would  rejoice  to  see  the  lady,  but  must  get  to  Hunts- 
ville to-night,  and  it  is  twenty-five  miles  distant,  and  I  have 
been  told  that  I  must  get  through  the  Big  Thicket  and  San 
Jacinto  bottom  before  dark,  or  I  will  be  "swamped."  Soon 
the  lady  came  and  I  found  her  to  be  a  Baptist  of  great  piety 
and  intelligence.  She  knew  my  dear  old  president,  Dr.  R.  E. 
Pattison,  when  he  was  pastor  at  Pro\ddencej  Rhode  Island, 
and  of  course  loved  him  ardently,  as  all  Christians  did.  He 
was  my  beloved  president  while  a  student  of  the  Western 
Baptist  Theological  Institute  at  Covington,  Kentucky.  She 
also  knew  and  esteemed  highly  my  old  Professor  Dr.  Ezekial 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burlesox.  590 

J.  Eobinson,  associated  with  Dr.  Pattison  in  the  Theological 
Seminary.  She  was  delighted  to  meet  one  far  awav  in  Texas, 
who  knew  these  great  good  men.  And  Mrs.  Shannon  was 
equally  delighted  to  find  that  I  knew  so  well  her  favorite  Dr. 
Manly.  We  were  all  delighted  to  talk  over  the  noble  Christian 
excellency  of  those  we  had  loved  so  well  in  former  days.  But 
while  we  talked,  time  flew,  and  I  reminded  tlie  ladies  that  I 
had  twenty-five  miles  to  ride  that  evening,  and  had  been  told 
that  I  must  get  through  the  Big  Thicket  and  San  Jacinto  bot- 
tom before  dark  or  I  would  be  "swamped."  But  they  said,  Oh, 
you  must  stay  till  after  dinner,  it  is  sueh  a  treat  to  meet  a 
Baptist  preacher,  especially  one  who  knows  so  intimately  Drs. 
Manly,  Pattison  and  Robinson. 

The  young  lady  added  additional  attractions  by  some 
beautiful  songs  and  music  on  the  piano,  that  had  charmed 
me  in  my  college  days.  And  though  I  knew  I  ought  to  be 
going,  I  was  persuaded  to  stay  till  after  dinner,  for  which  I 
was  sorry  to  see  they  were  making  very  special  preparation. 
And  after  the  dinner,  the  young  lady,  waving  her  beautiful 
curls,  said,  "Mr.  Burleson,  I  want  you  to  explain  some  things 
in  the  Bible,  about  fore-knowledge  and  pre-destination, 
also  some  passages  in  Romans  and  Revelation.  I  knew  I  was 
doing  wrong  to  stay  any  longer,  but  as  I  had  never  at  that  time 
seen  Mrs.  Burleson,  the  waving  curls,  bright  eyes  and  soft 
voice  prevailed.  After  answering  as  best  I  could,  these  deep 
and  profound  questions  on  theology,  and  as  1  was  hurrying 
away,  the  ladies  kindly  said,  "Brother  Burleson,  if  you  will 
take  a  nigh  cut  through  the  Big  Thicket,  you  can  save  six 
miles;  the  people  on  horseback  often  take  that  nigh  cut,  rather 
than  go  the  wagon  road  which  is  six  miles  furl  her."  I  gladly 
accepted  the  suggestion  "to  take  the  nigh  cut."  For  two 
miles  through  the  prairie,  and  three  miles  through  the  timber, 
it  was  a  plain,  well  traveled  road,  being  used  for  hauling 
timber,  but  beyond  that  point  the  road  wa?  blockaded  by 
immense  pine  logs,  blown  down  by  a  fearful  tornado  that 
swept  over  that  coimtry  a  few  years  before  and  caused  the  road 
to  be  abandonded. 

This  fact  the  ladies  had  forgotten  or  perchance  had  never 
known.  But  under  whip  and  spur  I  forced  my  horse  to  leap 
over  these  immense  pine  logs,  across  the  dim  road. 


600  The  Life  and  "Writings  of 

Sometimes  the  logs  were  too  large  to  leap  over  and  I 
had  to  force  my  horse  through  briers  and  thorns,  and  tore  my 
Sunday  pants.  But  I  made  all  the  speed  possible,  eager  to 
get  through  San  Jacinto  and  out  of  the  Big  Thicket  before 
dark. 

But,  alas,  "the  way  of  transgression  is  always  hard,"  and 
before  I  reached  San  Jacinto  bottom,  having  been  so  delayed 
in  leaping  over  immense  logs  and  forcing  niy  way  through 
thorns  and  briers,  it  was  dark,  so  dark  I  could  not  see  the  road, 
and  my  poor  horse,  tired  and  sweating,  either  could  not  or 
would  not  keep  the  path  and  I  soon  found  I  was  out  of  the  road 
and  tangled  up  amid  thick  brush  and  vines.  But  I  felt  my  way 
back  into  the  dim  track,  only  to  find  very  soon  that  I  was 
again  out  among  thick  bushes.  I  said  to  myself,  '"if  I  wander 
away  from  the  road  in  this  dense  thicket,  I  may  not  be  able 
to  find  my  way  back  afall,  so  I  will  stop  and  rest  till  the  moon 
rises,  which  I  knew  would  be  about  11  o'clock  that  night. 

I  sat  by  a  large  Sycamore  tree  and  reflected  on  allowing 
dear,  good  ladies  to  persuade  me  to  do  that  which  I  knew  I 
ought  not  to  do,  and  then  to  tell  me  to  take  a  "nigh  cut."  I 
remembered  -with  sadness  how  often  I  had  learned  in  child- 
hood and  boyhood  the  evils  of  doing  wrong,  Rud  then  taking 
a  "nigh  cut." 

But  while  I  was  reflecting  on  the  folly  and  evil  of  taking 
a  "nigh  cut,"  I  heard  the  terrible  howl  of  a  wolf.  T  said  'that 
is  lonely.'  But  it  was  lonely  not  long,  for  soon  another  howled, 
and  then  another,  and  it  seemed  to  me  there  were  at  least 
fifty  joining  in  the  fearful  howling.  But  there  may  not  have 
been  more  than  a  dozen,  as  it  is  a  well  known  fact  that  one 
wolf,  either  in  religion  or  politics,  will  make  more  noise  than 
a  dozen  honest  curs.  And  their  howling  was  more  hideous  to 
me  because  they  were  coming  nearer  and  nearer,  no  doubt 
smelling  the  ample  supply  of  mutton  which  good  Sister 
Arnold  had  put  up  for  my  dinner. 

I  remembered  that  Daniel  in  the  lion's  den,  and  Paul, 
when  he  fought  with  wild  beasts  at  Ephesus,  prayed.  And  I 
followed  their  example.  And,  kneeling  down,  I  prayed  for 
God's  protection  against  the  wild  beasts  of  that  dark  forest 
and  promised  Him  solemnly  that  I  would  never  again  be 
guilty  of  the  folly  of  letting  ladies,  young  or  old,  or  preachers, 


De.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  601 

or  any  living  being,  persuade  me  to  do  wrong  and  then  take 
a  "nigh  cut." 

But  while  I  was  thus  praying  I  heard  a  wolf  coming 
through  the  thick  cane-breaks  near  the  road. 

I  then  remembered  the  Bible  said,  "Watch  as  well  as 
pray."  I  knew  also  that  men  and  devils  and  wild  beast--  were 
afraid  of  a  brave  man,  so  I  resolved  to  be  brave. 

I  also  remembered  that  it  had  been  said  that  music  would 
even  charm  wild  beasts,  so  I  concluded  I  would  sing,  and  I 
sang  with  a  loud  voice  my  favorite  songs : 

"How  firm  a  foundation  ye  saints  of  the  Lord  is  laid  for  your  faitli 

in  His  excellent  word." 
'Tis  religion  that  can  give  sweetest  J3leasures  while  we  live,  'tis 

religion  must  supply  solid  comfort  when  we  die." 

I  thought  at  one  time  that  I  would  climb  the  Sycamore, 
but  remembered  that  in  the  dense  forest  I  migJit  have  to 
remain  up  in  that  Sycamore  much  longer  than  Zaccheus  did, 
and  besides  I  felt  it  would  be  cruel  to  leave  my  horse  that 
had  been  guilty  of  no  wrong,  to  be  devoured  by  the  wolves. 

I  also  thought  that  I  would  give  them  the  mutton  that 
my  good  sister  put  up  for  my  lunch,  but  I  knew  that  the 
mutton  would  not  be  even  a  taste  for  all  of  them,  and  they 
might  conclude  to  make  out  their  supper  on  goat  meat,  in 
which  case  the  erring  Texas  missionary  would  fare  badly. 

So  I  continued  to  pray,  and  watch  and  sing,  but  when  I 
came  to  that  verse,  "The  soul  that  on  Jesus  hath  leaned  for 
repose,  that  soul  though  all  hell  should  endeavor  to  shake,  I 
will  never,  no  never  forsake." 

I  could  but  feel  that  dark  night  in  the  San  Jacinto  bot- 
tom, among  the  Texas  wolves,  that  my  foundation  was  a  little 
shaky.  But  I  continued  praying,  watching,  nnd  singing  till 
11  o'clock,  when  the  moon  rose  clear  and  cloudless. 

Being  able  to  see  the  dim  path-way,  I  thought  T  would 
put  whip  to  my  horse  and  make  good  speed;  but  then  I  re- 
membered the  value  of  courage  and  I  rode  quietly  along 
singing  loud,  "How  firm  a  foundation  ye  saints  of  the  Lord." 

After  traveling  some  distance  through  this  dense  bottom, 
I  came  to  San  Jacinto  river,  made  ever  glorious  by  the  deliver- 
ance of  Texas  from  the  bondage  of  Mexico  at  the  battle  of 


602  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

San  Jacinto  in  1836,  and  that  night,  memorable  by  my  de- 
liverance. 

Soon  I  saw  the  dim  light  of  a  dwelling  and  soon  heard 
the  barking  of  dogs,  which  was  sweet  music  compared  to  the 
howling  of  the  wolves.  I  rode  up  to  the  gate  and  called  "hel- 
lo," there  was  no  reply  but  the  loud  barking  of  the  dogs. 
I  cried  "hello"  again.  I  then  heard  a  low  solemn  voice  of  an 
old  man  exclaiming,  "Oh,  Lord,  have  mercy.  Oh,  Lord  have 
mercy."  I  called  again,  but  only  heard  that  solemn  response. 
Oh,  Lord !  I  said,  'is  it  possible  that  Indians  and  robbers  have 
murdered  everybody  else  and  left  only  one  old  man ! 

I  got  off  my  horse,  and  fighting  my  way  through  the 
barking  dogs,  I  went  to  the  open  door,  and  there  was  a  ven- 
erable old  man,  nearly  eighty  years  old,  kneeling  down  with 
a  large  family  of  children  and  grandchildren,  kneeling 
around  him.  As  soon  as  he  said  Amen,  two  of  his  sons 
arose,  and  coming  to  the  door  said,  "Please  excuse  us,  we 
make  it  the  rule  of  our  lives,  never  to  interrupt  father',?  pray- 
ers, and  he  was  deaf  and  did  not  hear  you,  and  we  could  not 
interrupt  his  prayer." 

I  soon  found  it  was  that  grand  old  pioneer  and  pillar  in 
the  Methodist  church — Robertson,  whom  I  had  met  and 
known  so  favorably  during  the  glorious  revival  at  Huntsville 
in  1848. 

He  with  his  family  had  returned  from  a  Methodist  meet- 
ing at  the  Methodist  church,  near  his  house,  and  it  had  been 
his  custom  for  forty  years  never  to  omit  family  prayer,  and 
though  it  was  nearly  12  o'clock,  they  were  thus  engaged. 

They  gave  me  a  joyful  reception  and  expressed  profound 
sympathy  for  my  terrible  ordeal  amid  the  wolves  and  dense 
forest  of  Big  Thicket  and  the  San  Jacinto  bottom. 

The  lesson  I  learned  that  night  I  have  romemberod  dis- 
tinctly for  fifty  years  and  have  often  used  it  in  my  lectures 
to  the  young  in  Sabbath  schools  and  chapel  ser\dces ;  to  beware 
of  taking  "nigh  cuts,"  and  especially  of  letting  anybody  on 
earth,  male  or  female,  saint  or  sinner,  persuade  you  to  do 
wrong,  and  then  tell  you  to  take  a  "nigh  cut." 

And  I  beg  the  readers,  especially  the  young,  to  beware 
of  taking  a  nigh  cut,  either  in  education  moral?  or  business. 


PART  V. 


DR.  BURLESON  AS  A  PREACHER. 

WITH  SELECTED  SERMONS. 


De.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  607 


DR.  BURLESON  AS  A  PREACHER. 


WITH  SELECTED  SERMONS. 


BUELESON  AS  A  PREACHER. 
By  W.  B.  Denson. 

That  some  men  are  called  by  God  to  preach  his  gospel 
there  can  be  no  question;  that  he  places  his  stamp  in  their 
forehead  and  His  signet  ring  upon  their  fingers  there  can  be 
no  doubt.  When  He  calls  them  to  proclaim  His  message  to 
a  lost  world,  it  would  seem  there  could  be  no  mistake  as  to  the 
commission. 

The  presence,  the  power,  the  approval,  the  sustaining- 
force  of  God,  move  some  preachers  forward  to  such  crowning 
success  that  we  see  God's  hand  in  it  all.  Dr.  Rufus  C. 
Burleson  was  one  of  these. 

Until  he  was  nineteen  years  of  age,  Dr.  Burleson  had  a 
consuming  ambition  to  become  a  distinguished  lawyer  and 
brilliant  orator. 

His  youthful  spirit  heard  down  the  years  the  applause  of 
admiring-  Senates  and  the  huzzahs  of  the  multitude  as  they 
cheered  his  successes. 

But  on  one  occasiouj  when  he  heard  the  ministry  of  his 
own  and  his  father's  church  berated  for  their  ignorance,  God 
moved  him  to  pledge  his  splendid  talents  to  the  uplifting  of 
the  ministry  of  the  Baptist  Church  and  to  the  saving  of  lost 
men.  How  sacredly  he  kept  that  pledge  men  and  angels  can 
witness  to-day.  The  hundreds  of  young  ministers  whom  he 
educated  free  of  charge  at  Baylor  University,  and  who  to-day 


608  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

stand  as  a  mighty  phalanx  for  God  on  the  watch  towers  of 
Zion,  many  with  thorough  classical  education,  are  monuments 
more  enduring  than  marble  to  his  wonderful  life  work. 

As  a  minister  of  the  gospel  he  came  to  Texas.  He  relates 
that  after  landing  in  Galveston  he  wandered  down  to  the  sea 
beach,  and  while  he  watched  the  waves  breaking  upon  the 
shore,  and  heard  the  murmuring  of  many  voices  telling  of  the 
romantic  chivalry  of  the  young  Republic,  which  had  just  put 
on  her  statehood,  he  knelt  down  upon  that  beach,  and  as  John 
Knox  prayed  to  God,  "Give  me  Scotland  or  I  die,"  so  he 
prayed,  "Give  me  Texas  for  Jesus  or  I  die."  From  that 
moment  began  a  career  unparalleled  for  usefulness  in  all  this 
land.  How  like  the  knightly  Knox  was  he  in  all  his  after  life. 
With  measureless  faith  in  God  and  courage  undaunted,  he 
blazed  out  a  straight  patway  to  glorious  distinction. 

He  learned  in  his  early  ministry  the  great  fact  that 
preaching  is  vain  unless  the  hearts  of  the  hearers  are  reached 
and  moved  by  a  magnetic  touch. 

To  be  a  wise  and  thorough  teacher  of  God's  word;  to  con- 
Tince  the  mind  of  man  of  his  relation  and  responsibility  to 
God  is  one  of  the  indispensible  powers  of  a  great  preacher. 
Without  this  there  can  be  no  great  force  or  lasting  good  in  the 
proclamation  of  the  gospel.  There  are  few  men  so  far  from 
the  kingdom  of  God  who  will  refuse  to  be  shown,  as  an  intel- 
lectual pleasure,  the  beautiful  stairway  to  heaven.  But,  oh! 
how  few  can  be  moved  to  walk  in  that  way.  To  draw  men 
out  of  the  rut  in  which  they  have  long  traveled,  to  change  the 
whole  current  of  their  lives,  requires  the  co-operation  of  two 
mighty  forces. 

First.     That  the  duty  and  way  shall  be  made  plain. 

Second.  That  the  heart  shall  be  melted  and  its  fountains 
broken  up. 

Dr.  Burleson  had  a  remarkable  memory.  He  not  only 
remembered  Scripture,  history  and  poetry,  men  and  women, 
their  names  and  faces,  but  he  knew  the  family  history  of 
thousands  of  Texans,  and  this  familiarity  with  their  ante- 
cedents made  him  the  friend  of  all  those  with  whom  he  came 
in  contact.  He  carried  with  him  a  great  storehouse  of  apt 
and  forcible  illustrations,  which  gave  to  his  every  sermon 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Bukleson.  609 

singular  power  and  persuasion.  He  learned  from  the  peerless 
Gallilean  preacher  the  force  of  apt  illustrations. 

Dr.  Burleson  was  a  classical  scholar  of  high  order,  yet 
his  seraions  abounded  in  the  simplest,  purest  language. 
When  I  first  knew  him  he  was  full  of  intense  enthusiasm,  and 
carried  into  every  sermon  the  fervor  of  a  soul  on  fire.  Gifted 
in  an  eminent  degree  with  the  highest  order  of  eloquence, 
impassioned  and  earnest  in  his  delivery,  he  bore  down  upon 
his  subject  with  such  dashing  force  that  he  became  the  admi- 
ration and  delight  of  every  audience. 

In  his  early  ministry  he  was  particularly  fond  of  holding 
revival  meetings.  In  them  he  was  wonderfully  strong  with 
God  and  man.  Sound  in  doctrine,  with  a  thorough  theo- 
logical training,  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  with  a  commanding  presence,  with  a  keen  black 
eye  which  charmed,  a  ringing,  eloquent  voice  which  moved 
and  stirred  the  souls  of  men,  he  carried  captive  his  hearers, 
and  they  were  borne  irresistibly  to  his  conclusions  and  charmed 
to  follow  where  he  led. 

At  Independence,  in  Washington  County  of  this  State, 
I  heard  him  preach  through  four  successive  years,  from  the 
beginning  of  the  year  1854  to  the  close  of  1857. 

His  audiences  were  learned  and  cultivated,  the  profes- 
sors of  both  the  male  and  female  departments  of  Baylor  Uni- 
versity, General  Sam  Houston,  Justice  Wheeler  of  the 
-Supreme  Court  of  Texas,  and  others  of  the  same  kind,  made 
up  his  congregations.  All  over  Texas  judges,  lawyers  and 
statesmen,  as  well  as  the  plain  people,  hung  upon  his  lips  as 
he  unfolded  the  great  plan  of  salvation. 

He  never  failed  to  instruct  and  delight  the  young  people, 
for  all  of  whom  he  had  a  father's  love,  and  he  carried  thou- 
sands of  them,  bound  ^vith  chains  of  love,  to  his  Master's  feet. 

Though  he  possessed  a  high  order  of  reverence,  he  had 
a  keen  sense  of  the  ridiculous,  which  never  escaped  him,  and 
out  of  which  came  a  wealth  of  refined  merriment.  This  ele- 
ment of  his  character  gave  a  zest  and  freshness  to  his  sermons, 
always  interesting.  I  remember  to  have  heard  him  preach  a 
sermon  about  1855  upon  the  judgment.  It  was  one  of  the 
master  efforts  of  his  life.  Its  beauties  and  its  terrors  will 
linger  with  me  to  the  last  day  of  my  life,  and  when  I  stand  in 

39 


610  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

that  day  of  reckoning  before  the  Master  I  expect  to  go  back 
to  that  sermon.  He  assembled  a  countless  host  before  the 
judgment  bar  of  God;  the  seal  of  the  great  book  is  broken; 
the  record  of  every  life  is  manifest;  proclamation  of  the  final 
decrees  of  life  and  death  is  made  by  God  Himself.  He  por- 
trayed that  wonderful  panorama  around  the  throne  of  God  as 
the  great  Belgic  artist,  "Weirtz,  pictured  the  "Final  Triumph 
of  Christ,"  which  I  saw  in  the  art  gallery  of  Brussels,  Bel- 
gium, and  in  which  it  seemed  the  glory  of  the  universe  was 
focused  in  his  face. 

In  every  sermon  he  had  a  distinctive  purpose,  well  defined 
and  clearly  cut.  He  thought  for  himself  and  had  the  courage 
of  his  convictions,  though  he  had  little  patience  with  what  is 
known  as  "progressive  Christianity." 

His  first  sermon,  preached  at  Covington,  Kentucky,  June 
10th,  1847,  upon  "The  Minis1;ry  of  Angels,"  shows  that  he 
read  the  Bible  for  himself,  that  he  construed  it  by  his  own 
intelligence,  and  stood  firmly  by  the  law  once  given  to  the 
saints  without  subtraction  or  addition.  The  pulpit  was  not  his 
place  for  exhibiting  his  learning,  but  for  '^preaching  Christ 
and  him  crucified,"  ever  clinging  to  the  cross  and  a  risen 
Savior. 

Statesmen,  judges,  professional  men  crowded  his  con- 
gregations. Under  his  preaching,  General  Sam  Houston,  the 
Father  of  Texas,  was  convicted  and  converted,  and  as  a  little 
child  this  old  warrior  was  led  by  Dr.  Burleson  down  into  the 
water  and  baptized  as  Jesus  was,  and  the  grim  old  hero  became 
a  beautiful  Christian. 

Under  his  preaching  I,  too,  was  led  to  Christ,  and  by  him 
baptized.  And  possibly  I  ought  to  be  able  feebly,  but  imper- 
fectly, to  describe  the  magnetic  power  with  which  this  great 
preacher  moved  the  hearts  of  the  people  to  reach  up  after  God 
and  to  cry  out,  "What  must  I  do  to  be  saved?"  I  can  never 
forget  that  great  meeting  in  October,  1854,  at  Independence, 
when  he  led  a  vast  company  of  us  (his  students)  to  Christ. 
Happy  memories ! 

"When  Heaven  came  clown  our  souls  to  greet 
And  glory  crowned  the  mercy  seat." 

Twenty-three  years  afterward  he  assisted  in  my  ordina- 
tion as  a  deacon  at  Galveston,  Texas,  and,  with  his  hand  upon 


Dr.  Eufus  C.  Bukleson.  611 

my  head,  with  tears  of  joy  running  down  his  face,  he  asked 
God  to  bless  and  make  useful  the  life  of  his  old  student.  So 
he  was,  indeed,  my  father  in  Israel;  and  when  I  reach  that 
better  land,  he  and  my  angel  mother,  whom  he  loved  so  well, 
will  be  standing  together  on  the  shore  to  greet  me.  And,  oh, 
what  a  host  he  will  welcome  there,  who  will  tell  the  Master 
how  he  plead  His  cause  while  he  lived  on  earth. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  sermon  of  his  life  was  that  on  "Fam- 
ily Government" — a  master  production.  In  it  he  brings  to 
his  aid  his  vast  and  varied  experiences  with  youth  as  President 
of  Baylor  University.  Around  it  he  concentrates  the  wisdom 
of  sages  and  prophets,  and,  seemingly  by  inspiration,  he  points 
the  parent  along  the  rugged  way  of  training  and  discipline, 
and  shows,  oh,  so  clearly,  where  affectionate  tenderness  ends 
and  where  stern  duty  begins.  He  touches  the  keynote  of  our 
civilization  and  sounds  the  alarm  bell  to  sleeping  parents.  He 
answers  the  serious  question,  "How  shall  I  govern  my  fam- 
ily?" in  the  light  of  Bible  teaching  and  the  wisest  lessons  of 
experience.  How  beautifully  he  impresses  that  golden  rule, 
"Begin  early." 

"A  dew  drop  on  the  baby  plant 
Hath  warped  the  giant  oak  forever; 
A  pebble  in  the  streamlet  cast 
Hath  turned  the  course  of  many  an  ancient  river." 

Dr.  Burleson  preached  everywhere  in  Texas.  His  repu- 
tation and  the  love  of  the  Baptist  people  for  him  gave  him 
invitation  to  go  everywhere  and  preach.  Wherever  he 
believed  there  was  an  open  door  he  went  in  and  did  his  Mas- 
ter's work,  and  to-day  his  footprints  are  to  be  seen  in  every 
city  and  town  throughout  this  empire  State.  The  wilderness 
of  East  Texas,  as  well  as  the  broad  prairies  of  the  west,  have 
alike  echoed  his  clarion  voice,  as  he  called  men,  in  his  Master's 
name,  to  "come  up  higher." 

From  the  rostrum  of  the  chapel  of  Baylor  University  his 
greatest  preaching  was  done  in  what  were  called  his  "chapel 
talks."  There  he  preached  every  morning  to  the  coming 
great  men  of  the  State;  there  he  planted  deep  the  everlasting 
mudsills  of  eternal  truth;  there  he  inspired  young  men  and 
women  with  lofty  ambition — ambition  to  be  great  and  good. 


612  The  Life  and  Wettings  of 

The  devotion  of  this  man  of  God  to  Texas  was  beautiful. 
He  loved  her  history  and  her  traditions.  Her  broad,  fertile 
prairies  spoke  to  him  of  coming  greatness,  and  he  carried  the 
blazing  torch  of  God's  word  from  city  to  city,  from  town  to 
hamlet,  from  valley  to  hilltop,  and  from  hilltop  to  mountain 
top,  until  he  set  Texas  on  fire  with  enthusiasm  and  love  for 
God  and  saw  her  safe  in  the  hands  of  God's  hosts. 

After  more  than  a  half  century  of  glorious  labor  the 
veteran  preacher  has  sheathed  his  sword,  ceased  his  warfare 
and  gone  home  to  God.     His  works  do  follow  him. 

His  epitaph  should  be:  He  made  no  compromise  with 
sin. 

As  one  of  his  old  students,  who  loved  him  living  as  his 
best  friend,  and  who  cherishes  his  memory  now  as  one  of  the 
most  faithful  of  God's  servants,  I  pay  this  humble  tribute  to 
his  undying  name. 


SEKMOI^  ON  FAMILY  GOVERNMENT. 

The  poet  laureate  of  England  has  said :  "I  am  part  of 
all  that  I  have  met." 

I  deeply  feel  the  truth  and  power  of  these  words.  I 
have  spent  the  last  forty-seven  years  with  the  young  in  college 
halls.  I  have  instructed  in  the  last  thirty-seven  years  in  the 
halls  of  Baylor  (Waco)  University  over  four  thousand  five 
hundred  young  men  and  young  ladies.  As  agent  of  the  Pea- 
body  fund  in  Texas  I  canvassed  ■  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
seven  counties  and  addressed  not  less  than  sixty  thousand 
young  people.  During  the  last  forty  years  I  have  addressed 
not  less  than  two  hundred  thousand  young  Texans. 

Their  sparkling  eyes  and  laughing  faces-  have  mirrored 
so  deep  into  my  soul,  and  are  so  photographed  upon  my  brain 
and  heart,  that  "I  am  a  part  of  the  youth  of  Texas." 

No  uninspired  words  thrill  my  heart  so  deeply  as  those 
of  the  great  Von  Richter:  "I  love  God  and  little  children." 
Their  joys,  their  successes,  fill  me  with  rapture.     Their  sor- 


De.  Rufus  C.  Bukleson.  613 

rows  and  failures  fill  my  eyes  with  tears  and  my  heart  with 
grief.     The  young  are  a  part  of  my  being. 

Impelled  with  this  burning  love  for  young  people,  I 
discuss  this  subject,  "Family  Government."  For  let  it  never 
be  forgotten  that  by  family  government  I  do  not  mean 
family  tyranny  or  family  despotism.  Family  government  is 
as  unlike  family  tyranny  as  the  brightness  of  noon-day  is  to 
the  darkness  of  midnight,  or  as  the  joys  and  harmony  of 
heaven  are  unlike  the  blackness  and  horrors  of  hell. 

True  family  government,  like  all  true  government,  is 
instituted  for  the  sole  benefit  of  the  governed.  And  the  sole 
end  of  all  true  government  is  to  protect  the  innocent,  to  re- 
strain and  prohibit  all  the  passions  and  tendencies  to  evil, 
and  to  excite  all  the  hopes  and  kindle  all  the  aspirations  for 
real  joy  and  greatness.  Or,  as  a  great  English  statesman  has 
said :  "The  true  end  of  government  is  to  make  the  pathway 
to  virtue  and  morality  easy,  and  the  pathway  of  crime  difficult 
and  full  of  peril."  Having  defined  family  government,  I 
call  earnest  attention  to — 

First,  Us  vast  importance.  The  Holy  Bible,  the  great 
fountain  of  all  instruction  on  human  happiness  and  destiny, 
abounds  with  commands,  teachings,  warnings,  and  promises 
on  family  government.  Indeed,  from  Genesis  to  Revelation, 
we  have  "line  upon  line,  precept  on  precept,  here  a  little  and 
there  a  little,"  and  all  teaching  the  vast  importance  of  fam- 
ily government. 

In  the  very  first  book  of  the  Holy  Bible  (Gen.  17  :  17-19) 
we  read  this  remarkable  lesson:  God,  accompanied  by  the 
avenging  angels,  was  going  down  to  pour  out  fire  and  brim- 
stone on  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  where  all  family  government 
had  been  neglected.  Passing  by  the  tent  of  Abraham,  God 
said:  "Shall  I  hide  from  Abraham  that  which  I  do?  For 
I  know  him  that  he  will  command  his  children  and  house- 
hold after  him  forever." 

Here  was  a  great  state  secret  that  perchance  God  had  not 
told  to  Gabriel  or  Michael,  yet  he  told  it  to  Abraham,  because 
he  would  "command  his  children  after  him  forever."  How 
perfect  that  family  government  was  we  may  learn  when  we 
see  Isaac,   a  vigorous  young  man,   twenty-eight  years  old, 


614  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

allowing  his  aged  and  feeble  father  to  bind  him  as  a  burnt 
offering  on  the  altar  on  Mount  Moriah. 

'Twas  not  his  to  ask  the  reason  why, 
'Twas  his  to  obey  his  father  and  to  die." 

And  the  same  family  government  is  seen  among  the 
family  of  Abraham  around  the  globe  to-day.  In  the  last 
thirty-seven  years  I  have  instructed  over  one  hundred  Jews 
and  Jewesses,  and  not  one  of  them  ever  violated"  a  law  of  the 
university.  Go  to  our  state  prison  at  Huntsville,and  among 
the  one  thousand  eight  hundred  convicts  you  will  find  sons 
of  Baptists,  Presbyterians,  Methodists,  Lutherans  and  Roman 
Catholics,  and  even  of  some  preachers,  but  you  will  find  no  de- 
scendant of  Abraham.  Abraham  has  "commanded  his  chil- 
dren after  him  forever,"  and  they  are  educated  from  the 
cradle  to  obey  law  in  the  family,  school  and  state. 

God  teaches  us  another  solemn  lesson  on  family  gov- 
ernment at  Mount  Sinai.  Two  million  descendants  of  Abra- 
ham are  assembled  around  Sinai's  base  to  receive  the  law. 
And  amid  thunderings,  lightnings  and  earthquakes  God 
said:  "Honour  thy  father  and  mother,  that  thy  days  may 
be  long  upon  the  land  which  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee." 
God  not  only  uttered  this  in  a  voice  of  thunder,  but  with 
his  own  finger  he  wrote  it  as  one  of  the  Ten  Commandments 
in  rock,  to  show  it  was  to  stand  until  the  rocks  melt  in  the 
fervent  heat  of  the  Judgment  Day.  Paul,  who  had  been 
caught  up  to  the  third  heaven,  and  heard  and  saw  things  not 
lawful  for  man  to  utter,  enjoins  this  command  on  Gentiles 
as  well  as  Jewish  Christians,  and  declares  it  is  the  first  com- 
mandment with  promise:  (Eph.  6:1-3.)  Solomon,  the 
wisest  man  of  earth,  an  inspired  teacher  of  God  and  a  great 
king,  makes  the  family  a  special  theme  of  instruction.  Nearly 
one-third  of  all  his  proverbs  refer  directly  or  indirectly  to 
family  government.  As  a  wise  king  he  knew  well  that  fam- 
ily government  was  the  foundation  of  all  government  in 
school,  or  church,  or  state. 

Hear  and  ponder  a  few  of  his  grand  lessons : 

"Train  a  child  up  in  the  way  he  should  go,  and  when 
he  is  old  he  will  not  depart  from  it."  "Foolishness  is  bound 
in  the  heart  of  the  child,  but  the  rod  of  correction  shall  drive 


Dk.  Rufus  C,  Burleson.  615 

it  far  from  him."  "My  son,  give  me  thine  heart."  "My  son, 
if  thou  be  wise  my  heart  shall  rejoice."  "A  wise  son  maketh 
a  glad  father.  But  a  foolish  son  is  the  heaviness  of  his 
mother."  "He  that  spareth  the  rod  hateth  his  son,  but  he 
that  loveth  him  chasteneth  him  betimes,"  or  early.  "The 
eye  that  mocketh  at  his  father  and  despiseth  to  obey  his 
mother,  the  ravens  of  the  valley  shall  pick  out  and  the  young 
ravens  shall  eat  it."  But  nothing  so  powerfully  teaches  the 
importance  of  family  government  as  God's  curses  on  families 
that  neglected  family  government,  and  the  blessings  on  fam- 
ilies who  enforced  family  government.  I  beg  fathers  and 
mothers  especially,  to  read  God's  fearful  punishment  on  good 
old  Father  Eli,  who  exercised  no  government  in  his  family. 
Read  the  warning  in  I  Samuel,  chapters  1-4.  There  you 
will  see  God  repeatedly  warned  Eli  of  the  wickedness  of  his 
sons  and  the  outrages  they  committed  on  the  mothers  and 
daughters  of  Israel  even  in  the  very  house  of  God,  so  that 
they  made  the  house  of  God  and  the  worship  of  God  vile. 
But  all  that  good  old  tear-ready  Father  Eli  did  was  to  call 
his  bad  boys  and  say:  "My  sons,  what  is  it  I  hear  of  you? 
'Naj,  it  is  no  good  report  I  hear  of  you,  my  sons."  But  he 
knew  the  evils  they  were  doing  and  he  restrained  them  not. 
At  last  God  sent  a  fearful  warning  by  Samuel,  a  little  child 
that  his  whole  family  should  be  blotted  out,  leaving  not  a 
being  to  remain  on  the  earth  in  whose  veins  was  the  blood 
of  Eli.  Who  can  read  little  Samuel  unfolding  to  Eli  the 
curse  of  God  on  his  family  without  tears.  The  venerable, 
tender-hearted  old  father,  bending  under  the  weight  of 
ninety-eight  winters,  hears  the  terrible  but  just  doom,  bows 
his  aged  head,  and  sobs  aloud:  "It  is  the  Lord,  let  Him  do 
what  seemeth  Him  good." 

The  fulfillment  of  this  threatened  judgment  is  full  of 
meaning  to  the  five  thousand  Elis  that  live  in  Texas,  and  the 
seventy-five  thousand  Elis  that  live  in  the  United  States.  ISTo 
doubt  Eli's  bad  sons,  Hophni  and  Phinehas,  laughed  to  scorn 
God's  message  through  the  child  Samuel.  But  when  the  ap- 
pointed day  of  justice  came  Israel  had  gone  out  to  meet  the 
Philistines  in  battle,  and  as  a  last  dreadful  expedient  the  Ark 
of  Godwas  placed  in  the  front  of  the  battle;  but  God  was  not 
around  the  Ark.     The  robed  priests,  Hophni  and  Phinehas  fell 


616  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

mth  such  wicked  men,  and  thirty  thousand  fell  bleeding 
fighting,  sword  in  hand;  a  fleet  messenger  flies  to  bear  the 
dreadful  news.  Father  Eli  had  been  sitting  all  day  on  a  watch 
tower,  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet  high,  beside  the  gate, 
eagerly  looking  toward  the  battlefield,  trembling  for  his 
wicked  sons  and  the  Ark  of  God,  when  the  cornier  shouts 
aloud  that  Israel  is  routed,  thirty  thousand  Israelites  are 
weltering  in  their  blood,  Hophni  and  Phinehas  are  slain 
and  the  Ark  of  God  is  captured.  All  the  city  is  filled  with 
wailing,  Eli  is  palsied  and  nerveless,  and,  weighing  over  two 
hundred  and  thirty  pounds,  falls  headlong  from  that  lofty 
watch  tower.  His  neck  and  bones  are  broken,  the  blood 
gushes  from  his  mouth,  his  ears,  and  his  nose. 

As  a  fitting  conclusion  to  this  dreadful  tragedy,  when 
the  wife  of  Phinehas,  Eli's  son,  heard  of  the  death  of  her 
husband  and  her  father-in-law  and  thirty  thousand  Israelites, 
she  gave  premature  birth  to  a  son;  the  son  lived,  but  the 
mother  died,  calling  him  Ichabod,  "For  the  glory  is  departed 
from  Israel."  So  Ichabod  will  be  written  upon  every  family, 
town  and  nation  where  family  government  is  not  maintained. 
For  all  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  profit- 
able for  reproof  and  correction.  But  the  vast  importance 
of  family  government  may  not  only  be  seen  from  dark  Mount 
Ebal  of  cursing,  but  from  Mount  Gerizim  of  blessing.  Read 
in  the  thirty-fifth  chapter  of  Jeremiah  God's  blessing  on  the 
Rechabites  for  maintaining  family  government.  As  a  test 
of  their  filial  obedience  God  commanded  Jeremiah  to  bring 
the  Rechabites  into  the  house  of  God,  and  to  set  pots  full  of 
wine  before  them  and  say,  "Drink  ye  of  this  wine."  But 
they,  rising  up  reverently  before  God's  holy  prophet,  said: 
"Our  father,  Jonadab,  the  son  of  Rechab,  commanded  us, 
saying.  Ye  shall  drink  no  wine,  ye  nor  your  sons  forever." 
Then  God's  holy  prophet  cried:  "Blessed  be  ye  sons  of 
Jonadab,  the  son  of  Rechab,  because  ye  have  obeyed  the 
voice  of  your  father,  Jonadab,  therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  of 
hosts  the  God  of  Israel,  Jonadab,  the  son  of  Rechab,  shall 
not  want  a  man  to  stand  before  me  forever."  And  the  great 
historians,  Niebuhr  and  Wolff,  and  other  Oriental  travelers, 
tell  us  God  still  preserves  the  Rechabites  as  an  everlasting 
miracle  to  show  his  blessing  on  family  government. 


Dk.  Kufus  C.  Bukleson.  61T 

These  Rechabites  still  dwell  in  tents  and  drink  no  wine, 
and  abound  with,  the  fattest  herds,  the  fairest  women  and 
most  honest  men  in  the  valleys  of  the  Euphrates  and  the 
deserts  of  Arabia. 

It  is  a  fact  full  of  instruction  on  the  importance  of  fam- 
ily government  that  the  very  last  verse  of  the  last  chapter 
of  the  last  book  in  the  Old  Testament  contains  a  fearful 
warning  on  family  government.  "For  he  shall  turn  the 
hearts  of  the  fathers  to  their  children,  and  the  hearts  of  the 
children  to  their  fathers,  lest  I  come  and  smite  the  earth 
with  a  curse." 

And  the  first  book  of  the  ISTew  Testament  opens  with 
the  same  declaration.  The  mission  of  John  the  Baptist,  and 
the  Gospel  Dispensation  which  he  was  to  introduce,  was  to 
turn  the  hearts  of  the  fathers  to  their  children  and  the  hearts 
of  the  children  to  their  fathers,  lest  I  come  and  smite  the 
earth. 

By  turning  the  hearts  of  the  fathers  to  the  children  the 
text  means  the  chief  duty  of  every  father  is  to  bring  his 
children  to  God. 

But  brevity  compels  us  to  notice  but  one  more  Scripture 
lesson  on  the  importance  of  family  government. 

God  commands  by  Paul  (I  Tim.  3 :4,  5-12),  that  no 
man  shall  ever  be  a  pastor  or  a  deacon  unless  he  "ruleth  well 
his  own  house,  having  his  children  in  subjection  with  all 
gravity." 

Our  all-wise  and  merciful  Heavenly  Father,  knowing 
how  much  all  men  are  improved  by  example,  forbids  any 
man,  however  orthodox,  pious  or  eloquent,  to  be  a  preacher 
or  deacon  who  does  not  maintain  strict  family  government. 

The  very  failure  of  preachers  and  deacons  to  maintain 
family  government  has  caused  many  to  believe  that  family 
government  is  useless  and  injurious.  The  logic  of  Satan 
runs  thus:  "Preachers  and  deacons  have  worse  children 
than  anybody  else,  therefore  family  government  is  not  only 
useless  but  injurious."  This  logic,  like  all  the  logic  of  the 
great  deceiver,  is  based  on  falsehood  and  deception.  It 
affirms  as  a  fact  that  which  has  been  demonstrated  by  two 
of  the  greatest  universities  in  America  to  be  a  falsehood  and 
a  slander.     These  two  great  universities  tested  the  truth  of 


618  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

this  boasted  falsehood  of  the  father  of  lies,  and  it  was  found, 
on  a  careful  inspection  of  the  university  alumni,  a  large  per 
cent  of  the  sons  of  preachers  and  deacons  and  elders  and 
class  leaders  rose  to  greater  eminence  than  any  other  class 
of  students. 

But  in  every  case  where  family  government  has  been 
enforced  the  pious  parents  have  fully  realized  the  truth  of 
the  glorious  promise :  "Train  up  a  child  in  the  way  he  should 
go,  and  when  he  is  old  he  will  not  depart  from  it." 

We  may  learn  the  vast  importance  of  family  govern- 
ment, not  only  from  the  Holy  Bible,  but  from  the  teachings 
of  all  the  greatest  philosophers,  the  greatest  statesmen  of  all 
nations,  ages  and  climes.  The  Greeks,  the  Romans,  the  rulers 
of  the  world,  and  our  grander  old  English  and  Puritan  fathers 
all  taught  and  practiced  rigid  family  government.  The  Ro- 
mans even  required  fathers,  in  case  they  were  unable  to 
govern  their  sons,  to  take  them  alone  and  put  them  to  death, 
and  not  send  them  forth  as  wild  beasts  to  plunder  society 
and  the  country.  Whether  in  the  academy,  the  college, 
the  church  or  the  state,  every  experienced  teacher  can  tell  in 
one  day  whether  the  new  student  has  been  governed  at 
home;  every  pastor  knows  that  young  converts  who  have 
had  no  family  government  make,  as  a  general  thing,  worth- 
less church  members.  In  a  great  public  meeting  held  in  Gal- 
veston by  Dr.  Barnas  Sears  and  myself  as  agents  of  the  Pea- 
body  Pund,  the  head  of  the  city  police  testified  that  the  most 
depraved,  worthless  criminals  he  had  to  deal  with  were  the 
boys  ten  and  twelve  years  old  who  were  turned  loose  without 
any  family  government,  to  roam  the  streets  and  dens  of  crime 
by  day  and  night  as  street  arabs.  I  have  for  fifty  years  been 
a  close  and  constant  reader  of  the  history  of  all  nations  of  the 
earth.  And  if  I  were  cast  by  a  storm  upon  some  unknown 
island,  among  a  people  of  whose  name  and  language  I  was 
utterly  ignorant,  in  one  day  I  could  tell  whether  that  nation 
was  on  the  ascending  or  descending  scale  of  prosperity  and 
civilization,  and  that  one  single  test  should  be  family  govern- 
ment. If  I  saw  family  government  and  happy  homes,  I 
should  know  that  people  were  on  the  ascending  scale  of  great- 
ness. But  if  I  saw  no  family  government,  no  happy  homes, 
no  reverence  for  parents  and  teachers  and  rules,  I  should  know 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  619 

that  people  were  on  the  downward  grade  to  anarchy,  lawless- 
ness and  destruction.  All  this  may  be  clearly  seen  not  only 
in  Gibbon's  "Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,"  but 
in  Greece  and  Egypt  and  Babylon,  and  especially  in  France 
and  Spain  in  our  own  times. 

I  am  no  alarmist,  but  no  intelligent  man  can  shut  his 
eyes  to  the  appalling  fact  that  anarchy,  nihilism,  communism, 
and  all  the  powers  of  evil  are  struggling  with  demoniacal 
power  and  fury  to  overturn  all  government,  and  all  society, 
and  to  introduce  an  age  of  wolves  and  all  manner  of  wild  beasts 
and  still  more  savage  men.  The  only  breastwork  against  this 
fearful  onslaught  of  the  forces  of  evil  is  not  in  bayonets  or 
even  in  free  schools,  but  in  family  government.  Let  the  foun- 
dation stone  be  laid  firmly  with  prayer  in  every  family,  and 
then  we  can  say  to  all  the  dashing  waves  of  anarch}^,  lawless- 
ness and  crime, 

"Thus  far  shalt  thou  come  and  no  further, 
Here  shalt  thy  proud  waves  be  stayed." 

Fathers  and  mothers,  in  God's  name  I  emplore  you  to  gird 
yourselves  for  this  mighty  work  of  saving  your  children,  our 
country,  and  our  civilization,  and  for  the  ushering  in  of  the 
millennium. 

The  last  argument  on  the  importance  of  family  govern- 
ment is  the  happiness  of  the  child.  The  most  unhappy  being 
that  moves  upon  this  earth,  or  looks  upon  the  sun,  is  an  un- 
governed  child.  An  ungoverned  child  is  a  bundle  of  bad  pas- 
sions, is  a  seething  volcano  of  untamed  and  ungovernable  pas- 
sions, hating  everybody  and  hateful  to  everybody,  shunned 
and  dreaded  by  all. 

Parental  affection  calls  in  trumpet  tones  on  every  parent 
to  govern  his  child.  Hence  Solomon  so  wisely  declares :  "He 
that  spareth  the  rod  hateth  his  son."  (Prov.  13  :24.)  Good 
tender-hearted  Eli  was  really  a  child  hater,  and  if  he  had  de- 
signedly planned  the  ruin  of  his  sons  he  could  not  have  adopted 
a  surer  plan  than  neglecting  family  government.  ITo  doubt 
King  David's  misguided  tenderness  for  his  handsome  son  Ab- 
salom caused  him  to  neglect  family  government  and  to  spare 
the  rod.  The  result  was  that  Absalom  with  all  his  peerless 
beauty  of  person  was  a  demon  incarnate,  and  in  his  wild  un- 


620  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

tamed  passion  sought  to  murder  that  aged,  loving  father  and 
rushed  headlong  to  his  own  destruction.  And  when  he  was 
hanging  by  his  head  in  a  treetop,  and  dangling  in  the  air 
pierced  with  the  darts  of  Joab,  the  loving  old  father,  remem- 
bering his  own  crime  of  neglecting  family  government,  wailed 
so  bitterly,  "O  my  son  Absalom !  my  son,  my  son  Absalom ! 
would  God  I  had  died  for  thee  !" 

Alas,  how  many  Absaloms  are  growing  up  over  all  this 
continent !  How  many  misguided  Elis  and  Davids  will  raise 
this  bitter  wail :  "Oh,  my  son,  my  darling  son  !  would  God  I 
had  died  for  thee !" 

But  would  you  see  your  sons  and  your  daughters  a  joy  to 
themselves,  a  joy  to  your  heart,  and  pillars  of  Church  and 
State,  train  them  up  in  the  nurture  of  the  Lord.  I  shall  be 
sixty-five  years  old  next  August,  and  I  have  never  known  son 
or  daughter  allowed  to  disobey  father  and  mother  that  did  not 
become  a  curse  to  themselves,  their  parents,  and  society,  as 
Absalom,  Hophni,  and  Phinehas  did. 

If  we  have  faithfully  presented  to  you  and  you  have  fully 
grasped  these  momentous  arguments,  you  are  profoundly  pen- 
etrated with  the  overwhelming  importance  of  family  govern- 
ment, and  are  prepared  to  pray:  "O  God,  our  Heavenly 
Father,  teach  us  how  to  govern  our  children  and  train  them  up 
in  the  way  they  should  go,  that  they  may  eventually  become 
useful  members  of  society.' 

Second,  the  grand  question  is,  How  shall  I  govern  my 
family 'i  After  an  earnest  study  of  forty-seven  years,  I  lay 
down  seven  golden  rules  for  family  government : 

My  first  golden  rule  is,  Begin,  continue,  and  end  in 
prayer.  The  first  moment  I  ever  lay  eyes  on  my  child  so 
helpless  in  its  mother's  bosom,  I  kneel  down,  and  laying  my 
hand  on  the  little  seeming  visitant  from  heaven,  I  pray,  "O 
God,  this  life  which  we  have  dared  invoke  is  parallel  with 
thine.  O  God,  help  us  to  guide  this  helpless  babe  through 
life  in  honor  and  purity,  and  restore  it  to  thy  bosom  in  Para- 
dise at  last."  I  care  not  what  mighty  cares  and  troubles  press 
my  heart,  I  always  just  at  midnight,  my  regular  bedtime, 
kneel  down  by  the  little  trundle  bed  and  lay  my  hand  on  the 
heart  of  the  little  sleeper  and  pray,  "O  my  Father,  God,  watch 
over  by  day  and  night  my  precious  child,  keep  the  heart  pure, 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Bukleson.  621 

fill  it  with  love  and  every  noble  desire  for  holiness,  usefulness, 
and  honor  on  earth  and  glory  in  heaven." 

When  my  daughter  at  sixteen  left  her  mother's  room  to 
occupy  a  separate  room  with  a  chosen  young  lady,  I  always 
went  at  midnight,  just  before  retiring,  knelt  down  and  laid 
my  hand  on  the  door  and  prayed,  "O  my  Heavenly  Father, 
send  guardian  angels  to  watch  over  and  protect  my  precious 
child."  Our  blessed  Saviour  knew  how  essential  prayer  was 
for  little  children;  hence  he  set  us  the  example,  took  them 
up  in  his  arms,  pressed  them  to  his  heart,  and  prayed  for  them. 
Oh,  father  and  mother,  may  you  hear  every  day  that  Saviour's 
voice  saying,  "Bring  your  children  to  me,"  and  may  you  so 
carry  them  in  daily  prayer ! 

My  second  golden  rule  is,  Begin  early.  A  great  philos- 
opher and  poet  has  said : 

"A  dew  drop  on  the  baby  plant 
Hath  warped  the  giant  oak  forever; 
A  pebble  in  the  streamlet  cast 
Hath  turned  the  course  of  many  an  ancient  river." 

But  the  dewdrop  must  fall  on  "the  baby  plant,"  and  not 
on  the  giant  oak,  the  pebble  must  fall  into  the  streamlet,  and 
not  into  the  mighty  Amazon  or  Mississippi.  A  great  states- 
man said :  "Let  me  make  the  songs  for  the  children,  and  I 
care  not  who  makes  the  laws  for  the  State."  "Give  me  the 
training  of  the  children  and  I  will  control  the  State. '^  The 
wily  Jesuits  understand  this  profoundly.  Their  archbishop 
says:  "A  full  school  makes  a  full  confessional.  Crowd  the 
schools  regardless  of  money.  This  is  our  only  hope  of  ruling 
America."  Ninety-nine  one-hundredths  of  all  the  converts 
to  Romanism  in  America  are  made  by  beginning  with  the 
young  in  Roman  Catholic  schools.  The  saddest  story  of  the 
Revolutionary  war  is  the  bloody  defeat  of  the  French  and 
American  forces  by  the  British  at  Savannah.  The  combined 
forces  of  the  French  and  Americans  could  have  captured  the 
British  army  without  firing  a  gun,  but  the  foolish  French  gen- 
eral sent  a  polite  note  to  the  British  officer  to  surrender.  The 
British  in  a  polite  note  asked  twenty-four  hours  to  think  over 
it,  the  French  general,  steeped  in  wine  and  folly,  consented. 
But  the  crafty  Briton  instead  of  putting  his  hands  in  his  pock- 
ets and  thinking  about  it  went  to  fortifying.     General  Marion 


622  .  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

went  to  the  silly  Frenchman  and  remonstrated  and  cried, 
"Oh,  my  God,  such  folly  to  allow  the  enemy  to  fortify  and 
then  fight  him."  At  the  end  of  the  twenty-four  hours  the 
silly  Frenchman  sent  a  polite  note  asking  the  surrender  of  the 
fort.  The  crafty  Briton,  secure  in  his  fortifications,  said: 
"Come  and  take  it."  Then  began  the  scene  of  bloody  car- 
nage; column  after  column  of  heroic  men  was  hurled  against 
the  impenetrable  British  fortifications,  only  to  be  hurled  back 
decimated  and  bleeding.  Then  the  brave  Jasper  fell  bleeding 
and  dying.  After  fearful  slaughter  the  French  and  American 
forces  retreated. 

Oh,  father,  oh,  mother,  are  you  so  deceived  by  Satan 
that  you  are  making  that  same  mistake?  Are  you  allowing 
the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil  to  fortify  in  the  heart  and 
soul  of  your  child?  A  strong  man  armed  keepeth  his  palace 
and  his  goods  in  safety,  and  when  the  devil,  and  fashion, 
and  pride,  and  lust  are  all  fortified,  then  the  devil,  like  the 
crafty  Briton,  can  defiantly  say:  "Come  and  take  it."  And 
all  your  tears,  all  the  melting  strains  of  Calvary,  and  all  the 
thunderings  of  Sinai  cannot  move  that  heart  fortified  by  sin 
and  Satan. 

But  begin  early,  and  all  will  be  well.  When  Professor 
Morse  asked  a  pious  young  lady  to  select  the  first  message  that 
should  go  over  the  newly-invented  telegraph  wires,  she  se- 
lected, "What  hath  God  wrought !"  So  let  the  very  first  mes- 
sage that  goes  over  the  mental  telegraph  wire,  that  reaches 
not  merely  across  the  Atlantic,  but  the  ocean  of  eternity,  be 
"What  hath  God  wrought,  what  hath  Jesus  done  for  my  soul !" 

The  dewdrop  on  the  baby  plant  will  warp  the  giant  oak, 
a  little  pebble  will  turn  the  little  streamlet  to  glory  and  to 
God. 

But  I  pray  you  in  God's  name  to  hear  carefully  our 
third  golden  rule :  Be  tender,  he  tender  as  the  Son  of  God  our 
Saviour  is  tender  to  us.  "The  bruised  reed  -v^dll  he  not  break, 
and  the  smoking  flax  will  he  not  quench." 

My  heart  was  deeply  touched  with  a  remark  of  a  little 
boy  that  was  told  me  recently.  His  angel,  mother  had  just 
died,  and  the  pastor,  meeting  casually  on  the  streets  the  father 
and  the  boy,  overlooked  speaking  to  the  child  as  he  had  always 
done  before.     When  the  father  and  the  child  were  alone,  the 


Dk.  Eufus  C.  BuKLESoisr.  623' 

little  boy  burst  into  tears  and  said:     "Oh,  father,  will  our' 
pastor  never  love  me  any  more  because  I  have  no  mother  ?" 

The  father  assured  him  that  it  was  a  mere  accident,  that 
the  pastor  would  be  very  sorry  when  he  learned  how  his  feel- 
ings were  hurt.  "Oh,  no,"  replied  the  child,  "he  never  can' 
be  sorry  enough  unless  he  could  again  be  a  little  boy  and 
know  how  to  be  slighted  hurts  a  little  boy  who  has  no  mother." 
Fathers  and  mothers,  if  you  only  could  know  how  it  hurts  a 
little  child  to  be  slighted  or  treated  harshly,  you  would  pray : 
"0  God,  help  me  to  be  tender  to  the  little  ones !"  I  make  it 
a  rule  of  my  life  to  be  always  tender  and  affectionate  with  my 
children.  I  play  with  them,  I  walk  with  them,  and  ride  with 
them,  I  enter  tenderly  into  all  their  joys  and  their  sorrows.  If 
my  child  has  a  doll  or  a  bird,  a  pig  or  a  pony  in  which  it  is  in- 
terested, I  too  become  deeply  interested.  The  blessed  result 
is  my  children  always  reciprocate  my  tender  love  and  sym- 
pathy at  all  times  for  my  work.  But  does  some  man  throw 
himself  back  on  his  self-importance,  and  say,  "I  have  no  time 
to  idle  away  with  children  ?"  Then  you  are  guilty  of  a  great 
crime  in  being  a  father.  Oh,  how  much  better  it  is  for  the 
head  to  ache  than  the  heart  to  bleed  over  a  rained  son !  As 
a  dewdrop  can  warp  the  great  oak  forever,  so  one  little  word 
hath  Avarped  and  blighted  many  a  great  oak  for  time  and 
eternity.  Oh,  then  write  on  your  heart  the  third  golden  rule, 
Be  tender. 

The  fourth  golden  rule  is.  Be  firm.  And  how  fearfully 
hard  it  is  to  be  firm  and  tender  at  the  same  time.  To  illustrate 
the  difficulty  and  the  possibility  of  tenderness  and  firmness,  I 
tell  my  experience  with  my  first  angel  boy  Jona,  when  he  was 
two  years  old.  To  please  him  I  allowed  him  in  our  evening 
drive  to  hold  the  buggy  reins;  the  horse  was  fiery  and  spirited, 
but  there  was  no  danger,  as  I  always  had  my  hands  ready  to 
seize  the  reins  at  any  moment.  It  pleased  him  wonderfully, 
for  it  is  amazing  how  early  and  eagerly  they  take  the  reins  in 
their  own  hands.  But  one  evening  my  wife  returned  from  her 
weekly  visit  to  her  mother,  two  miles  in  the  country,  all  fever- 
ish with  excitement,  and  said,  "You  must  not  let  Jona  hold 
the  lines  any  more;  I  was  afraid  to  let  him  hold  the  reins  for 
fear  that  I  could  not  grasp  them  soon  enough  in  case  of  dan- 
ger, and  he  just  cried  and  screamed  for  the  reins  all  the  way 


624  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

to  mother's  and  back  home.  He  came  near  making  the  horse 
turn  the  buggy  over  three  times  and  run  away  once."  I  saw 
the  change  must  be  made,  so,  the  next  time  we  started  on  our 
evening  drive  I  took  Jona  up  in  my  lap  and  kissed  him  and  told 
him  how  he  troubled  good  mother  and  came  near  turning  the 
buggy  over,  and  that  he  must  never  hold  the  reins  any  more, 
but  he  seized  the  reins  eagerly.  I  told  him  first  tenderly  and 
firmly  to  let  the  reins  loose,  but  he  held  them  faster,  1  said : 
"Papa  will  slap  Jona  if  he  does  not  let  the  reins  loose."  He 
looked  up  in  my  face  in  wonder,  but  held  on  to  the  reins.  I 
gave  his  precious  little  hands  a  keen  slap,  he  let  loose  the  reins, 
threw  his  head  down  into  his  mother's  lap,  and  sobbed  bitterly. 
The  mother's  eyes  filled  up  with  tears,  my  eyes  were  watering 
and  my  heart  was  weaker  than  water.  But  I  remembered 
the  words  of  Solomon :  "Let  not  thy  soul  spare  for  his  cry- 
ing."    (Prov.  19  :18.) 

After  riding  some  distance,  the  mother  lifted  up  the 
sobbing  child,  and  said,  tenderly:  "Jona,  get  up  and  kiss 
papa;  papa  loves  Jona."  He  jumped  up  and  kissed  me,  think- 
ing he  had  conquered,  seized  the  reins  again  and  held  them 
closer  than  before.  After  telling  him  tenderly  and  firmly, 
as  before,  I  gave  his  little  hands  two  keep  slaps.  He  again 
threw  his  head  into  his  mother's  lap,  and  sobbed  louder  than 
before.  Oh,  what  a  struggle  in  my  bosom !  but  I  knew  that 
to  yield  was  ruin  to  my  precious  boy. 

And  silently  I  prayed,  "O  God,  help  me  to  be  firm !" 
After  some  time  the  mother  said  tenderly:  "Jona,  get  up 
and  kiss  papa;  he  is  crying."  He  got  up  to  kiss  me.  T  said : 
"Kiss  me,  but  don't  touch  the  reins,  or  papa  will  whip  Jona 
again."  His  mother  kissed  him,  and  told  him  to  be  a  good 
boy,  and  mind  papa,  but  with  that  terrible  will  that  inheres  in 
most  children,  he  put  up  his  foot  to  touch  the  reins.  Know- 
ing that  half-way  obedience  was  none  at  all,  I  said  firmly: 
"Don't  touch  the  reins,  or  I  will  whip  you."  l^ever  from 
that  hour  until  the  day  of  his  death,  even  under  the  most  try- 
ing ordeals,  did  he  hesitate  a  moment  to  obey  me  implicitly. 
He  was  the  happiest,  brightest,  purest  child  I  ever  knew  till 
the  angels  came  and  took  him  home  to  heaven  as  too  pure 
for  this  world.  I  relate  this  instance  to  illustrate  three  of  my 
golden  rules  of  family  government :     First,  begin  early.     As 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Buklesox.  625 

the  twig  is  bent  the  tree  is  inclined.     Second,  be  tender. 
Third,  be  firm. 

I  may  intimate  the  necessity  of  father  and  mother  being 
united  in  family  government.  If  the  father  pulls  one  way 
and  the  mother  another,  the  child  is  ruined.  A  house  divided 
against  itself  cannot  stand. 

Ever  remember  there  is  "a  golden  medium"  in  all  things, 
with  Scylla  on  one  side  Charybdis  on  the  other.  If  your  son 
gets  dust  on  his  shoes,  tears  his  clothes,  forgets  some  errand 
you  sent  him  on,  or  does  a  hundred  things  of  that  kind,  over- 
look them ;  but  if  he  swears  or  lies,  gets  drunk  or  is  rebellious, 
then  catch  him,  pray  for  him,  talk  to  him,  always  appeal  to 
his  conscience  and  better  nature,  and  then,  if  necessary,  use 
Solomon's  token  of  love  tenderly  and  freely,  and  always  with 
tears  in  your  eyes.  One  such  correction  at  the  right  time 
■will  save  any  boy,  but  catching  a  boy  and  flogging  him  for 
everything,  hardens  him,  destroys  his  self-respect,  and  makes 
an  outlaw.  If  I  have  any  secret  in  governing,  it  is  by  a  con- 
stant and  affectionate  appeal  to  the  moral  nature  of  thp  youths; 
and  if  I  did  catch  them  and  correct  them,  it  was  for  their 
good  and  with  well  nigh  the  tenderness  of  a  father.  The  grand 
mistake  our  fathers  made  about  the  use  of  the  rod  w^as  the 
same  that  the  bloody  Draco  made  about  the  death  penalty. 
Draco  said  the  very  least  violation  of  the  law  deserved  death, 
and  the  greatest  could  receive  nothing  more.  So  every  viola- 
tion of  law,  however  great  or  small,  should  be  punished  with 
death.  The  truth  is,  the  rod,  like  the  death  penalty,  should 
never  be  used  except  in  extreme  cases.  Oh,  fathers  and 
mothers,  I  implore  you,  do  not  govern  too  much;  overlook 
many  mistakes  of  your  children  which  violate  no  moral  prin- 
ciple !     Leave  all  else  to  time  and  gentle  admonition. 

My  sixth  golden  rule  is,  Have  no  partiality  among  your 
children.  Parental  partiality  has  goaded  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  children  in  all  ages  to  desperation  and  ruin;  I  am 
appalled  to  find  it  abounding  in  Texas  to-day.  How 
few  people  seem  to  know  that  God  punished  good  old  Jacob 
with  seventeen  years  of  mourning  for  his  criminal  partiality 
to  his  son  Joseph.  Because  God  overruled  it  for  good,  no 
more  lessens  Jacob's  crime  than  that  of  the  Jew.'i  crucifying 
Christ,  because  God  overruled  it  for  the  salvation  of  the  world. 

40 


626  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

Will  every  parent  guilty  of  this  terrible  crime  read  of 
Jacob's  punishment?  (Gen.  32  :13.)  See  that  coat  of  many 
colors,  the  proof  of  his  criminal  parental  partiality,  all  smeared 
with  blood,  and  hear  the  appalling  words,  ''This  we  have 
found.  Is  it  thy  son's  coat  or  not  ?"  Jacob  sobs  aloud :  "It 
is,  and  without  doubt  some  evil  beast  has  devoured  Joseph." 
In  his  overwhelming  sorrow  all  his  sons  and  daughters  rose 
up  to  comfort  him,  but  he  refused  to  be  comforted,  and  said : 
"I  will  go  down  to  the  grave  mourning,  where  Joseph  has 
gone."  If  God  so  punished  Jacob,  oh,  father,  mother,  will 
he  spare  you?  Wo  doubt  David's  criminal  partiality  for  his 
handsome  son  Absalom  was  one  cause  of  Absalom's  criminal 
ingratitude. 

If  there  is  one  thing  on  earth  that  maddens  the  heart  of 
the  son  or  daughter,  and  drives  each  to  ruin,  it  is  the  thought 
that  the  father  and  mother  do  not  love  them.  A  mother's 
love,  a  father's  love,  is  the  grandest  inspiration  on  earth  for 
a  child  to  do  noble  deeds. 

We  should  always  love  and  reward  the  good  conduct  of 
our  children  and  censure  and  punish  the  bad;  but,  like  our 
Heavenly  Father,  who  sends  the  sun  on  the  just  and  unjust, 
we  must  love  all  our  children  with  the  same  impartial,  undy- 
ing devotion. 

My  seventh  and  last  golden  rule:  Imbue  the  soul  of 
your  child  with  reverence  for  God  and  right,  and  fire  his  soul 
with  a  lofty  arnbition  for  purity,  wisdom,  usefidness  and 
honor  on  earth,  and  a  home  with  the  angels  in  heaven.  An 
empty  sack  cannot  stand  erect;  an  empty  bucket  will  soon  be 
filled  with  chaff  and  dirt.  The  only  way  to  help  your  chil- 
dren to  stand  erect  among  the  great  and  good  is  to  fill  their 
minds  and  hearts  with  the  precious  seed-wheat  of  virtue,  wis- 
dom, and  an  undying  love  for  honor  and  right.  The  only 
way  to  keep  their  young  minds  and  hearts  from  being  filled 
with  the  low,  dirty  passions  of  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the 
devil,  is  to  fill  them  full  of  the  germs  of  wisdom,  patriotism, 
and  piety  in  the  seed  time,  spring  time  of  life. 

What  Avas  it  that  made  our  Washington  "the  Father  of 
his  Country"  and  the  admiration  cf  the  world  ?  Go  into  the 
garden  and  see  his  father  writing  "George  Washington"  with 
young  plants,  by  which  he  led  his  young  mind  up  to  God.     It 


De.  Rufus  C.  Bukleson.  627 

was  the  imbuing  and  the  firing  of  the  soul  of  the  child  with 
reverence  for  God  and  love  for  all  that  was  pure  and  great 
that  made  the  little  boy  say,  tremblingly :  "'I  cannot  tell  a 
lie."  It  was  the  same  feeling  of  his  young  heart  that  made 
the  little  boy  "first  in  war,  first  in  peace,  first  in  the  hearts  of 
his  countrymen,"  and  the  first  in  the  hearts  of  all  patriots 
around  the  globe  in  all  ages.  All  reliance  on  locks  and  bayo- 
nets and  outside  restraint  can  never  make  a  grand  moral  char- 
acter. 

As  a  fearful  warning  to  all  parents  who  rely  upon  outside 
force  to  build  up  moral  character,  I  recommend  the  careful 
reading  of  Sanderson,  in  Dr.  Holland's  invaluable  book  on 
training  children,  styled  "fA^rthur  Bonnycustle."  But  I 
would  write  it  as  with  a  pen  of  fire  on  every  parental  heart 
that  these  seven  golden  rules  can  never  be  taught  by  words  or 
precepts  without  example. 

"As  the  bird  each  fond  endearment  tries 
To  tempt  its  new-fledged  offspring  to  the  sliies, 
Tries  each  art,  reproves  each  dull  delay, 
Allures  to  brighter  worlds  and  leads  the  way." 

so  must  the  parent  by  example.  The  great  philosopher 
^sop  makes  the  young  crab  utter  the  voice  of  all  the  young. 
When  chided  by  his  father  for  walking  crookedly,  he  said : 
"Father,  most  gladly  will  I  obey  your  commands  when  you 
set  me  the  example." 

You  may  not  only  teach  your  children  by  your  own  ex- 
ample, but  by  the  example  of  noble  men  living  and  dead. 
George  "Washington's  example  with  the  little  hatchet  has  been 
worth  five  hundred  million  dollars  to  the  boys  of  America. 
The  example  of  the  grand  old  Roman  Fabricius  whom  millions 
of  gold  could  not  buy  nor  burning  darts  and  roaring  wild 
beasts  frighten,  has  girded  many  thousands  into  incorruptible 
honor  and  undying  courage.  One  anecdote  of  General  Jack- 
son's indomitable  courage  confirmed  me  in  a  critical  moment 
in  the  course  of  duty  and  saved  me  from  a  life  of  failure. 

My  father  and  mother  never  failed  to  seize  upon  every 
noble  deed  of  those  around  us,  as  well  as  in  history,  to  build 
up  strong  moral  character.  How  often  have  I  heard  my  fa- 
ther paint  in  glowing  words  the  honesty  of  his  old  friend, 
Colonel  Benjamin  Sherrod.     When  he  was  threatened  with 


■628  The  Life  and  Weitings  of 

bankruptcy  and  penury  in  old  age,  and  was  staggering  under 
a  debt  of  eight  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  a  con- 
temptible lawyer  said :  "Colonel  Sherrod,  you  are  hopelessly 
ruined,  but  if  you  will  furnish  me  five  thousand  dollars  as 
witness  fees  I  can  pick  a  technical  flaw  in  the  whole  thing  and 
get  you  out  of  it." 

The  grand  old  Alabamian  said:  "Your  proposition  is 
insulting.  I  signed  the  notes  in  good  faith,  and  the  last  dollar 
shall  be  paid — if  charity  digs  my  grave  and  buys  my  shroud." 
He  carried  me  and  by  brother  Kichard  once  .''pecially  to  see 
that  incorruptible  old  man,  and  his  face  and  words  are  por- 
trayed upon  my  heart  and  brain  to  this  hour.  So,  dear 
parent,  "when  you  rise  up  and  when  you  lie  down,  when  you  ' 
walk  by  the  wayside,"  teach  by  word  and  example  the  grand 
lessons  of  purity,  usefulness,  and  heroism  to  your  sons  and 
daughters,  and  they  will  become  the  pride  and  joy  of  your 
hearts  and  the  grand  banner  bearers  in  Church  and  State. 

But  unless  these  seven  golden  rules  are  protected  se- 
curely by  a  strong  wall  and  strict  quarantine,  they  are  as 
sounding  brass  and  tinkling  cymbals.  What  is  a  beautiful 
flower  garden  or  an  apple  orchard  or  orange  grove  without  a 
strong  enclosure? 

When  small  pox  or  yellow  fever  is  raging,  is  there  any 
safety  except  in  vigilant  quarantine  ? 

That  strong  wall  and  safe  quarantine  must  be  made  of 
.  the  following  four  great  laws:     ISio  bad  company;  no  idle 
time;  no  fine  clothes;  make  home  happy. 

First,  No  had  company.  Show  me  the  companions  of 
boys  and  girls,  and  I  will  tell  you  what  they  are.  We  are  a 
part  of  all  we  meet.  Fathers  and  mothers,  would  you  let  a 
boy  or  girl  with  small  pox  come  to  visit  your  son  or  daughter  ? 
Yet  a  vicious,  bad  boy  or  depraved  girl  is  more  dangerous  than 
small  pox.  Teach  your  children  to  shun  them  as  a  deadly 
poison,  for  at  last  they  will  bite  like  a  serpent  and  sting  like 
an  adder.  But  remember  that  bad  books,  and  daily  newspa- 
pers filled  with  all  the  filth  of  the  day,  are  the  worst  compan- 
ions your  son  or  daughter  can  have.  That  infamous  book, 
"Peck's  Bad  Boy,"  has,  it  is  said,  made  one  hundred  thousand 
bad  boys  and  made  for  the  author  one  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars.    But  remember  well  that  vour  son  and  daus^hter  must 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Buklesois^.  621^ 

have  companions;  and  every  parent  should  select  the  very  be&t 
companions  and  the  very  best  books  and  papers  for  them. 

The  second  grand  law  for  fencing  in  the  seven  golden 
rnles  is,  No  idle  time.  An  idle  man's  head  is  the  devil's  work- 
shop. Idleness  is  utterly  incompatible  with  a  virtuous 
life,  and  habits  of  industry  are  the  secret  guarantee  of 
purity  and  success.  Fools  kill  time,  and  time  kills  fools. 
Whatever  success  I  have  had  as  a  teacher  in  the  last  thirty- 
seven  years  is  due  to  the  law  engraved  on  my  whole  being  in 
childhood.  I  have  spent  but  one  idle  day  in  thirty-five  years, 
and  I  am  profoundly  ashamed  of  that  idle  day;  I  call  it  my 
Black  Friday.  Then,  fathers  and  mothers,  give  your  sons 
and  daughters  time  to  play,  time  to  be  joyous;  give  them  birth- 
day parties,  for  joy  is  as  essential  to  young  people  as  sunshine 
is  to  young  plants.  But  give  them  no  idle  time  to  roam  the 
streets  by  day  or  night,  with  depraved,  low,  silly  girls;  and 
teach  them  that  time  is  more  precious  than  gold. 

The  next  grand  law  for  hedging  in  the  seven  golden  rules 
is,  Rigid  economy  in  dress  and  money.  Whiskey  and  card 
playing  are  scarcely  more  demoralizing  to  a  boy  or  girl  than 
extravagant  use  of  money  and  fine  clothes.  Plenty  of  money 
and  fine  clothes  fill  the  minds  of  young  people  with  vanity  and 
self-conceit.  And  Solomon  well  says.  There  is  more  hope  of 
a  fool  than  of  a  boy  or  girl  filled  with  self-conceit.  Paul,  who 
was  a  grand  philosopher  as  well  as  an  inspired  apostle,  com- 
mands Christians  to  let  their  adorning  be  the  inner  man  of  the 
heart,  and  not  in  gold,  or  pearls,  or  costly  array. 

When  I  returned  from  a  visit  to  the  great  missionary  and 
educational  conventions  and  college  anniversaries  of  the 
]Srorth,  in  18Y3,  my  brother  Richard  asked  me  what  was  the 
most  interesting  thing  I  saw.  I  replied  that  it  was  the  six- 
teen-year-old daughter  of  a  Wall  Street  banker  living  in  a 
mansion  at  Yonkers,  dressed  in  calico,  doing  her  full  share  of 
the  housework  on  Saturday,  and  dressed  in  simple  white, 
teaching  a  class  of  little  children  in  the  Baptist  Sunday-school 
on  Sunday  morning.  The  noble  banker  said:  "When  my 
beloved  daughter  learns  the  great  lesson  of  economy,  and  that 
the  true  lady  consists  in  modesty,  purity,  and  piety,  then — ^if 
she  desires — she  can  have  silks  and  diamonds  suitable  to  her 
sphere  in  life." 


C30  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

If  every  father  in  America  would  only  follow  the  exam- 
ple of  the  banker,  soon  we  would  see  the  sublime  republican 
simplicity  and  honesty  of  Washington  and  Jefferson  return, 
and  the  hearts  of  patriots  would  not  quake  for  the  giant  po- 
litical frauds  that  threaten  us  with  ruin  to-day. 

But  the  last  capstone  on  this  wall  of  defense,  and  the 
crowning  glory  of  all  family  government  is  this:  '"Make 
Home  Happy,"  God  hath  set  the  children  of  men  in  families, 
and  he  intended  every  home  to  be  a  nursery  of  joy,  piety,  and 
patriotism,  and  a  type  of  heaven.  Every  child  should  be 
taught  to  feel  and  say  from  his  heart — 

"The  dearest  spot  on  earth  to  me,  is  home,  sweet  home, 
All  the  world  beside  I  have  slighted  for  home,  sweet  home, 
There  where  hearts  are  so  united. 
There  where  vows  are  truly  plighted. 
Home,  sweet  home;    there  is  no  place  like  home, 
Be  it  ever  so  humble,  there  is  no  place  like  home." 

In  every  happy  Christian  home,  the  great  cardinal  vir- 
tues of  a  good  citizen  are  taught  and  illustrated.  In  the  au- 
thority of  the  father,  the  heaven-appointed  head  of  the  family, 
exercised  so  tenderly  for  the  good  of  all,  the  child  learns  that 
good  government  is  not  oppression.  In  the  graceful  obedience 
of  the  queenly  mother  to  the  father,  the  child  sees  that  obe- 
dience is  not  slavish  subn;ission,  but  essential  to  harmony; 
and  in  the  mutual  love  and  devotion  of  the  older  children  to 
the  younger,  and  the  love  and  devotion  of  the  least  to  the  old- 
est, can  be  seen  the  reciprocal  love,  the  golden  bonds  that 
should  bind  all  the  citizens  of  our  fatherland  into  one  grand 
brotherhood. 

A  dear  student  of  mine,  after  the  death  of  his  mother, 
finding  home  unpleasant  Avith  a  stepmother,  ran  away,  and 
resolved  to  go  to  Mexico,  and  change  his  name.  He  reached 
San  Antonio,  and  engaged  to  start  with  some  Mexican  cartmen 
for  Saltillo,  next  morning,  but  in  a  cabin  near  the  wagon  yard 
he  heard  the  pious  colored  people  singing  the  favorite  song 
of  his  angel  mother,  with  the  chorus,  "There  is  room  enough 
in  Paradise  to  have  a  home  in  glory."  The  song  thrilled 
his  soul  with  memories  of  home  and  mother.  He  returned 
home,  and  is  now  a  great  and  useful  citizen.  I  never  despair 
of  saving  a  boy  who  loves  home  and  mother.     Oh,  then,  in 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Bueleson.  631 

God's  name,  for  the  sake  of  our  country,  let  us  resolve  to 
make  our  homes  nurseries  of  joy,  piety,  and  patriotism,  and 
types  of  heaven!  In  this  way  alone  we  save  our  sons  and 
daughters,  and  save  our  country  from  the  coming  invasion  of 
Goths  and  Vandals  more  bloody  and  cruel  than  those  who 
pillaged  and  burned  Rome  in  the  Dark  Ages.  To  r.ttain  this 
grand  end  I  propose  the  organization  of  a  Parental  Associa- 
tion in  every  town,  to  discuss  family  government  and  turn  the 
hearts  of  all  fathers  to  their  children  and  the  hearts  of  the 
children  to  their  parents,  lest  a  just  God  shall  come  and  smite 
the  earth  with  a  curse  more  fearful  than  the  fire  and  brim- 
stone of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  or  the  floods  that  devoured 
the  whole  earth,  save  righteous  Noah  and  his  family.  But 
let  us  make  our  homes  happy;  let  us  enforce  the  seven  golden 
rules  of  family  government :  then  our  sons  and  daughters  will 
be  prepared  for  the  last  grand  battle  which  Satan  is  now  wag- 
ing to  retain  his  rulership  of  this  planet.  In  that  grand  battle 
of  giants  that  shall  jar  the  stagnant  world  to  wonder,  our  sons 
and  daughters  will  not  be  the  victims  chained  to  the  chariot 
wheels  of  that  old  dragon  Satan.  Let  us  as  Christians  and 
parents  do  our  whole  duty,  and  our  children  will  not  be  like 
dumb  cattle  driven,  but  heroes  and  heroines  in  the  strife. 
They  will  be  banner  bearers  in  that  last  great  battle  now  near 
at  hand,  when  the  devil  and  his  angels  will  be  driven  back  to 
their  home  in  hell,  and  millennial  light  and  love  shall  girdle 
this  whole  planet. 

"Then  one  song  shall  employ  all  nations, 
And  all  cry  worthy  the  Lamb,  for  he  was  slain  for  us." 

Then  shall  that  multitude  of  angels  that  sang  the  natal 
song  of  Jesus,  to  the  shepherds  on  the  mountain  of  the  East, 
return  and  shout  to  the  whole  earth,  "Glory  to  God  in  the 
highest,  peace  on  earth  and  good  will  to  men;  for  the  king- 
doms of  this  world  have  become  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and 
of  his  Christ,  and  millennial  glory  fills  the  whole  earth." 


632  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

"BEHOLD  THE  LAMB  OF  GOD." 

HIS   FIFTY-SEVENTH   ANNIVERSARY    SERMON,    PREACHED    AT    SECOND 
BAPTIST  CHURCH,  WACO,  NOVEMBER  12,  1«97. 

Text :     "Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  which  takeih  away  the  sin 

of  the  world." — John  1 :29. 

Fiftj-seven  years  to-day  I  was  licensed  to  preach  by  the 
First  Baptist  Church  of  Nashville,  Tenn.  Fifty-seven  years 
ago  I  preached  my  first  sermon  from  this  text.  The  great 
poet,  Cowper,  says,  "It  is  greatly  wise  to  talk  with  our  past 
hours;  ask  them  what  report  they  bore  to  heaven;  how  they 
might  have  borne  more  welcome  news." 

For  fifty-seven  years  I  have  observed  this  rule.  I  have 
consecrated  especially  three  days  in  thus  talking  with  my  past 
hours.  These  three  days  (1)  the  day  of  my  conversion  and 
baptism,  April  21,  1839,  (2)  the  day  on  which  m.y  angel 
mother  died,  July  12,  1839,  and  (3)  the  day  I  was  licensed 
to  preach,  ISTovember  12,  1840.  And  to-day,  dear  brethren 
and  sisters,  I  wish  to  commemorate  the  fifty-seventh  year  of 
my  consecration  to  the  glorious  w^ork  of  preaching  the  gospel. 
But  0,  how  many  changes  in  the  last  fifty-seven  years !  The 
venerable  and  beloved  pastor,  Dr.  R.  B.  C.  Howell,  the  gen- 
erous hearted  clerk,  Joseph  H.  Shepard,  the  faithful  deacons, 
J.  H.  Marshall,  James  Thomas  and  James  Mclntyre  and 
Moses  and  Aaron  Wright,  and  all  the  dear  brethren  and  sis- 
ters who  voted  so  earnestly  to  license  me,  have  crossed  over  the 
river,  all  except  one.  T,  too,  have  changed;  then  I  was  a  col- 
lege student,  17  years  old,  with  hair  white  as  snow.  But  I 
praise  God  He  has  enabled  me  to  spend  the  last  fifty-seven 
years  in  His  service.  I  have  preached  the  gospel  in  every 
town  in  Texas,  from  the  Sabine  to  the  Rio  Grande,  and  from 
San  Antonio,  Texas,  to  Boston, Massachusetts.  I  have  preached 
under  forest  trees,  in  log  cabins,  in  magnificent  churches,  in 
University  chapels  and  legislative  halls. 

Two  of  the  sublimest  verses  in  this  Book  of  God,  yea 
"this  God  of  books,"  are  these — first :  "God  said  let  there  be 
light  and  there  was  light;"  second:  "Behold  the  Lamb  of 
God  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world."  The  first, 
God  uttered  at  creation's  birth,  when  about  to  banish  darkness 
and  chaos  from  this  planet  and  flood  it  with  light,  joy  and 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Buklesox.  633 

giorj.  The  second  was  uttered  by  Jolm  the  Baptist,  when  the 
Son  of  Righteousness  was  about  to  enter  publicly  on  his  mis- 
sion of  banishing  sin,  crime  and  tears  from  this  earth  and 
girdling  it  with  millennial  light  and  joy.  The  place  where 
John  the  Baptist  uttered  my  text  suggests  its  glorious  mean- 
ing. It  was  on  this  very  spot  where  Joshua  divided  tlie  River 
Jordan,  and  two  million  Jews  passed  over  dry  shod  from 
Egyptian  bondage  into  the  land  of  Canaan.  It  was  on  this 
very  spot  that  Elijah  divided  the  river  and  passing  over  dry 
shod,  without  tasting  death,  ascended  to  glory  in  a  chariot  of 
fire.  On  this  same  spot  42,000  Ephraimites  were  slain  be- 
cause they  wickedly  attempted  to  cross  the  Jordan  without 
giving  the  true  pass  work  "Shiboleth."  Ephraimites  could 
not  pronounce  the  letter  "h"  but  said  "Siboleih." 

The  venerable  Richard  Dabbs,  an  early  pastor  of  I^ash- 
ville  church,  said  that  "h"  represents  the  heart  work  of 
religion,  and  all  who  did  not  have  the  heart  work  right, 
would,  like  the  Ephraimites,  perish  when  they  came  to  the 
Jordan  of  death.  On  the  same  spot  John  the  Baptist,  the 
Elijah  of  the  ITew  Testament,  began  his  glorious  mission  cry- 
ing aloud,  "Repent  ye,  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand," 
and  50,000  penitent  Jews  crowded  around  him  asking,  "What 
must  we  do  to  be  saved  ?"  And  confessing  and  forsaking  their 
sins,  they  were  baptized  in  the  River  Jordan,  ttius  becoming 
"a  people  made  ready  for  the  Lord."  The  Prince  of  Peace 
and  Lord  of  glory  selected  this  same  consecrated  spot  for  his 
baptism  and  entrance  upon  his  public  ministry.  And  having 
walked  seventy-five  miles  from  Galilee  he  was  here  buried 
in  holy  baptism,  setting  an  example  for  his  pv3ople  in  all  ages. 
x\nd  coming  up  out  of  the  baptismal  grave,  the  heavens 
opened  and  the  Holy  Spirit  like  a  dove  descended  from  heaven 
and  lighted  on  him  and  a  voice  from  heaven  said,  "This  is 
my  beloved  son,  hear  ye  him."  And  here  the  King  of  Zion 
having  been  annointed  by  the  Holy  Spirit  descending  and  the 
voice  of  God  proj! aiming  him  King  in  Zion,  took  charge  of 
"the  people  made  ready  for  the  Lord"  as  a  bride  adorned  for 
her  husband.  On  this  very  spot  he  organized  his  church 
against  which  the  gates  of  hell  should  never  prevail.  It  was 
here  the  little  stone  which  Daniel  saw  cut  out  without  hands, 


634  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

began  to  roll  and  increase  in  power  till  it  has  become  a  great 
mountain  and  will  soon  grind  to  powder  the  wicked  govern- 
ments of  this  world  and  fill  the  earth  with  light,  love  and 
holiness. 

We  are  not  surprised  that  our  great  and  good  Dr.  Tal- 
mage  and  a  devoted  young  Presbyterian  preacher  visiting  this 
spot  girdled  with  such  sublime  and  holy  associations,  forgot 
their  early  prejudices  and  the  young  man  was  baptized  by  Dr. 
Talmage  as  Jesus  was  on  that  very  spot  eighteen  hundred  and 
sixty  years  ago.  It  was  not  surprising  that  a  few  days  later 
a  devout  and  eloquent  Methodist  preacher,  visiting  the  same 
spot,  saw  with  overwhelming  power  the  way  that  Jesus  was 
baptized,  and  he,  too,  was  buried  in  holy  baptism  by  our  great 
Texas  missionary.  Dr.  A.  J.  Holt,  then  visiting  the  Holy 
Land.  But  glorious  and  sublime  as  was  the  place,  time  and 
preacher,  they  were  all  eclipsed  when  compared  to  the  height, 
depth,  breadth  and  length  of  the  meaning  of  the  text,  "Be- 
hold the  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the 
world."  'No  human  intellect  can  fully  grasp  the  eternal  ocean 
of  truth  in  these  words.  "But  the  Holy  Spirit  helpeth  our 
infirmities  to  understand  the  deep  things  of  God."  And  our 
Savior  promised  if  we  will  ask  our  heavenly  Father  he  will 
give  us  abundantly  the  Holy  Spirit  to  lead  us  into  all  truth. 
Let  us,  therefore,  stand  and  spend  a  few  moments,  in  silent, 
earnest  prayer  that  God  may  enable  us  to  comprehend  some- 
thing of  the  glorious  meaning  of  our  text.  Let  us  now  first 
brush  away  the  cobwebs  of  Unitarianism  and  by  the  light  of 
God's  truth  behold  the  Lamb  of  God  in  "the  glory  which  he 
had  with  the  Father  before  the  world  began."  Let  us  on  the 
wings  of  faith  soar  back  into  eternity  when  there  was  no  sun, 
no  moon,  no  stars,  no  earth;  nay,  more,  we  must  by  faith  soar 
back  into  mighty  eternity  when  not  one  of  rhe  seventy-five 
million  suns  with  their  attendant  planets  had  been  spoken  into 
existence;  nay,  still  more,  on  the  wings  of  faith  let  us  soar 
back  into  mighty  eternity  when  the  Jasper  walls  of  the  eternal 
city  with  her  golden  streets  were  not,  when  not  an  angel,  nor 
arch-angel  bent  his  wheeling  flight  around  the  throne  of  God; 
when  all  worlds,  suns,  angels,  arch-angels,  seraphim  and 
cherubim  were  sleeping  in  the  bosom  of  God  the  Father,  God 


Dr.  Eufus  C.  Burleson.  635 

the  Son  and  God  the  Holy  Spirit.  We  behold  the  Lamb  of 
God  as  The  "Word  or  eternal  Logos  sitting  ^vith  God  the 
Father  and  God  the  Holy  Spirit  on  a  resplendent  throne 
brighter  than  a  universe  of  suns. 

John  the  beloved  disciple  had  such  a  view  as  this  when 
he  said,  "In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was 
with  God,  and  the  Word  was  God.  The  same  was  in  the 
beginning  with  God.  All  things  were  made  by  Him  and  with- 
out Him  was  not  anything  made  that  was  made ;  and  the  Word 
was  made  flesh  and  dwelt  among  us,  and  we  beheld  His  glory 
as  the  glory  of  the  only  begotten  Son  full  of  grace  and  truth. 
He  was  in  the  world  and  the  world  was  made  by  him  and  the 
world  knew  Him  not."  Isaiah,  the  evangelist  prophet,  had 
this  same  glorious  view  of  the  pre-existence  of  Christ,  when  he 
said,  "Unto  us  a  child  is  born ;  unto  us  a  son  is  given ;  the  gov- 
ernment shall  be  upon  his  shoulders  and  of  the  increase  of  his 
government  there  shall  be  no  end.  He  shall  be  called  the 
Wonderful,  the  Counsellor,  the  Mighty  God,  the  Everlasting 
Father  and  the  Prince  of  Peace."  God,  the  Father,  created 
angels,  arch-angels,  cherubim  and  seraphim,  earth  and  all 
the  shining  worlds  above  us  by  the  Word.  And  when  the 
angels  who  kept  not  their  first  estate,  but  rebelled  against  God, 
they  were  cast  down  to  hell,  as  monuments  of  His  glorious  jus- 
tice, and  when  Adam,  the  younger  brother  of  angels,  sinned  in 
the  garden  of  Eden,  Justice  cried,  "Cut  him  down;  why  doth 
he  cumber  the  ground."  But  Mercy,  the  darling  attribute  of 
Deity,  cried,  "Spare  Him,  spare  Him  as  a  monument  of 
mercy."  But  Justice  thundered  louder  than  from  Sinai's 
summit,  "Man  must  die  or  justice  must  die  and  God's  great 
white  throne  be  disgraced  before  man,  angels  and  devils." 
But  Mercy  cried,  "Is  there  no  way  to  honor  and  magnify  the 
law  and  save  man  ?"  But  the  grand  mystery  of  man's  redemp- 
tion was  "sealed  in  a  book  with  seven  seals,"  and  a  strong  angel 
proclaimed  with  a  loud  voice :  "Who  is  worthy  to  open  the 
book  and  loose  the  seals  thereof?"  And  there  was  no  man 
in  heaven  or  earth  or  under  the  earth  able  to  open  thj  book 
or  even  to  look  thereon.  For  the  Kedeemer  of  man  muct  be 
immaculately  holy  and  not  under  the  law.  He  must  also  be 
equal  with  God  and  able  to  lay  one  hand  on  ths  i  potless  throne 


636  The  Life  and  Wkitings  of 

and  tlie  other  on  sinful  man  and  by  his  death  atone  for  man's- 
sin  and  lift  him  np  into  paradise.  But  no  such  being  could 
be  found  among  all  the  shining  ranks  above,  7ior  on  the  earth 
nor  under  the  earth.  John  the  beloved  disciple,  in  the  Isle  of 
Patmos,  beholding  that  no  one  was  able  to  redeem  man,  "wept 
bitterly  and  there  was  silence  in  heaven  above  the  space  of 
half  an  hour."  Finally  a  shout  was  heard  in  heaven  crying^ 
"Weep  not,  John,  behold  the  Lion  of  the  Tribe  of  Judah,  the- 
root  and  offspring  of  David,  Jesus  of  JSTazaretli,  has  prevailed 
to  open  the  book  and  to  loose  the  seals  thereof."  And  "they 
sang  a  new  song,  saying.  Thou  art  worthy  to  take  the  book 
and  open  the  seals  thereof,  for  thou  wast  slain  and  hast  re- 
deemed us  to  God  by  Thy  blood  and  made  us  kings  and  priests- 
unto  God."  And  this  wonderful  mystery  of  man's  redemption 
by  the  blood  of  Christ  that  bewildered  angels  and  caused 
silence  in  heaven  for  half  an  hour  has  been  a  mystery  in  all 
ages.  Paul  said  in  his  day  that  Christ  crucified  is  to  the  Jew& 
a  stumbling  block  and  to  the  Greeks  foolishness,  but  unto  them 
that  are  called,  it  is  the  power  of  God  and  the  wisdom  of  God. 
And  the  first  step  and  the  only  way  to  understand  this  mystery 
is  to  understand  clearly  what  law  is  and  the  absolute  necessity 
of  maintaining  law.  We  must  learn  that  law  is  not,  as  many 
suppose,  despotism  or  tyranny,  but  a  mode  of  existence  or 
order  of  sequence  established  by  a  God  of  love,  for  the  har- 
mony of  the  universe  and  for  the  happiness  of  men  and  angels. 
A  great  philosopher  has  truly  said  of  law :  "Her  seat  is  in  the- 
bosom  of  God.  Her  voice  is  heard  in  the  harmony  of  the  uni- 
verse. The  greatest  are  not  aboye  her  control  and  the  least 
are  secure  under  her  protecting  power."  Whoever,  therefore^ 
tramples  on  law  is  an  enemy  to  God,  to  man  and  his  own  souL 
Obedience  to  law  fills  earth  and  heaven  with  rejoicing.  Tramp- 
ling on  law  fills  earth  with  tears,  mourning,  war  and  blood- 
shed. A  clear  understanding  and  rigid  observance  of  law 
gave  Greece  and  Rome  their  greatness  and  glory,  but  tramp- 
ling on  law  plunged  them  into  a  vortex  of  blood  and  anarchy. 
Oh,  that  God  would  enable  us  all  to  understand,  as  citizens^ 
the  sacredness  of  law,  then  we  would  not  only  be  able  to  save 
our  country  from  ruin  but  clearly  understand  the  glorious 
plan  of  redemption  through  the  blood  of  Christ.     Paul,  who> 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  637 

liad  been  caught  to  the  third  heaven  c.nd  heard  and  saw 
things  unlawful  for  man  to  utter,  understood  this  profound 
mystery  and  said  ''For  as  much  as  the  children  were  partakers 
•of  ilesli  and  blood  he  also  took  part  of  the  same,  that  he 
through  death  might  destroy  him  that  had  the  power  of  death, 
that  is  the  devil.  For  it  behooved  him  in  all  things  to  bo  made 
like  unto  his  brethren  that  he  might  be  a  merciful  high  priest. 
And  in  the  fulness  of  time  we  behold  the  Lamb  of  Grod 
descending  from  His  resplendent  throne  and  becoming  flesh 
and  blood  and  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary.  This  marvelous 
stoop  of  infinite  love  and  mercy  caused  heaven  and  earth  to 
rejoice. 

And  shepherds  who  kept  their  flocks  by  night  oh  the 
mountains  of  Judea  heard  angels  shouting,  "Glory  to  God  in 
the  highest;  peace  on  earth,  good  will  to  men.  Fear  ye  not, 
for  behold  we  bring  you  glad  tidings  of  great  joy,  for  unto 
you  is  born  this  day  in  the  city  of  David  a  child  which  is 
Christ  Jesus  the  Lord."  And  a  resplendent  «tar  ccme  from 
the  East  followed  by  the  wise  men  saying,  "Where  is  he  that 
is  born  king  of  the  Jews,  for  behold  we  have  seen  his  star 
in  the  East  and  have  come  to  worship  Him."  And  when  the 
star  guided  them  to  Bethlehem,  they  fell  down  end  worshipped 
Him,  offering  Him  gold,  frankincense  and  myrrh.  But  alas, 
in  this  sad  world  when  the  sons  of  God  come  to  worship, 
Satan  also  comes.  When  our  beautiful  prairies  are  carpeted 
with  unending  green  and  variegated  with  ten  thousand  flow- 
ers, then  the  dreaded  tarantula  and  hissing  adders  crawl  forth 
from  their  dens.  So  while  heaven  and  earth  rejoice  at  the 
birth  of  the  Prince  of  Peace,  the  Savior  of  men,  Satan  know- 
ing that  he  came  to  take  away  sin  and  destroy  his  power  on 
earth,  stirred  up  his  servant,  Herod,  to  seek  the  young  child 
to  put  him  to  death.  And  when  he  could  not  And  him,  he  sent 
his  brutal  soldiers  and  slew  all  the  male  children  in  Bethlehem 
under  two  years  of  age.  But  Joseph  being  warned  of  God, 
took  the  young  child  and  his  mother  and  fled  into  Egypt,  and 
was  there  till  Herod  died,  and  went  down  to  his  place  among 
the  lost  spirits,  where  he  is  at  this  very  moment  crying  for 
a  drop  of  water  to  cool  his  parched  tongue.  But  let  us  now 
behold  the  Lamb  of  God  as  he  begins  to  make  an  r.tonement 


638  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

for  our  sins,  first  by  a  life  of  perfect  obedience  to  law,  for  let 
it  never  be  forgotten  that  Christ's  life  of  obedience  to  law, 
human  and  divine,  in  every  jot  and  tittle,  from  the  cradle  to 
the  grave,  was  as  essential  to  an  atonement  for  our  sins  as  was 
His  sufferings  on  the  cross.  Had  he  ever  violated  one  law, 
or  omitted  one  duty,  the  redemption  of  man  would  have  failed. 
Hence  Christ  was  a  model  of  perfect  holiness.  He  ^7as  a  per- 
fect son,  an  upright  citizen  and  a  devoted  friend  from  the 
cradle  to  the  grave.  So  that  men  and  devils  ven  were  con- 
strained to  say  with  Pilate,  "We  find  no  fault  in  hir^."  And 
when  he  had  thus  magnified  the  law  and  made  it  honorable  by 
thirty  years'  of  obedience  he  entered  upon  his  public  ministry, 
organized  his  church,  or  kingdom,  and  instructed  the  preach- 
ers and  members,  and  died  on  the  cross,  thus  making  a  com- 
plete atonement  for  our  sins.  First  let  us  behold  him  walking 
seventy-five  miles  from  Galilee  to  Jordan  to  be  baptized  of 
John,  but  when  John  forbade  him,  and  falling  at  his  feet, 
said :  "Lord,  I  have  need  to  be  baptized  of  Thee,  and  cometh 
Thou  to  me."  O,  Christian,  hear  your  Lord  .md  Master  say, 
"Suffer  it  to  be  so  now,  John,  for  thus  it  becom.eth  us  to  fulfill 
all  righteousness."  And  when  Jesus  was  baptized,  going 
straightway  up  out  of  the  water,  the  heavens  opened  and  the 
Spirit  (anointing  him  King  in  Zion)  was  seen  to  descend  like  a 
dove,  lighting  upon  him,  and  a  voice  from  heaven  said,  "This 
is  my  beloved  Son  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased,  hear  him." 
Having  thus  entered  upon  his  public  ministry  and  being 
anointed  by  the  Holy  Spirit  and  recognized  by  a  voice  from 
heaven  as  King  in  Zion,  let  us  now  behold  him  organizing 
"the  people  made  ready  for  the  Lord"  into  a  kingdom  and 
church.  We  see  the  Lamb  of  God  founded  his  church  on  the 
grandest  philosophy  of  good  government;  that  is,  "a  govern- 
ment of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  people."  It  was 
a  government  in  which  there  were  no  popes,  no  prelates,  no 
bishops,  no  lords  over  God's  heritage.  In  jhis  government 
every  man  was  his  own  master,  subject  only  and  always  to  the 
\vill  of  the  majority  of  his  equals,  executing  the  laws  of  the 
kingdom  of  Christ.  Let  us  never  forget  that  a  government 
thus  organized  is  not  an  unwieldy  mob.  It  is  a  grand  historic 
fact  that  governments  thus  organized  have  achieved  the  great- 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  639 

est  victories  of  earth.  It  was  such  a  government  that  won  the 
victory  of  Thermopylae,  Marathon,  Leuctra,  Runnymede, 
Bunker  Hill,  Yorktown  and  San  Jacinto.  It  was  tliis  govern- 
ment that  made  Greece  and  Rome  immortal;  but  when  ambi- 
tion, corruption  and  ignorance  overthrew  this  government, 
Greece  and  Rome  were  plunged  into  an  ocean  of  blood  and 
anarchy.  It  is  a  well  established  fact  that  Thomas  Jefferson, 
one  of  the  greatest  statesmen  of  earth,  got  his  model  for  the 
government  of  our  glorious  Republic  from  this  model  given 
by  our  Lord  and  Savior  to  his  church.  In  1770  he  visited  the 
Baptist  church  near  his  home,  and  here  he  saw  for  the  first 
time  a  government  of  pure  Democracy.  He  saw  the  election 
of  pastors  and  deacons,  and  all  things  done  by  the  will  of  the 
majority,  subject  only  to  the  Bible.  After  attending  several 
meetings  with  delight  and  astonishment  he  invited  the  vener- 
able pastor,  Elder  A.  D.  Trimble,  home  with  him  f.nd  asked 
him :  "Where  did  you  get  your  form  of  church  government, 
and  how  long  have  you  had  it?"  Elder  Trimble  answered: 
"We  got  it  from  the  JSTew  Testament,  as  taught  by  our  blessed 
Savior,  and  have  had  it  from  the  very  hour  he  said.  Thou  art 
Peter,  and  upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  church,  and  the 
gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it,  and  our  blessed 
Savior  has  preserved  his  church  through  all  the  dark  ages  and 
bloody  persecutions  to  this  very  hour."  The  grand  statesman 
said :  "Is  it  possible  that  Jesus  established  a  form  of  govern- 
ment so  grand  and  so  simple  ?  It  is  the  government  we  need 
for  these  colonies."  l^ot  only  was  our  beloved  republic  founded 
on  the  model  God  gave  to  his  church,  but  the  greatest  men.  and 
greatest  nations  of  earth  are  fast  tending  to  this  heaven-given 
model  of  government.  Let  us  inquire  then  prayerfully  what 
are  the  greatest  essential  points  of  this  government.  First, 
every  local  church  or  congregation  is  independent  and  sov- 
ereign and  not  to  be  controlled  by  any  synod,  diocese  or  con- 
vention. There  are  no  bishops,  no  popes,  no  lords  over  God's 
heritage  in  the  church  as  organized  by  Jesus.  Our  blessed 
Savior  settled  this  question  forever,  when  there  was  a  strife 
among  the  apostles  who  should  be  the  greatest.  He  said  unto 
them,  "The  kings  of  the  Gentiles  exercise  lordship  over  them, 
and  they  that  exercise  authority  over  them  are  called  bene- 


640  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

factors,  but  it  shall  not  be  so  among  you,  but  he  that  is  greatest 
among  you  let  him  be  as  the  younger,  and  he  that  is  chief  as 
he  that  doth  serve.  One  is  your  Master,  even  Christ,  and  al] 
ye  are  brethren."  And  when  he  said,  "If  thy  brother  tres- 
pass against  thee,  tell  him  his  fault  between  thee  and  him 
alone;  if  he  will  not  hear  thee,  take  with  thee  two  or  three 
more;  and  if  he  will  not  hear,  tell  it  to  the  church;  and  if  he 
will  not  hear  the  church,  let  him  be  to  thee  as  a  heathen  and 
publican,"  He  demonstrated  that  the  church  was  the  highest 
and  only  authority  in  all  matters  of  church  government.  And 
when  the  successor  of  Judas  was  to  be  elected,  they  were  to- 
gether continuing  in  prayer  and  supplication,  and  one  hundred 
and  twenty  names,  among  them  were  the  women  and  Mary, 
the  mother  of  Jesus.  And  after  earnest  prayer  for  God's  direc- 
tion they  gave  forth  their  lots,  or  votes,  and  the  vote  fell  upon 
Mathias,  and  he  was  numbered  with  the  eleven  apostles.  And 
when  the  seven  deacons  were  to  be  elected  the  apostles  called 
the  multitude  of  the  disciples,  men  and  women,  together,  and 
they  chose  the  seven  deacons,  whom  they  set  before  the 
apostles  who  laid  hands  on  them  and  ordained  them,  not  to 
preach,  "but  to  serve  tables  and  look  after  the  poor."  And 
when  Paul  and  Barnabas  were  to  be  sent  on  the  first  grand 
mission  to  the  Gentiles,  they  were  sent  forth,  not  by  a  pope, 
or  bishop,  but  by  the  church.  (See  Acts  13  :3.)  And  when 
a  member  of  the  church  at  Corinth  committed  a  great  sin, 
Paul,  though  he  had  been  caught  up  to  the  third  heavens  and 
heard  and  saw  things  not  lawful  for  a  man  to  utter,  did  not 
dare  to  excommunicate  the  offender,  but  wrote  to  the  church 
at  Corinth  (see  1  Cor.  5  :45)  :  "When  ye  are  gathered  together 
and  my  spirit  is  with  you,  deliver  such  an  one  unto  satan,  for 
the  destruction  of  the  flesh."  And  when  that  offender  became 
■deeply  penitent,  Paul  did  not  restore  him,  but  wrote  to  the 
-church  (2  Cor.  6  :Y)  :  "Sufficient  to  such  a  man  is  the  punish- 
ment which  was  inflicted  of  the  many,  or  the  majority;  for- 
give ye  such  an  one,  lest  perhaps  such  an  one  should  be  swal- 
lowed up  with  much  sorrow,"  Popery,  or  Episcopacy,  were 
imknown  in  the  church  till  the  day  of  the  bloody  Phocas, 
and  the  equally  bloody  Pope  Boniface,  607  A,  D.  Satan  seeing 
the  government  Jesus  gave  his  church  was  destroying  his 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  641 

kingdom,  used  all  his  satanic  power  to  destroy  that  God-given 
form  of  government  and  used  these  ambitious  men  to  intro- 
duce poperj  and  Episcopacy  and  affect  a  union  of  church  and 
state;  when  the  true  church  of  Christ  never  had  auy  union 
with  the  state.  But  the  church  of  Christ  maintaining  the 
same  government  he  gave  them  on  the  banks  of  the  Jordan, 
retired  to  the  Avilderness,  first  among  the  Albigenses  and  Wald- 
enses,  and  then  into  the  valley  of  Wales,  and  then  into  the 
wilds  of  America,  and  has  preserved  that  same  government  to 
this  very  hour.  Another  great  essential  element  in  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  church  of  Christ  is,  that  no  man  or  woman, 
however  great,  or  rich,  should  ever  enter  without  being  con- 
verted and  maintaining  a  high,  moral  and  Christian  character. 
Jeremiah  foretelling  the  glory  of  the  Idngdom  to  be  set  up 
by  our  blessed  Savior,  said :  "They  shall  not  teach  every  man 
his  neighbor  and  every  man  his  brother,  saying,  Know  ye  the 
Lord;  for  all  shall  know  him,  from  the  least  even  to  the 
greatest."  And  when  the  Jews  came  to  John  the  Baptist,  de- 
siring to  enter  this  new  kingdom,  on  the  ground  that  they  were 
children  of  Abraham,  John  said :  "Think  not  to  say  Avithin 
you,  we  are  the  children  of  Abraham;  for  except  ye  be  con- 
verted ye  can  not  enter  the  kingdom."  God  gave  a  grand 
illustration  of  this  truth  in  the  building  of  Solomon's  Temple. 
In  the  erection  of  that  grand  building  no  sound  of  the  hammer 
was  ever  heard,  every  stone,  every  beam,  every  pillar  was  with 
wonderful  skill  hewn  and  shaped  so  as  to  precisely  fit  ita 
proper  place.  So  in  the  spiritual  temple  of  God,  all  the 
material  should  be  well  prepared,  well  shaped,  so  as  to  fit  into 
the  building  without  noise  or  friction.  It  is  a  glorious  truth 
that  the  church  or  kingdom  of  the  blessed  Savior  thus  organ- 
ized, has  stood  amid  the  burning  fagots  of  J^J'ero  and  Smith- 
field,  Bedford  jail  of  England  and  the  whipping  posts  of  I^Tew 
Ei^gland.  She  has  crossed  the  wide  Atlantic  and  the  mighty 
Mississippi  into  the  wilds  of  Texas.  Here  that  church  stands 
oil  the  banks  of  the  Brazos  that  was  organized  on  the  banks  of 
the  Jordan  1886  years  ago.  Having  now  seen  how  the  Lamb 
of  God  organized  his  kingdom,  let  us  mark  his  first  great  con- 
flict with  sin  and  satan,  which  was  to  regain  in  the  wilderness 
what  Adam  lost  in  Eden.    Immediately  after  his  baptism  and 

41 


642  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

establishment  of  his  church,  Jesus  retired  to  the  wilderness 
and  spent  forty  days  in  prayer  and  fasting  all  alone  among  the 
wild  beasts,  and  when  he  was  hungered  satan  came  to  him  and 
began  tempting  him,  as  he  did  Eve  in  the  garden  of  Eden. 
I  deeply  regret  that  no  subject  in  the  Bible  is  so  little  under- 
stood as  "the  fall  of  man,"  or  the  sin  of  our  first  parents  in 
Eden.  Such  superfcial  thinkers  and  flippant  talkers  as  Tom 
Paine  and  Bob  IngersoU  say  the  sin  of  Adam  was  "eating  an 
apple,"  and  ridicule  Christians  for  believing  that  God  would 
drive  Adam  and  Eve  out  of  Eden  and  punish  them  and  the 
whole  human  family  with  death  for  merely  "eating  an  apple." 
And  as  we  cannot  understand  fully  the  temptation  and  vic- 
tory of  Christ  without  understanding  the  temptation  and  fall 
of  Adam,  let  us  inquire  in  what  did  the  sin  of  Adam  consist. 
By  analyzing  the  sin  of  Adam,  profoundly  and  philosophic- 
ally, we  find  it  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  laws  of  man's 
moral  nature,  as  defined  by  John  Locke,  Dugald  Stewart,  Dr. 
Wayland,  and  all  great  philosophers.  These  great  philosoph- 
ers tell  us  there  are  four  propelling  powers  in  the  moral  and 
spiritual  nature  of  man.  (1)  "The  appetites,  or  desires  for 
food,  drink  and  whatever  satisfies  the  body."  (2)  "The  pas- 
sions, as  love,  ambition,  hate  and  whatever  guides  man  in  his 
social  intercourse.  (3)  "Self-love  that  guides  with  sleepless 
vigilance,  all  that  promotes  individual  happiness."  (4)  "Con- 
science, which  discriminates  moral  qualities."  All  these 
powers,  as  God  created  them,  are  essential  to  die  happiness  of 
man;  but  when  perverted  by  sin  they  bring  confusion,  woe 
and  death  on  families,  cities  and  nations.  In  the  divine 
economy  conscience  is  supreme,  self-love  second,  passion  third, 
appetite  fourth,  and  last  of  all.  I^ow  Satan  first  appealed  to 
the  appetite,  saying:  "This  fruit  is  pleasant  to  the  taste, 
therefore  eat  it."  But  conscience  thundered,  "We  must  not 
eat  it,  nor  touch  it,  lest  we  die."  Satan  then  appealed  to  her 
passions  or  love  of  the  beautiful,  saying:  "It  is  beautiful  to 
the  eye,  beautiful  to  behold,  therefore  eat  it."  But  conscience 
still  thundered,  "We  must  not  touch  it  lest  we  die."  Satan 
then  appealed  to  that  powerful  passion  in  the  human  heart, 
"self-love,"  saying :  "God  doth  know  that  if  you  eat  this  you 
shall  not  surelv  die,  but  shall  become  as  gods,  knowing  good 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  64-;! 

and  evil."  Alas!  alas!  wlien  self-love,  passion  and  appetite 
all  rebelled  they  hurled  conscience  from  the  throne  and  tramp- 
led her  into  dust  5  and  unbridled  appetite,  passion  and  self- 
love,  a  trinity  of  evils,  mounted  the  vacant  throne  and  man 
became  the  bond  slave  of  sin  and  Satan.  jSTow  Jesus  the  Lamb 
of  God  comes  to  crucify  and  subdue  appetite,  passion  and  self- 
love,  and  by  regeneration  replace  conscience  en  the  throne. 
The  first  step  in  this  glorious  work  is  to  meet  and  conquer 
Satan  on  the  same  battlefield  of  temptation  where  Adam  was 
conquered,  and  show  man,  in  all  ages,  how  to  resist  and  over- 
come temptation.  He  came  to  our  Savior  as  he  did  to  Eve, 
first  appealing  to  his  appetite  of  hunger,  and  said :  "If  thou 
be  the  Son  of  God  command  these  stones  to  be  made  bre  ul 
Jesus  refused  to  obey,  saying,  "It  is  written  man  shall  not  live 
by  bread  alone,  but  by  every  word  that  proceedeth  out  of  tiie 
mouth  of  God."  Satan  then,  as  he  did  mth  our  first  parents 
in  Eden,  appealed  to  passion,  especially  love  of  display.  He 
taketh  him  up  into  the  pinnacle  of  the  temple,  where  there 
were  two  million  Jews  assembled  for  the  passover  feast  in 
Jerusalem,  and  said:  "If  thou  be  the  Son  of  God,  cast  thy- 
self down  from  thence;  for  it  is  written  He  will  give  his 
angels  charge  concerning  thee,  lest  at  any  tim.e  thou  dash  thy 
foot  against  a  stone.  But  Jesus  said  it  is  written,  "Thou  shalt 
not  tempt  the  Lord  thy  God."  Satan  then  taketh  him  up  into 
an  exceeding  high  mountain  and  sho^veth  him  all  the  king- 
doms and  all  the  Tammany  Halls  of  the  world,  and  said: 
"All  these  are  mine,  and  I  will  give  them  unto  thee  if  thou 
wilt  fall  down  and  worship  me."  But  Jesus  said :  "Get  thee 
behind  me  Satan;  it  is  written,  Thou  shalt  Avorship  the  Lord 
thy  God  and  him  only  shalt  thou  serve."  Then  Satan  leaveth 
him  and  good  angels  came  and  ministered  unto  him,  for  he 
had  magnified  the  law  that  Adam  had  violated  in  the  garden 
of  Eden,  and  left  an  example  for  men  in  all  ages  how  to  resist 
the  temptation  of  the  devil. 

Having  now  beheld  the  Lamb  of  God  in  his  glorious  work 
of  setting  up  his  kingdom  and  his  glorious  triumph  over  satan's 
temptations  in  the  wilderness,  let  us  behold  him  as  a  preacher 
of  righteousness,  instructing  his  apostles  and  followers  in  the 
doctrines  and  duties  of  his  kingdom. 


644  -  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

He  went  up  into  the  mountain  with  his  opostles  and  the 
people  came  unto  him,  and  he  preached  his  over  memorable 
sermon  called  "the  sermon  on  the  mount."  The  first  sentence 
is  "Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit  for  theirs  is  the  kingdom 
of  heaven;  blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart  for  they  shnll  see 
God."  Gladstone,  the  greatest  statesman  now  on  earth,  says : 
"There'  are  more  lessons  of  wisdom  and  morality  in  this  one 
sermon,  than  in  all  the  teachings  of  Socrates,  Aristotle  and  the 
greatest  philosophers  of  Greece  and  Rome  combined."  It 
teaches  all  men,  rich  and  poor,  learned  and  unlearned,  !iow  tu 
live  happily  in  this  world  and  to  prepare  for  the  world  to 
come."  Even  his  enemies  sent  by  the  high  priest  to  r.rrest 
him  were  so  overwhelmed  Avith  his  sublime  and  heart  search- 
ing truths,  that  they  returned  saying :  "Xever  man  spake  like 
this  man."  But  time  forbids  us  to  follow  him  in  his  sublime 
and  holy  teachings.  But  I  exhort  you,  my  dear  hearers,  to 
read  and  study  these  glorious  lessons  daily,  often  on  youf 
knees.  It  is  a  mournful  fact  that  many  Christians  and  even 
preachers,  are  growing  more  and  more  careless  about  read- 
ing God's  word.  But  it  is  a  sad  fact  that  whi'e  the  teachings 
of  some  men  are  noble  and  sublime,  they  do  not  practice  them 
in  their  daily  lives.  But  our  blessed  Savior  Wi'ut  about  doing 
good,  healing  the  sick,  opening  the  eyes  of  the  blind,  unstop- 
ping the  ears  of  the  deaf,  causing  the  lame  to  walk,  and  rais- 
ing the  dead. 

l^ow  let  us  behold  with  adoring  love  his  sympathy  for  the 
poor,  the  weeping  and  broken  hearted.  Sec  him  weeping 
with  Mary  and  Martha  at  the  grave  of  their  beloved  Lazarus, 
till  his  vilest  enemies  said,  behold  how  he  loved  him.  And 
hear  him  saying,  "Lazarus,  come  forth."  And  Jesus  restores 
him  to  the  joyful  embrace  of  his  sisters.  Behold  also  his 
tender  sympathy  for  the  widow  at  JSTain,  following  her  only 
son  to  the  grave.  He  touches  the  coffin  and  says,  "Young  man, 
arise."  And  he  arose  up  before  the  astonished  multitude  and 
he  restores  him  to  his  mother's  loving  embrace.  Behold 
also  his  tender  love  for  little  children,  when  the  mothers 
brought  them  to  Jesus,  the  preachers  rebuked  ihem ;  but  when 
Jesus  saw  it,  he  was  much  displeased  and  said,  "Suffer  the 
little  children  to  come  unto  me,  and  forbid  them  not,  for  of 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  645 

such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  Oh  if  the  300,000  Baptists 
of  Texas,  white  and  colored,  would  follow  the  example  of  our 
hlessed  Savior,  Texas  would  soon  become  what  her  name  in 
the  Aztec  language  means,  "A  paradise."  But  while  our 
Savior  was  thus  going  about  and  doing  good  he  said  the  "Foxes 
have  holes,  and  the  birds  have  nests,  but  the  Son  of  Man  hath 
not  where  to  lay  his  head."  And  while  he  is  teaching  these 
heavenly  doctrines  of  joy  and  salvation,  satan  stirred  up  the 
hearts  of  wicked  men  to  say,  "He  hath  a  devil,  and  casteth  out 
devils  by  Beelzebub,  away  with  him,  he  is  not  fit  to  live." 
All  because  his  spotless  life  and  heavenly  teaching  exposed 
their  sinful  hearts  and  wicked  practices. 

Let  us  now  behold  the  Lamb  of  God  as  he  offers  up  his 
life  in  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane  and  on  the  cross  of  Calvary. 
This  wonderful  offering  of  the  Lamb  of  God  was  in  immediate 
connection  with  the  Passover  feast  of  the  Jews.  When  the 
Lord  sent  the  Angel  of  Death  to  destroy  tbe  first  bom  of 
every  family  in  Egypt,  he  commanded  Moses  to  instruct  every 
family  in  Egypt  to  kill  a  spotless  lamb  and  sprinkle  the  door 
potts  with  its  blood,  and  the  angel  of  death  would  pass  over 
every  house,  on  which  the  blood  of  the  lamb  was  sprinkled. 
The  Jews  had  observed  that  ordinance  for  1500  years,  com- 
memorating the  saving  of  the  Jewish  families  by  the  sprink- 
ling of  the  blood  of  the  lamb.  This  passover  feast  also  pointed 
forward  to  the  time  when  the  blood  of  the  true  Lamb  of  God 
should  be  poured  out  to  sprinkle  and  cleanse  every  human 
heart  from  sin.  The  Savior  observed  that  solemn  feast,  point- 
ing to  his  own  death.  And  while  eating  this  passover  supper 
with  his  twelve  apostles,  he  said  with  grief,  "Verily,  verily,  I 
say  unto  you,  one  of  you  shall  betray  me,  and  it  were  better 
for  him  if  he  had  never  been  born.".  And  they  began  to  say 
"Lord  is  it  I?"  And  Jesus  said,  "It  is  he  to  whom  T  shall 
give  the  sop  when  I  have  dipped  it."  And  having  dipped  it, 
he  gave  it  to  Judas  Iscariot,  who  had  already  covenanted  with 
the  Jews  to  betray  him.  And  Judas  said  with  brazen  impud- 
ence, "Lord,  is  it  I?"  And  Judas  having  received  the  sop 
went  out  immediately.  After  eating  the  passover  supper,  and 
after  Judas  had  gone  out,  the  blessed  Savior  instituted  the 
Lord's  Supper.    Which  should,  through  all  the  coming  ages, 


646  The  Life  and  Wkitings  of 

point  back  to  the  death  of  the  Lamb  of  God.  He  took  bread 
and  blessed  and  break  it,  and  gave  it  to  his  disciples,  saying : 
"Take,  eat,  this  is  my  body;  and  He  took  the  cup  and  gave 
thanks  and  gave  it  to  them  saying,  drink  ye  all  of  it,  for  this 
is  my  blood  of  the  ISTew  Testament,  which  is  «hed  for  the  re- 
mission of  sins."  And  when  they  had  sung  a  hymn  they  went 
ov*  into  Gethsemane,  where  Jesus  often  resorted  with  his  dis- 
ciples. And  Jesus,  bearing  the  sins  of  the  whole  world,  said : 
"My  soul  is  exceedingly  sorrowful,  even  unto  death."  "Watch 
ye  here,  while  I  go  and  pray  yonder."  And  he  went  v  little 
farther  and  fell  on  his  face,  saying :  "Oh,  my  Father,  if  it  be 
possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  me ;  nevertheless  not  as  I  will, 
but  as  thou  wilt."  And  he  cometh  to  his  disciples  and  findeth 
them  asleep.  He  went  away  a  second  time  and  prayed,  "Oh, 
my  Father,  if  this  cup  may  not  pass  away  from  me  except  I 
drink  it,  thy  will  be  done."  And  being  in  an  agony,  he  prayed 
more  earnestly  and  his  sweat  as  it  were  great  drops  of  blood 
falling  down  to  the  ground. 

Oh,  my  hearers,  let  us  by  faith  behold  the  Lamb  of  God 
as  pressed  down  to  earth  with  a  mountain  load  of  our  sins, 
and  hear  him  say,  as  the  drops  of  blood  are  falling,  "This  blood 
is  for  thy  ransom  paid,  I  die  that  thou  mayest  live." 

Skeptics  have  sneeringly  asked  why  Socrates  could  drink 
the  fatal  hemlock,  and  die  so  calmly  without  a  tear  or  groan, 
yet  Jesus  the  Son  of  God  fell  to  the  ground  and  shed  great 
drops  of  blood.  Yet  alas,  alas,  in  their  blindness  they  do  not 
see  that  Jesus  was  bearing  sins  and  the  sins  of  the  whole  world. 
For  the  "Lord  had  laid  upon  him  the  iniquity  of  us  all,  and  the 
sins  of  the  whole  world."  Oh,  sinner,  it  was  your  sins  and 
my  sins,  that  pressed  the  innocent  Lamb  of  God  to  the  earth. 
And  if  he  had  not  takeij  away  our  sins  they  would  sink  us 
do-wn  to  a  gulf  of  dark  despair,  and  through  all  ages  we 
would  cry  for  a  drop  of  water  to  cool  our  parched  tongues. 
And  behold  the  Lamp  of  God  in  our  stead  wearing  a  croVvn 
of  thorns,  that  we  might  wear  a  star  gemmed  crown  of  glory. 
And  he  wears  a  mock  robe  of  royalty  that  we  may  wear  a 
spotless  robe  of  white  for  evermore.  And  he  hangs  on  the 
bloody  cross,  that  we  may  sit  on  resplendent  thrones.  For 
behold  the  Lamb  of  God  as  he  bears  his  cross  laden  with  the 
sins  of  the  world  up  Calvary's  summit.     He  faints  and  falls 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  647 

to  the  ground.  And  behold  the  Lamb  of  God  as  he  is  nailed 
to  the  cross.  Oh,  my  hearers,  see  his  precious  blood  as  it 
flows  from  his  head,  crowned  with  thorns,  and  his  hands  and 
feet,  pierced  with  nails,  and  his  loving  heart,  pierced  with  the 
cruel  spear.  All  for  you  and  for  me.  Let  us  go  and  stand 
with  his  weeping  mother  and  loving  disciples  by  his  cross,  and 
hear  his  trembling,  dying  lips  say:  "This  lilood  is  for  thy 
ransom  paid;  I  die  that  thou  mayest  live."  Behold  while  the 
Lamb  of  God  is  thus  offering  his  soul  a  sacrifice  to  take  away 
sin,  heaven  and  earth  and  angels  sympathize  v/ith  their  dying 
Lord.  The  earth  trembles  and  quakes.  The  rocks  open  their 
dumb  mouths  and  rebuke  the  madness  and  crime  of  men. 
The  graves  open  their  mouths  and  the  sainted  dead  come  forth. 
The  sun  refuses  to  look  on  the  a^vful  scene  and  hides  his  face 
and  leaves  the  world  in  darkness  at  mid-day  for  three  liours. 
Sixty  thousand  angels  gather  round  the  throne  of  God,  ready 
to  rush  down  and  sink  this  world  to  hell,  and  on  wings  of  love 
bear  their  Lord  and  Master  back  to  his  throne  of  glory.  But 
after  hanging  three  dreadful  hours  in  agony,  the  Lamb  of 
God  cried  aloud,  with  a  voice  that  shakes  earth  and  hell,  and 
echoes  amid  all  the  shining  ranks  of  angels,  "It  is  finished,  it 
is  finished."  The  atonement  of  the  sin  of  the  Avorld  is  fin- 
ished. "O  Father,  into  thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit." 
And  while  his  soul  ascends  to  paradise  his  body  enters  the 
grave.  And  there  grapples  with  death  for  three  days  and 
three  nights.  When,  behold,  we  hear  him  shout,  "Oh,  death, 
where  is  thy  sting;  oh,  grave,  where  is  thy  victory?"  And  he 
trampled  on  the  power  of  death  and  comes  forth  a  glorious 
conqueror.  And  now  behold  the  Lamb  of  God  as  in  triumph 
he  walks  the  earth.  And  for  forty  days  he  miiigles  with  the 
rejoicing  disciples  and  instructs  them  fully  as  to  their  duties 
and  the  future  glorious  triumphs  of  the  gospel,  in  banishing 
sin  and  Satan  from  the  earth. 

And,  finally,  behold  the  Lamb  of  God  as  surroimded  by 
the  apostles  and  the  five  hundred  disciples  he  ascends  Mount 
Olivet,  and,  standing  on  that  heaven  towering  summit,  says : 
"Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every 
creature,  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  Son  and 
Holy  Ghost;  and  lo  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end 
of  the  world." 


648  The  Life  and  "Writings  of 

And  now  behold  him  as  in  a  chariot  of  fire,  escorted  by 
millions  of  angels  and  redeemed  spirits,  he  ascends  above  suns, 
moons  and  stars  as  conqueror  over  death,  hell  and  the  grave 
to  heaven  and  glory,  and  takes  his  seat  on  the  mediatorial 
throne  to  intercede  for  sinners  and  pour  down  blessings  on  the 
church,  till  sin  shall  be  taken  away  from  this  world. 

E^ow,  oh,  my  unconverted  friend,  hear  him  as  he  hits  on 
the  throne  of  mercy,  saying:  "father,  behold  the  prints  of 
the  nails  in  my  hands  and  the  spear  thrust  in  my  side,  and 
forgive  that  young  man,  forgive  that  young  lady,  forgive  that 
prayerless  father,  and  that  prayerless  mother."  And  he  will 
continue  these  intercessions  till  sin  is  taken  from  the  world 
and  this  world  becomes  a  paradise.  Let  us  now  behold  the 
Lamb  of  God,  as  crowned  with  glory  he  sits  upon  the  media- 
torial throne  and  guides  his  church  or  army  on  earth  in  taking 
away  sin  and  driving  Satan  from  this  planet.  His  first  grand 
act  of  mercy  is  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  to  pour  out  his  Holy 
Spirit  on  his  church  assembled  in  prayer.  He  thus  enabled 
his  preachers  to  tell  the  story  of  the  cross  in  seventeen  different 
languages,  and  three  thousand  were  added  to  the  church  in 
one  day.  Very  soon  we  hear  that  five  thousand  men  are  con- 
verted on  seeing  the  miracles  and  hearing  the  sermons  of  Peter 
and  John  in  one  day.  In  less  than  one  year  we  hear  the 
scribes  and  Pharisees  saying  in  despair,  "Ye  have  filled  Jeru- 
salem with  your  doctrine."  Soon  we  hear  that  Symaria  has 
received  the  word  of  salvation.  And  Ave  see  the  learned 
young  Saul  of  Tarsus  on  his  way  to  Damascus  to  arrest  and 
carry  all  Christian  men  and  women  down  to  Jerusalem,  by 
the  power  of  Jesus  falling  to  the  ground  and  hearing  a  voice 
saying,  "Saul,  Saul,  why  persecuteth  thou  me?"  And  the 
bloody  persecutor,  converted  by  the  blood  of  Jesus,  says, 
•'•'Lord,  what  will  thou  have  me  to  do  ?"  And  after  his  con- 
version and  baptism  he  becomes  a  powerful  preacher  of  the 
glorious  gospel,  before  the  priests,  philosophers  and  kings  of 
the  earth.  And  we  hear  the  allies  of  Satan  crying:  "Lo, 
these  men  that  have  turned  the  world  upside  down,  have  come 
hither  also."  And  we  hear  the  despairing  idolaters  raising 
the  vain  cry,  "Great  is  Diana  of  the  Ephesians."  And  the 
glorious  army  of  Jesus  marched  victoriously  on.     Amid  racks. 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  649 

torches  and  dungeons  till  Jerusalem,  stained  with  a  Saviour's 
blood,  and  the  blood  of  the  early  martyrs,  lies  prostrate  in 
ruins,  and  the  heathen  temples,  as  if  smitten  by  an  invisible 
hand,  are  deserted,  and  priests  and  gods  flee  from  their  falling 
shrines.  And  the  religion  of  Jesus  ascends  the  throne  of  the 
Caesars.  And  Constantino  placed  the  cross  beside  the  Roman 
Eagle  on  the  banners  of  the  Roman  armies.  But,  alas,  in  spite 
of  all  the  warnings  of  Paul  in  his  epistles,  and  John's  Revela- 
tion from  the  Isle  of  Patmos,  Satan,  using  ambitious  men  and 
nominal  Christian  preachers,  succeeds  in  forming  a  union  of 
Christianity  and  heathenism.  This  unholy  union  was  con- 
summated in  60Y  A.  D.  by  the  bloody  Emperor  Phocas  and 
Pope  Boniface.  And  all  the  power  of  the  Roman  empire  was 
exerted  to  maintain  this  amalgamation  of  heathenism  and 
Christianity  under  the  name  of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church. 
This  unholy  union  became  the  bloodiest  persecuting  power  the 
world  ever  knew.  But  John  on  the  Isle  of  Patmos  predicted 
that  this  unholy  union  should  last  only  1,260  years,  wnen  the 
temporal  power  of  the  Pope  was  crushed  by  the  victorious  ar- 
mies of  Victor  Emanuel.  And  soon  all  the  mighty  bulwarks 
of  Satan  will  pass  away,  and  prepare  the  way  for  the  millen- 
nium. But  during  all  the  days  of  the  reign  of  the  Man  of 
Sin,  or  the  church  of  Rome,  the  true  church  of  Jesus  has 
been  accomplishing  a  glorious  work.  And  by  long  years  of 
persecution  is  more  fully  prepared  for  the  conquests  of  the 
whole  world.  But  many  doubting,  timid  Christians  often  ask 
what  are  the  evidences  that  the  Lamb  of  God  will  take  away 
all  sin  and  drive  Satan  from  this  planet.  We  answer,  first  of 
all,  the  never  failing  promises  of  God.  Second,  the  marvel- 
ous progress  of  Christianity  in  the  last  hundred  years.  Time 
allows  us  to  mention  only  a  few  of  these  marks  of  progress. 
In  179 —  the  Christian  world  was  wrapped  in  profound  sleep 
in  regard  to  the  last  great  command  of  our  Saviour,  '"Go  ye 
into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature." 
Till  a  devout  Christian  shoemaker,  "William  Carey,  reading 
of  the  burning  of  wives  on  the  grave  of  their  dead  husbands, 
and  the  horrors  of  heathenism  as  practiced  in  British  India, 
was  stirred  in  all  the  depths  of  his  soul  to  carry  the  gospel  to 
the  lost  heathen.     At  first  he  was  ridiculed,  and  when  he 


650  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

arose  in  a  Baptist  association  to  urge  the  duty  of  carrying  the 
gospel  to  the  heathen,  he  was  declared  "out  of  order.'''  But 
now  India  is  flooded  with  the  glorious  light  of  the  gospel; 
women  and  children  are  sacrificed  no  more  on  burning  altars. 
And  soon  India  will  rank  among  the  first  of  Christian  nations. 
In  1823,  the  year  I  Avas  born,  there  was  not  a  Sabbath  school 
on  this  continent  west  of  the  Alleghany  M'amtains,  when 
Mr.  Felix  Grundy  and  James  Thomas,  a  Baptist  deacon,  es- 
tablished a  little  Sunday-school  in  South  Nashville.  In  1826 
there  was  not  a  Sabbath-school  in  Texas,  and  Thomas  J.  Pil- 
grim founded  the  first  Sunday-school,  in  a  live  oak  grove  near 
San  Felipe,  j^ow  there  are  over  three  million  Sunday-school 
children  in  the  Mississippi  Valley.  In  1848  there  were  but 
1,900  Baptists  in  Texas.  iSTow  there  are  213,000  white  and 
83,000  colored  Baptists.  And  there  never  was  a  time  when 
the  whole  Christian  world  was  becoming  so  aroused  as  to 
their  duty  in  driving  heathenism,  sin  and  Satan  from  this 
planet.  And  while  our  blessed  Savious  told  his  disciples, 
"It  is  not  for  you  to  know  the  times  and  <he  seasons,  the 
Father  hath  put  in  his  own  hands."  Yet  there  are  many 
signs  of  the  times  leading  us  to  hope  and  to  believe  that  the 
day  is  near  at  hand,  which  John  predicted,  ''an  angel  should 
come  down  from  heaven,  having  a  key  to  the  great  bottomless 
pit,  and  a  chain  in  his  hands,  and  should  lay  hold  on  the 
dragon,  that  old  serpent,  which  is  the  devil  and  Satan,  and 
bind  him  a  thousand  years,  and  cast  him  into  the  bottomless 
pit,  and  he  shall  deceive  the  nations  of  the  earth  no  more, 
till  the  thousand  years  are  fulfilled."  And  "a  nation  shall 
be  born  to  God  in  a  day."  And  Millennial  light  and  glory 
shall  girdle  the  Avhole  earth ;  then  there  shall  not  be  a  gambling 
house,  a  saloon,  a  theater,  a  race  ground,  a  heathen  temple  or  a 
Mohammedan  Mosque  on  this  planet.  Then  there  shall  be 
no  divisions  among  Christians.  But  all  shall  be  united  under 
the  same  banner.     "One  Lord,  one  faith,  and  one  baptism," 

My  dear  hearers,  I  trust  the  Millennial  era  will  begin 
early  in  the  twentieth  century  and  many  of  you  will  live  to 
see  the  dawning  of  !Millennial  day.  Oh,  then,  in  God's  name, 
I  implore  you,  to  prepare  for  this  glorious  era.  But  after  the 
Millennial  reign  of  a  thousand  years,  Satan  shall  be  loosed  out 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  BuelesojN'.  651 

of  his  prison  for  a  little  season,  and  will  go  out  again  to  de- 
ceive the  nations  of  the  earth.  But  finally  behold  the  Lamb 
of  God  as  he  comes  again  to  the  earth  to  take  away  sin  and 
Satan  and  purge  the  earth  with  fire.  He  will  come,  not  as 
a  babe  in  Bethlehem,  or  as  a  Saviour,  to  suffer  for  the  sins  of 
the  world,  A  mighty  archangel  as  his  messenger  shall  come 
down  from  heaven,  and  placing  one  foot  upon  the  land  and 
the  other  on  the  sea,  shall  swear,  "That  time  shall  be  no  more." 
Then  a  great  white  throne  shall  be  erected,  from  whose  face 
the  heavens  being  on  fire  shall  flee  away.  And  the  mighty 
men  of  earth,  the  ISTeros,  the  Csesars,  the  Bonapartes,  shall 
cry,  rocks  and  mountains  fall  on  us  and  hide  us  from  the  face 
of  him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne.  But  the  sea  and  the  grave 
and  hell  shall  give  up  the  dead  in  them,  and  they  shall  all 
stand  before  the  great  white  throne,  and  the  books  will  be 
opened,  and  they  shall  be  judged  out  of  those  things  that  are 
written  in  the  books  according  to  their  works.  And  sin  cind 
death  and  hell  shall  be  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire,  and  whoso- 
ever was  not  found  written  in  the  Book  of  Life  shall  be  cast 
into  the  lake  or  fire.  And  this  earth,  as  Peter  tells  us,  "shall 
be  purged  with  fire,  and  the  last  vestige  of  sin  shall  be  taken 
away,  and  earth  shall  be  made  a  part  of  heaven  itself.  And 
shall  be  a  home  for  the  saints  of  God. 

My  dear  hearers,  let  me  imploringly  ask  you  to-day,  is 
your  name  written  in  that  Lamb's  Book  of  Life  ?  If  not,  re- 
member that  with  sin  and  Satan  you  must  be  taken  away  from 
this  earth,  and  dwell  eternally  with  Satan  in  the  lake  of  fire, 
prepared  for  the  devil  and  his-  angels.  But  will  you  by  faith 
"Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the 
world,"  and  say,  "Here,  Lord,  I  give  myself  to  thee,  body  and 
soul,  for  time  and  for  eternity." 


DEACON'SHIP. 

DEDICATED  TO  THE  DEACONS  OF  TEXAS. 

They  that  have  used  the  office  of  a  deacon  well,  purchase  to 
them  selves  a  good  degree  and  great  boldness  in  the  faith.  I 
Tim.  3:13. 

Scripture  Lesson,  Acts  6:1-7;  I  Tim.  3:8-16. 

Paul  was  not  only  a  great  scholar  and  philosopher,  but 
an  inspired  apostle,  and  had  been  "caught  up  to  the  third 


652  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

heavens,  and  saw  things  now  lawful  (or  possible)  for  man  to 
utter."  And  he  gives  this  text  to  impress  upon  his  son  Tim- 
othy and  Christians  in  all  ages  the  importance  of  the  deacon's 
office.  Yet  it  is  a  mournful  fact  that  tliis  office  is  little  un- 
derstood and  greatly  perverted  by  many  professing  Christians 
in  all  denominations. 

Indeed,  it  appears  to  have  been  a  special  and  great  device 
of  Satan,  the  enemy  of  the  human  family,  to  pervert  and  ob- 
scure this  great  office.  And  yet  it  is  clearly  defined  and  re- 
corded in  the  Holy  Scriptures.  The  great  majority  of  pro- 
fessing Christians  have  perverted  the  office  of  deacon  and 
made  it  the  first  grade  or  degree  of  the  priesthood.  And  even 
the  Baptists  who  understand  it  theoretically  have  a  very  lim- 
ited and  obscure  view  of  its  power  and  importance.  That 
Baptists  should  make  this  mistake  is  more  remarkable,  as  they 
take  the  Bible  as  their  only  rule  of  faith  and  practice.  And, 
besides  this,  all  Baptist  history  demonstrates  that  wherever 
Baptists  have  been  eminently  successful,  there  have  been  wise 
and  devout  deacons.  Deacon  Wm.  Kiffin,  eminent  as  a 
banker  and  a  deacon,  laid  the  foundation  of  the  glorious  suc- 
cess of  the  Baptist  cause  in  London.  Kiffin  became  a  lay 
preacher,  but  did  his  great  work  as  a  deacon.  Deacon  Kiffin 
years  before  prepared  the"  way  for  a  Spurgeon.  If  there  had 
been  no  Deacon  Kiffin  there  would  have  been  no  Spurgeon. 
Richmond,  Virginia,  would  never  have  become  the  grand  Bap- 
tist city  it  is  but  for  ,the  power  and  influence  of  Deacons 
James  and  William  Crane.  A  faithful  and  pious  deacon, 
Hedman  Lincon,  prepared  the  way  for  the  glorious  Baptist 
success  in  Boston,  where  the  very  name  of  Baptist  had  been 
loathed  and  despised.  Deacon  John  D.  Rockefeller  has  made 
Chicago  a  grand  Baptist  city  and  given  that  oity  the  greatest 
Baptist  college  in  the  world.  Deacon  Colgate  has  made  the 
Baptist  cause  in  the  city  and  State  of  "New  York  a  power  never 
known  before.  And  Deacon  Levering,  of  Baltimore,  has 
made  the  Baptist  cause  a  power  never  known  before  in  that 
great  Catholic  city.  By  the  aid  of  Deacon  Levering  the 
grand  orator  and  divine,  Richard  Fuller,  was  enabled  to  lay 
a  broad  and  grand  foundation  of  Baptist  success  in  that  city, 
supposed  to  belong  exclusively  to  the  Catholics. 


Dr.  Kufus  C.  Buklesox.  653 

Deacons  Thomas  and  John  Hollis,  father  and  son,  added 
great  strength  and  glory  to  the  missionary  .md  educational 
work,  not  only  in  London,  but  they  endowed  the  Hollis  pro- 
fessorship in  Harvard  University.  This  was  the  first  profes- 
sorship ever  endowed  in  America,  and  these  noble  deacons 
stipulated  that  the  professorship  should  be  filled  by  none  but 
orthodox  Christians.  They  endowed  ten  scholarships,  five  of 
whom  were  to  be  Baptists.  Dr.  Temple,  a  pious  deacon,  laid 
the  foundation  of  the  Baptist  cause  in  Chicngo  by  securing 
and  supporting  liberally  the  first  preacher  ever  sent  to  the  city 
of  Chicago.  Truly,  they  that  "use  the  office  of  the  deacon 
well  purchase  to  themselves  a  good  degree  and  great  boldness 
in  the  faith." 

And  what  is  true  of  our  great  cities  is  equally  true  in 
our  villages  and  country  churches.  During  my  ministry  of 
over  half  a  hundred  years  in  Texas,  wherever  I  have  found 
faithful  Baptist  deacons  there  I  have  found  the  Baptist  cause 
prospering.  The  office  of  deacon  is  based  upon  plain  common 
sense,  wisdom  and  experience  in  all  the  great  affairs  of  life. 
1^0  government  and  no  organization,  whether  religions,  po- 
litical, educational  or  domestic,  can  ever  succeed  unless  there 
is  a  well  regulated  and  efficient  system  of  finances.  And  our 
Heavenly  Father  in  love  and  wisdom  appointed  the  office  of 
deacon  to  provide  and  wisely  direct  the  finances  of  the  busi- 
ness department  of  his  church.  And  Ave  should  remember 
that  God  has  pronounced  a  fearful  curse  on  every  man  and 
every  church  that  "takes  from  or  adds  to"  that  office,  which 
he  has  so  closely  defined  and  recorded  in  the  Holy  Bible — 

Let  us  then  prayerfully  and  earnestly  consider — 

First,  what  is  the  office  of  deacon. 

Second,  the  importance  of  the  deacon. 

Third,  how  can  the  office  of  deacon  be  "used  well." 

1.  In  regard  to  the  office  of  deacon,  let  us  remember 
that  the  grand  maxim  of  interpretation  of  all  Jaw  is  this,  "the 
reason  of  the  law  is  the  interpretation  of  the  law."  Let  us, 
therefore,  note  carefully  what  was  the  reason  for  establishing 
the  deacon's  office.  The  Holy  Bible,  in  Acts  6  :l-8,  clearly 
defines  what  was  the  occasion  and  reason  for  establishing  the 
deacon's  office. 


<j54  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

"And  in  those  days,  when  the  number  of  disciples  was 
multiplied,  there  arose  a  murmuring  of  the  Grecians  against 
the  Hebrews,  because  their  widows  w^ere  neglected  in  the 
daily  ministration. 

"Then  the  twelve  called  the  multitude  of  the  disciples 
unto  them  and  said,  Tt  is  not  reason  that  we  should  leave  the 
word  of  God,  and  serve  tables.' 

"Wherefore,  brethren,  look  ye  out  among  ye  seven  men 
of  honest  report,  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  wisdom,  whom  ye 
may  appoint  over  this  business. 

"But  we  mil  give  ourselves  continually  to  prayer  and  to 
the  ministry  of  the  word. 

"And  the  saying  pleased  the  whole  multitude;  and  they 
chose  Stephen,  a  man  full  of  faith  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  Philip,  and  Prochorus,  and  Nicanor,  and  Timon,  and  Par- 
menas,  and  Mcolas  a  proselite  of  Antioch. 

"Whom  they  set  before  the  apostles:  and  when  they  had 
prayed,  they  laid  their  hands  on  them. 

"And  the  word  of  God  increased;  and  the  number  of  the 
disciples  multiplied  in  Jerusalem  greatly;  and  a  great  com- 
pany of  the  priests  were  obedient  to  the  faith. 

"And  Stephen,  full  of  faith  and  power,  did  great  won- 
ders and  miracles  among  the  people."     Acts  o  :l-8. 

We  see,  then,  the  great  reason  for  establishing  the  office 
of  deacon  was  to  enable  the  preachers  to  "give  themselves 
continually  to  prayer  and  the  ministry  of  the  word."  For 
this  reason  seven  deacons  were  selected  by  the  church  and 
solemnly  ordained  by  the  apostles  to  look  after  the  widows 
and  orphans  and  every  secular  interest  of  the  church.  We  see 
the  reason  here  given  for  establishing  the  office  of  deacon 
clearly  shows  deacons  were  never  intended  to  be  preachers. 
As  their  office  was  to  relieve  the  preachers  from  every  care, 
even  the  charities  of  the  church.  How  unwise  it  is  to  sup- 
pose they  were  preachers,  ordained  to  enable  other  preachers 
"to  give  themselves  to  prayer  and  the  ministry  of  the  word." 
But  it  has  been  said  that  Stephen  the  evangelist,  one  of  the 
seven  deacons,  became  a  celebrated  preacher.  But  this  has 
frequently  occurred  in  all  ages  of  the  world.  2^Len  who  were 
first  ordained  deacons  afterwards  felt  a  burning  desire  to  save 


Dr.  Eufus  C.  BuelesojSt.  655 

souls,  and  heard  tEe  solemn  sound  ringing  in  tkeir  ears,  "woe 
is  me  if  I  preach  not  the  gospel,"  and  became  ordained  preach- 
ers. Two  dear  friends  of  mine,  Bro.  John  M.  Cummin gs,  of 
Alabama,  and  Jas.  M.  Maxey,  of  Texas,  were  first  ordained 
deacons,  but  afterwards  felt  it  their  duty  to  preach  the  gospel, 
and  were  ordained  and  became  eminent  preacJiers.  How  un- 
wise it  would  be  for  future  generations  reading  the  history  of 
these  illustrious  men  to  conclude  that  the  Baptists  of  Ala- 
bama and  Texas  regarded  the  office  of  deacon  as  the  first  de- 
gree of  the  ministry. 

2.  Let  us  consider  the  importance  of  the  deacon's  of- 
fice. We  have  a  striking  illustration  of  the  importance  of  the 
deacon's  office  in  the  church  at  Jerusalem,  for  immediately 
after  the  ordaining  of  the  seven  deacons  to  look  after  the  chari- 
ties of  the  churches,  "the  Word  of  God  increased  and  the 
number  of  the  disciples  multiplied  greatly  in  Jerusalem  and  a 
great  number  of  the  priests  became  obedient  to  the  faith." 

And,  as  we  have  stated,  in  all  the  cities  of  the  world,  and 
in  every  village  and  neighborhood,  where  there  are  faithful 
deacons  providing  tenderly  for  the  widows  and  orphans  and 
strangers  and  all  the  financial  interests  of  the  church,  there  re- 
ligion prospers  and  souls  are  converted  to  <?rod.  It  is  an 
alarming  fact  that  there  are  over  one  thousand  Baptist  preach- 
ers in  Texas  not  giving  themselves  continually  to  prayer  and 
the  Word."  And  there  are  over  two  hundred,  churchc?  with- 
out pastors  and  scores  and  hundreds  of  towns  and  neigh- 
borhoods without  preaching.  And  when  wc  think  of  the 
thousands  of  souls  perishing  for  the  want  of  the  gospel  and 
that  the  welfare  of  Texas  and  our  whole  government  depends 
on  the  moral  purity  of  the  gospel,  we  should  be  profoundly 
impressed  with  the  importance  of  the  deacon's  office,  ordained 
of  God  to  "give  himself  continually  to  the  Word."  Again, 
the  importance  of  the  deacon's  office  may  be  clearly  seen  by 
the  exalted  qualifications  required  of  deacons,  which  I  fear  is 
often  painfully  neglected.  The  Bible  declares  that  deacons 
must  be  men  of  "honest  report,  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and 
wisdom,  not  double-tongued,  not  given  to  wine,  not  greedy 
for  the  filthy  lucre,  holding  the  mystery  of  the  faith  in  a 
pure  conscience.     Let  these  also  first  be  proverl.  then  le^  them 


656  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

use  the  office  of  a  deacon,  being  found  blameless.''  "Even  so 
must  their  wives  be  grave,  not  slanderers,  but  sober  and  faith- 
ful in  all  things,  ruling  their  children  and  their  own  houses 
well."  But  no  language  of  mine  can  so  powerfully  illustrate 
the  importance  of  the  deacon's  office  as  the  words  of  Paul, 
who  declares  "they  that  have  used  the  office  cf  a  deacon  well 
have  purchased  to  themselves  a  good  degree  and  boldness  in 
the  faith."  Remember,  that  "purchase"  here  means  to  pro- 
cure an  undoubted  title,  and  "a  good  degree"  meanr,  great 
•eminence.  And  that  "boldness  in  the  faith"  means  greater 
power  or  usefulness  in  Christianity.  The  true  translation  is 
this,  "they  that  use  the  office  of  a  deacon  well  procure  for 
themselves  an  undoubted  title  to  great  eminence  and  power  in 
Christianity."  In  view  of  the  vast  importance  of  the  dea- 
con's office,  I  have  often  thought  it  would  be  a  great  blessing 
to  the  church  if  some  Colgate  or  Rockefeller  would  endow  a 
theological  seminary  or  Bible  school  to  train  deacons  for  their 
great  and  important  duties.  But  as  this  is  impracticable, 
let  us  have  often  seasons  of  prayer  and  sermons  and  essays  in 
all  our  missionary  meetings,  setting  forth  the  great  importance 
of  the  office  of  deacon.  And  especially  let  us  urge  upon  all 
Christians  to  aid  deacons  at  all  times  in  their  great  and  im- 
portant duties.  I  would  urge  earnestly  every  deacon  in  Texas 
to  procure  and  read  "Howell  on  Deaconship."  a  great  and 
timely  little  volume,  published  many  years  ago  by  my  venera- 
ble and  beloved  pastor,  Dr.  R.  B.  C.  Howell,  of  JSTashville, 
Tennessee.  Dr.  Howell  shows  clearly  that  nine-tenths  of  the 
preachers  and  churches  are  greatly  impaired  in  their  useful- 
ness because  the  deacons  fail  to  use  well  the  deacon's  office  in 
raising  the  money  absolutely  necessary  for  the  charities  of  the 
churches.  Having  now  presented  for  your  careful  considera- 
tion 

1.  "What  the  office  of  deacon  is. 

2.  The  great  importance  of  the  office. 

3.  In  conclusion  let  us  inquire  how  we  can  "use  the 
office  of  a  deacon  well,"  and  make  it  a  great  power  for  the 
salvation  of  men  and  the  glory  of  God  and  hi=  church.  First 
of  all,  the  church  sliould  carefully  and  prayerfully  select  only 
such  men  as  have  the  scriptural  qualifications  of  deacon-s^  The 


Dr.  Eufus  C.  Burleson.  G57 

Greek  word  translated  in  our  text,  "look  ye  out,"  is  an  in- 
tensive verb,  and  should  be  translated  "look  ye  out  carefully." 
If  the  selection  is  made  carelessly  inevitable  failure  will  fol- 
low. I  would  advise  every  church  to  spend  a  day  in  prayer 
and  fasting  for  divine  aid  before  electing  their  deacons.  But 
what  if  a  church  in  carefully  looking  out  for  deacons  find  they 
have  no  brethren  possessing  all  of  these  qualifications  ?  This 
occurred  once  where  I  was  called  on  to  preach  on  the  deacon's 
office.  The  brethren  elected  said  we  have  not  the  qualifica- 
tions specified  in  the  Bible,  and,  therefore  cannot  accept  this 
great  and  holy  ofiice.  I  asked  them:  "Are  you  willing  to 
promise  Grod  and  the  church  that  you  will  earnestly  and  pray- 
erfully seek  to  attain  these  qualifications  V  They  said :  "We 
are  willing,  but  must  have  time  to  reflect  and  pray  over  the 
matter  and  consult  with  the  brethren."  After  one  month,  at 
the  earnest,  unanimous  consent  of  the  church,  they  consented 
to  accept  ordination.  And  they  "used  the  ofiice  i^i  deacon 
well,"  and  gained  great  power  and  usefulness  for  the  church 
and  the  cause  of  religion.  But  after  the  deacons  are  thus 
carefully  selected  and  solemnly  ordained  by  the  laying  on  of 
the  hands  of  the  presbytery,  they  should  study  daily  ami  pray- 
erfully the  great  and  solemn  duties  of  their  ofiice,  and  pray  to 
God  for  wisdom,  love  and  courage  to  perform  these  duties, 
especially  in  caring  for  the  helpless  widows  and  orphans,  and 
the  sick  and  homeless  strangers,  and  all  the  finances  of  the 
church.  But  the  church  should  be  careful  not  fco  impose  the 
sad  duties  of  discipline  on  the  deacons.  The  discipline  of  err- 
ing brethren  is  no  part  of  the  deacon's  office,  and  will  injure 
their  success  in  their  great  and  appropriate  duties.  Deacons, 
therefore,  should  be  relieved  from  all  cases  of  discipline,  ex- 
cept in  such  peculiar  cases  as  they  alone  can  perform  to  the 
greatest  advantage.  And  then  they  are  to  act  not  as  deacons, 
but  as  private  members.  But  by  all  means  never  let  the  dea- 
cons conclude  that  it  is  a  part  of  their  office  to  manage  the 
pastor  and  guide  him  in  his  official  duties.  Some  deacons  in 
Texas  have  made  this  fearful  mistake,  and  brought  ruin  on 
the  church  and  shame  on  themselves.  The  -."^eacons  should, 
like  Aaron  and  Hur,  hold  the  hands  of  the  pastor  and  pray 
and  counsed  with  him  as  to  their  duties  and  pA\  the  interests 

42 


G58  The  Life  a^:d  Waitings  of 

of  the  clmrch.  The  deacons,  as  prominent  officials  of  the 
church,  should  do  all  in  their  power,  by  example,  advice  and 
prayer,  to  promote  the  peace  and  harmony  of  the  church,  and 
carry  light,  joy  and  relief  to  lonely  widows,  weeping  orphans 
and  helpless  strangers,  and  relieve  the  pastor  and  church  from 
financial  trouble.  Let  it  be  remembered,  also,  that  every 
member  of  the  church  is  in  honor  and  in  conscience  bound  to 
aid  the  deacons  in  discharging  the  great  duties  assigned  them. 
And  let  them  remember  that  every  deacon  and  every  member 
thus  acting  will  attain  great  power  with  God  and  men  in  tne 
salvation  of  the  world. 


I 


e'-      ^ 


PART  VI. 


"THE  OLD  GUARD"  BIOGRAPHIES 


BY  DR.  BURLESON. 


De.  Rufus  C.  BuelesojS'.  663 


''THE  OLD  GUARD"  BIOGRAPHIES 


BY  DR.  BURLESON. 


PEEFATORY  REMARKS. 

For  several  years  it  was  Dr.  Burleson's  intention  to  pub- 
lish a  book  entitled  "The  Old  Guard."  In  this  book  it  was 
his  desire  to  embalm,  for  all  time,  the  names  and  heroic  deeds 
of  the  noble  men  and  women,  who,  as  pioneers  in  a  great 
wilderness,  laid  broad  and  deep  the  foundations  of  this  mighty 
empire  state;  and  also  of  later  but  equally  worthy  characters, 
who,  by  their  self-sacrifice  and  patriotic  devotion,  made  the 
desert  blossom  as  the  rose. 

It  is  a  matter  of  regret  that  this  work  was  not  completed. 
The  biographies  of  many,  who  were  near  and  dear  to  his  heart, 
were  not  written  when  the  Master  said :  "Write  no  more." 
Some  articles,  which  he  had  written,  have  not  been  found 
among  his  papers. 

The  scope  of  the  present  work  is  such  that  only  small 
space  can  be  given  to  "The  Old  Guard."  Hence  we  have 
selected  such  biographies  as  in  our  judgment  represent  what 
Dr.  Burleson  intended  to  do  in  this  line  had  his  life  been 
spared. 

We  trust  this  statement  will  be  sufficient  to  explain  the 
absence  of  any  which  fail  to  appear. 

— Editor. 


6Q4:  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

THE  OLD  GUAKD. 

THEIR  WORK  AND  CO-LA tORERS. 

For  many  years  I  have  been  importuned  to  put  on  record 
my  recollections  of  the  early  struggles  of  Texas  Baptist  Pio- 
neers. 

The  importunities  have  come  from  every  part  of  Texas, 
and  from  Alabama,  Missouri,  Massachusetts,  Georgia  and 
other  States. 

Yet  the  mighty  duties  immediately  connected  with  my 
grand  life  purpose  of  building  up  for  all  ages  a  great  Texas 
Baptist  University  have  so  completely  absorbed  all  my  time 
and  power  that  all  I  could  do  hitherto  has  been  to  gather  up 
a  vast  amount  of  material  for  future  use. 

And  all  I  will  be  able  to  do  vnll  be  to  deposit  my  eollec- 
tion  in  a  great  warehouse,  to  be  incorporated  by  the  future  his- 
torian into  a  glorious  history  of  Texas  Baptists. 

I  trust  that  what  I  or  any  other  man  may  do  will  not  be 
pleaded  as  an  excuse,  to  ^ny  man,  for  not  contributing  inci- 
dents, facts  and  personal  reminiscences  of  our  heroic  fathers. 
Texas  has  the  material  for  a  grander  epic  than  ILomer's  immor- 
tal Iliad,  or  the  more  beautiful  epic  of  the  ^neid  of  Virgil. 
In  this  glorious  history  Baptist  men  and  women  have  acted  a 
glorious  part  as  pathfinders  and  foundation  builders. 

When  our  Texas  becomes  the  grandest  State  between  the 
oceans  all  the  world  will  have  a  desire  to  know  all  about  the 
men  whose  blood,  tears  and  heroism  rescued  this  beautiful 
paradise — as  the  Aztecs  called  it — from  Mexican  misrule  and 
the  Indian  scalping  knife. 

Then,  I  trust,  some  Homer,  Virgil,  Walter  Scott  or 
Macaulay  will  put  on  tablets  of  undying  record  the  deeds  of 
the  founders  of  Texas'  greatness  and  glory. 

By  the  "Old  Guard"  I  mean  that  heroic  band  of  pioneer 
preachers,  as  found  in  Texas  in  1 848,  sustained  either  by  the 
Southern  Baptist  Convention  or  their  efforts.  This  "Old 
Guard"  and  their  co-laborers  laid  deep  and  broad  the  founda- 
tion of  a  pyramid  of  piety  and  learning  that  will  rise  higher 
than  the  pyramids  of  Egypt  and  increase  in  splendor  when  the 
pyramids  of  Egypt  lie  mouldering  in  the  dust. 


Dr.  Eufus  C.  Burleson.  665 

Their  names,  as  given  by  Col.  E.  J.  Mayers  in  1857,  are : 
Eevs.  Wm.  M.  Try  on,  James  Huckins,  Z.  'N.  Morrell,  K.  E. 
B.  Baylor,  Noah  T.  Byars,  Noah  Hill,  P.  B.  Chandler,  Jesse 
Witt,  W.  M.  Pickins,  Rufus  C.  Burleson,  H.  Garrett,  Henry 
L.  Graves,  E.  H.  Taliaferro,  Eichard  Ellis,  J.  W.  D.  Creath, 
B.  B.  Baxter,  David  Lewis^,  Dr.  A.  E.  Clemmons,  John  A. 
Ereeman,  David  Myers,  G.  W.  Slaughter,  A.  Buffington, 
James  E.Jenkins,  James  H.  Stribling,  and  David  B.  Morrill. 

These  men  did  not  tumble  into  Texas  by  accident,  or 
come  without  plan  or  method.  Their  early  battle  cry  was: 
"Oh,  God,  Give  me  Texas  for  Jesus  and  His  Church,  or  I 
die !"  Alexander  Hamilton  and  Napoleon  never  planned  a 
military  campaign  with  more  earnest  thought  and  undying 
enthusiasm  than  did  this  advance  guard  of  civilization.  This 
"Old  Guard"  planned  the  conquest  of  all  Texas  for  King 
Jesus. 

The  Aarons  and  Hurs,  the  Phoebes  and  Priscillas,  who 
held  up  the  hands  and  fixed  the  hearts  of  these  grand  men, 
were :  Gen.  Sam  Houston  and  his  angel  wife,  Maggie :  Gov. 
A.  C.  Horton,  Hon.  Isaac  Vanzandt,  Gen.  Thomas  G.  Brooks, 
Hon. E.P.Turner,  Hon.  O. H.P.Garrett,  Hon.  A.  G.  Haynes, 
Nelson  Cavjanaugh,  Hon.  E.  B.  Noble,  Hon.  James  W. 
Barnes,  Tyrell  Jackson,  Eli  Mercer,  Hon.  Joe  Harrell,  Col. 
Eichard  A.  Jarman,  Hon.  J.  M.  Maxey,  Hon.  J.  G.  Thomas, 
Col.  Nathan  Euller,  Gail  Borden,  Hon.  James  P.  Cole, 
Thomas  J.  Pilgrim,  W.  H.  Cleveland,  Mrs.  Gov.  Hal  G.  Eun- 
nells,  Mrs.  Laura  H.  Jack,  Mrs.  Sydnor,  Mrs.  Piety  L.  Had- 
ley,  Mrs.  Matilda  Euller,  Mrs.  Dr.  Young,  Mrs.  Carey  D. 
Tucker,  Mrs.  Dickinson,  the  heroine  of  the  Alamo,  Eev.  M. 
V.  Smith  and  others. 

I  wish  to  call  attention  to  the  fact :  Eirst,  I  am  not  writ- 
ing the  history  of  all  the  great  and  good  men  of  early  Texas. 
But  only  of  "The  Old  Gurad,"  or  the  band  of  missionaries  and 
their  co-laborers  whom  I  found  here  in  1848,  and  who  were 
actively  engaged  in  our  education  and  missionary  work  as 
pushed  on  by  the  Baptist  State  Convetion. 

There  are  many  noble  brethren  and  sisters,  all  dear  to 
my  heart,  whose  pious  deeds  are  all  recorded  in  God's  book  of 


666  The  Life  axd  Weitiivgs  of 

remembrance,  and  which  I  would  rejoice  to  record  here,  but 
I  would  I  fear  "wear  out  the  patience  of  the  saints." 

Second.  I  trust  what  I  write  will  only  stimulate  others 
to  write  and  supply  any  additional  facts  and  correct  any  mis- 
takes I  make  in  dates  and  facts.  I  do  not  profess  infallibility, 
and  will  rejoice  in  all  additional  facts  and  corrections.  I  am 
alreay  importuned  by  scores  of  wise  and  good  brethren  to  re- 
vise and  enlarge  these  sketches  and  publish  them  in  book  form, 
with  the  likeness  of  the  principal  actors.  This  labor  of  love  I 
would  gladly  do  if  demanded  by  the  best  interest  of  our  Ke- 
deemer's  cause  and  should  time  and  strength  be  allowed. 

Third.  Let  it  never  be  forgotten  that  all  we  can  do  now 
is  to  pile  up  a  great  store  of  facts  for  some  future  Macaulay, 
D'Aubigne  or  Armitage,  or  some  Homer,  Virgil  or  Milton. 
All  I  write  now  is  in  broken  intervals  of  time,  often  after  mid- 
night, snatched  from  pressing  official  duties  and  thrown  hur- 
riedly together,  without  time  for  beauty  of  style  or  historical 
order. 

Fourth.  My  motto  through  life  has  been  that  grand  old 
Eoman  motto,  "Mhil  de  mortuis  nisi  bonum" — "jSTothing 
concerning  the  dead  but  good.  All  the  dear  Old  Guard  had 
faults,  all  but,  like  the  spots  on  the  sun,  were  lost  in  the  bright- 
ness of  their  sunny  excellence. 

Fifth.  Let  it  never  be  forgotten  that  I  am  straining  with 
all  the  earnestness  of  my  soul  to  record  every  fact  just  as  I 
saw  it  or  learned  on  good  testimony  of  eye-wit nesess,  and  with- 
out a  particle  of  subtractions  or  colorings  of  fancy.  Any 
man  sixty-five  years  old  is  a  fool  who  does  not  know  that  truth 
is  mightier  than  fiction.  It  is  this  that  gives  the  "Flowers 
and  Fruits"  of  Father  Morrell  such  a  charm. 

It  was  the  superior  power  of  truth  that  caused  grand  old 
Cromwell  to  say  to  the  painter,  "Paint  me  as  I  am;"  our  own 
great  Cleveland  to  say,  "Tell  the  truth,  if  it  kills  me."  That 
writer  is  to  be  pitied  as  silly,  suicidal  and  criminal  who  draws 
on  his  fancy  for  facts  and  his  prejudices  for  his  principles. 
But  I  would  be  something  more  or  something  less  than  a  man 
if,  in  recording  my  impression  of  the  deeds  and  characters  of 
my  co-laborers,  nearly  all  of  whom  are  in  their  graves,  did  T 
not  show  that 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  667 

"Time  but  the  impression  stronger  malies, 
As  streams  their  channels  deeper  wear." 

But  with  all  the  earnestness  of  my  soul,  I  will  strive  to 
paint  every  man  just  as  he  was.  In  this  will  consist  the 
greatest  beauty  and  power  of  all  I  write. 

Sixth,  and  lastly,  I  trust  it  will  be  remembered  that  these 
historic  sketches  are  my  personal  reminiscences,  and  any  seem- 
ing immodesty  in  referring  to  my  connection  with  the  Old 
Guard  will  be  overlooked. 

RUFUS  C.  BURLESOK 


JAMES  R.  JElSTKIISrS,  ESQ. 

As  we  have  seen,  James  Jenkins,  A.  Buffington  and 
H.  R.  Cflrtmell  were  appointed  a  committee  by  the  consulta- 
tion meeting  of  the  scattering  Baptists  of  Texas,  assembled  at 
Washington,  to  write  an  appeal  to  the  older  States  to  aid  in 
giving  the  bread  of  life  to  Texas.  Their  burning  appeal 
aroused  the  great  heart  and  ^lurse  of  Jesse  Mercer,  and  fired 
the  Texas  missionary  zeal  of  Rev.  James  Huckins  and  Rev. 
Wm.  M.  Tryon. 

I  propose  to  give  a  brief  sketch  of  each  of  the  committee. 
As  James  R.  Jenkins  was  my  father-in-law — suppressing  all 
the  devotion  I  feel  for  his  memory — I  will  give  the  plain  his- 
toric facts  of  his  life  and  glorious  death. 

He  was  the  son  of  Capt.  James  Jenkins,  a  brave  officer 
in  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  was  born  in  Green  County, 
Georgia,  in  1810. 

He  was  converted  and  baptized  at  the  age  of  nineteen  by 
Elder  J.  M.  Lumpkin,  the  noble  peer  of  Young  Rhodes  and 
Jesse  Mercer.  He  became  an  active  member  for  life  of  the 
Baptist  Church. 

He  was  educated  in  Mercer  University,  at  Penfield,  Ga., 
during  the  presidency  of  Rev.  Billington  Sanders,  who  was  a 
Cato  in  firmness  and  a  Paul  in  zeal.  The  student  was  not  only 
an  admirer,  but  an  example  of  the  firmness  and  honest  integ- 
rity of  his  beloved  President.  In  the  halls  of  grand  old 
Mercer  he  formed  the  lifelong  friendship  of  Rev.  Wm.  M. 
Tryon,  Rev.  ISToah  Hill,  and  scores  of  other  noble  spirits. 


668  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

He  studied  law  under  Gen.  Hugh  Haraldson  in  1836,. 
and  came  to  Texas  and  settled  at  Washington  in  1837. 

His  exalted  integrity,  moral  character  and  devotion  to  hia- 
profession  placed  him  at  once  among  the  leading  members 
of  the  Washington  bar,  then  the  most  talented  bar  in  Western- 
Texas.  He  rose  rapidly  in  the  confidence  of  the  people,  and 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  third  Texas  Congress  of  the- 
llepublic. 

Political  life  had  no  charms  for  him,  but  as  a  conscien- 
tious Christian  he  saw  clearly  that  the  Texas  land  laws,  espe- 
cially the  eleven-league  Mexican  grants,  would  lead  to  endless- 
law  suits,  enriching  lawyers  and  impoverishing  the  people. 
He  clearly  pointed  out  the  dangers  and  the  remedy.  But, 
alas,  his  warnings  were  disregarded,  either  from  blindness  or 
cupidity.  His  wise  counsels  would  have  saved  the  Texas  peo- 
ple millions  of  dollars  and  endless  vexatious  lawsuits.  His 
home  at  Washington,  and  afterwards  at  Independence,  was- 
ever  a  home  for  Morrell  and  Baylor  and  Tryon  and  Huckins, 
and  all  the  Old  Guard,  and  especially  for  me  in  1852-3. 

As  a  church  member  he  was  ever  faithful,  but  for  years. 
one  terrible  doubt  was  an  eating  cancer  on  his  vitals,  A  skep- 
tical friend,  in  an  argument,  drew  a  grand  picture  of-  the- 
boundlessness  of  the  universe — of  75,000,000  suns,  vnth.  all 
their  attendant  planets,  perchance  peopled  with  bright  intelli- 
gence, in  comparison  with  which  the  earth,  with  all  its  inhab- 
itants, is  but  a  grain  of  sand  on  the  sea  shore  of  God's- 
immensity.  ISTow,  said  the  boastful  skeptic,  how  absurd  that 
the  grand  Maker  and  glorious  Ruler  of  all  these  worlds  would 
come  down  to  earth  sprinkle  it  with  his  tears,  bathe  it  with  his 
blood,  and  die  on  the  cross  for  such  wicked,  contemptible 
creatures  as  men.  His  supreme  reverence  for  God  and  his 
supreme  modesty  gave  the  infidel  argument  great  power. 
Though,  like  Job,  he  could  say,  "I  know  by  glorious  expe- 
rience that  my  Redeemer  liveth,"  yet  the  infidel's  words  were 
sharp  as  a  sword.  One  Sabbath,  by  what  we  call  accident  in 
our  blindness,  but  in  reality  is  God's  special  providence,  he 
heard  me  preach  a  sermon  on  the  text,  Ephesians  3  :10:  "To 
the  intent  that  now  unto  the  principalities  and  powers  in  heav- 
enly places  might  be  kno"wn  by  the  church  the  manifold  wis- 
dom of  God."     The  srrand  theme  was  to  shoAV  that  the  whole 


Dr.  Rurus  C.  Burleson,  669 

•boundless  universe,  not  merely  our  little  grain  of  sand,  the 
earth,  was  profoundly  interested  and  eternally  benefited  by 
•Ohrist's  death  on  the  Cross,  and  that  as  Thermopylae,  Bunker 
Hill  and  the  Alamo  were  nothing  in  themselves,  but  only 
places  where  undying  courage  and  patriotism  were  displayed, 
that  had  instructed  and  inspired  heroes  in  all  lands  and  ages, 
thus  Calvary  was  the  Christian  Thermopylae  and  Alamo  thac 
■displayed  so  wonderfully  the  love,  the  wisdom,  a.nd  the  holi- 
ness and  justice  of  God  that  all  angels,  arch-angels,  principali- 
ties, powers  in  all  Heavenly  places  were  instructed,  benefited 
and  forever  blessed.  This  plain  Bible  view  dispelled  ever}" 
-doubt,  and  demonstrated  that  all  infidel  philosophy,  falsely 
so  called,  is  sounding  brass  and  tinkling  cymbals  and  as  a 
dream  when  one  awaketh. 

When  he  came  to  die,  after  long  and  painful  sickness,  he 
called  me  to  his  bedside  and  said:  "Can  it  be  possible  that 
the  glorious  light  of  divine  love  is  shining  so  brightly  ?  I  am 
passing  through  the  valley  of  death,  but  there  is  no  shadow, 
but  all  is  full  of  light  and  glory."  He  called  all  his  family 
•around  him,  bade  all  a  tender  farewell,  and,  taking  up  his  two 
little  sons,  Warwick  H.  and  Rufus,  in  his  arms,  laid  his  hands 
upon  them,  like  the  dying  Jacob,  and  prayed  that  they  might 
be  true  men  and  devoted  Christians  and  meet  him  at  Jesus' 
feet  in  glory.  Then,  folding  his  arms  across  his  breast,  with 
a  smile  and  brightness  of  ineffable  glory  radiating  his  ema- 
ciated features,  he  closed  his  eyes  in  death,  or,  rather,  opened 
Tiis  eyes  on  the  angel  bands  and  chariots  of  glory  that  came  to 
carry  him  home. 

The  resplendent  glory  beaming  on  every  feature  seemed 
^silently  to  say,  "The  chariots,  the  chariots  of  glory." 


REV.  WM.  MELTON  TRYOK. 

This  noble  and  devoted  servant  of  God  stands  pre-emi- 
nent among  the  pioneer  pathfinders  and  foundation  builders  of 
"Texas. 

Bro.  Tryon  was  born  in  the  city  of  New  York,  March  10, 
1810.     He  was  of  the  same  family  as  the  celebrated  Governor 


670  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

Trjon  of  'New  York  of  colonial  days.  His  father  died  early, 
and  liG  had  to  support  a  widowed  mother  by  manual  labor, 
which  he  did  cheerfully  and  liberally.  The  prayers,  tears 
and  teaching  of  that  noble  mother  led  him  to  Jesus  when  he 
was  seventeen  years  old.  He  joined  the  Baptists,  and  was 
baptized  by  that  great  and  good  preacher,  Dr.  Chas.  G.  Som- 
mers.  Finding  the  climate  of  New  York  too  cold,  he  went  to 
Augusta,  Ga.,  in  1832.  He  immediately  joined  the  Baptist 
Church,  as  all  young  Christians  should  in  moving  to  a  new 
place.  He  soon  felt  he  was  called  to  preach  the  gospel,  and 
the  Cliurch,  recognizing  his  earnest  piety  and  intelligence, 
rtadily  licensed  him.  But  having  only  a  common  English  ed- 
ucation, he  spent  three  years  in  Mercer  University  preparing 
for  his  grand  lifework.  While  here  he  was  ordained  by  the 
venerable  Jesse  Mercer  and  other  eminent  divines.  Leaving 
college  in  1837,  he  became  pastor  of  the  Baptist  Churches  at 
Washington,  Lumpkin  and  Columbia,  Ga.  He  was  greatly 
blessed  in  his  pastoral  work  and  also  in  aiding  other  pastors  in 
revivals.  In  1839  ho  became  pastor  at  Wetumka,  Ala.  In 
April  26,  1840,  he  was  married  to  Mrs.  Louisa  J.  Higgins  of 
Montgomery.  In  January,  1841,  he  accepted  an  appoi'ntment 
under  the  American  Baptist  Home  Missionary  Society  to  come 
to  Texas  as  a  missionary.  As  this  is  the  grand  turning  point  in 
his  life  history  we  call  special  attention  to  a  few  great  facts 
showing  how  God  works  by  means  and  always  blesses  the 
efforts  of  His  people.  In  1837  Rev.  Z.  IST.  Morrell,  a  gand  old 
Texas  pioneer,  organized  a  Baptist  Church  of  eight  members 
at  Washington  and  preached  every  Sabbath,  when  at  home, 
and  held  prayer  meeting  every  Wednesday  night.  This  little 
band  seeing  the  vast  destitution  and  iniquity  abounding  ap- 
pointed a  committee  to  correspond  with  Missionary  Boards  in 
the  older  states  setting  forth  the  fearful  destitution  of  Texas. 
This  commiittee  was  composed  of  Deacons  J.  11.  Cartmell  and 
A.  Buffington  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  of  ISJ'ashville,  Tenn., 
and  Jas.  R.  Jenkins,  of  Georgia.  The  touching  appeal  of  this 
committee,  pointing  out  the  facts,  especially  that  there  were 
thousands  of  young  men  in  Texas,  sons  of  praying  mothers 
in  the  older  states,  going  to  ruin  for  want  of  faithful  preachers 
of  the  gospel.     This  appeal  touched  powerfully  many  hearts 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  671 

and  especially  the  great  heart  of  Elder  Jesse  Mercer,  of  Geor- 
gia. He  knew  personally  one  of  the  committee,  Jas.  R.  Jenk- 
ins, when  a  student  of  Mercer  University,  and  as  a  son  of  his 
old  friend  Capt.  Jenkins,  in  the  Revolutionary  war.  The  great 
soul  of  Jesse  Mercer  was  so  moved  that  after  prayerful  consid- 
eration he  sent  a  check  of  $2,500  to  the  American  Baptist 
Home  Mission  Society  at  ISTew  York  (the  Southern  Baptist 
Convention  was  not  organized  till  1845)  stating  that  he  be- 
lieved Texas  on  account  of  her  great  fertility  of  soil,  and  cli- 
mate and  location  on  the  Gulf  would  become  a  section  of 
unbounded  wealth  and  great  influence  in  America,  and  he 
believed  we  should  prepare  it  to  become  a  great  Christian 
state.  And  learning  there  was  a  fearful  religious  destitution 
he  deposited  with  their  treasury  $2,500  to  be  used  in  sending 
missionaries  to  Texas,  and  "when  this  is  exhausted  I  will  send 
$2,500  more."  He  also  suggested  Elder  Wm.  M.  Tryon,  a 
native  of  ISTew  York  but  educated  in  Mercer  University  and 
Elder  Jas.  Huckins,  a  native  of  New  Hampshire  and  grad- 
uate of  Brown  University  as  peculiarly  fitted  to  lay  the  founda- 
tion stone  of  the  Baptist  cause  in  Texas. 

Brother  Mercer  also  wrote  letters  to  Brethren  Tryon  and 
Huckins  informing  them  of  what  he  had  done.  The  appoint- 
ment was  gladly  made  by  the  Board  in  New  York  and  Brother 
Tryon  was  located  at  Washington  then  the  Capital  of  Texas. 
And  Brother  Huckins  was  located  at  Galveston  the  great  com- 
mercial center  of  Texas.  They  both  prayerfully  and  solemnly 
entered  upon  the  great  work  assigned  them.  It  is  a  remark- 
able answer  to  the  prayers  of  Elder  Jesse  Mercer  that  his 
brother,  Eli  Mercer,  a  wealthy  sugar  planter  at  Egypt,  on  the 
Colorado  river,  and  his  noble  wife  rode  sixty  miles  on  horse- 
back to  Independence  the  nearest  Church,  to  get  Brother 
Tryon  to  baptize  them.  And  that  the  first  persons  ever  bap- 
tized in  the  GuK  at  Galveston  were  the  daughter  of  Eli  Mercer 
and  her  husband,  Gail  Borden,  of  "condensed  milk  fame." 
Brother  Tryon  became  chaplain  of  the  Texas  Congress  then 
in  special  session  at  Washington.  He  also  became  pastor  at 
Independence  and  organized  Providence  Church  in  Burleson 
county.  He  was  everywhere  received  with  great  cordiality. 
'  He  was  warm-hearted,  genial  and  very  sociable.     But  he  was 


672  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

so  keen  and  penetrating  and  had  snch  a  profound  knowledge 
of  human  nature  he  made  few  mistakes.  He  was  eminently 
qualified  always  to  seize  upon  the  best  time,  the  best  place  and 
the  best  way  to  do  everything.  He  was  a  born  orator,  pro- 
foundly versed  in  the  history  of  the  world,  especially  of  Bap- 
tists in  all  ages.  He  inherited  from  his  distinguished  relative 
of  'New  York,  Governor  Tryon,  a  rare  talent  of  formulating 
plans  and  accomplishing  grand  results.  While  never  guilty 
of  wire-working  and  intriguing  he  was  a  bom  leader  of  men 
in  all  that  was  great  and  good.  But  always  forgetful  of  self 
and  only  looking  to  the  glory  of  God  and  the  uplifting  of  men. 
At  the  meeting  of  the  Union  Association  at  Clear  Creek  in 
1841  he  presented  the  importance  of  a  Baptist  Educational 
Society  to  prepare  for  a  great  Texas  Baptist  University.  And 
in  1845  he  and  Judge  Baylor  and  others  were  appointed  by  the 
Texas  Baptist  Educational  Society  to  procure  the  Charter. 
Judge  Baylor  and  others  insisted  as  Brother  Tryon  was  the 
original  and  prime  mover  in  the  enterprise  it  should  be  called 
Tryon  University,"  but  he  ever  forgetful  of  self  insisted  it 
should  be  called  Baylor  University.  The  charter  was  secured. 
Baylor  University  was  located  at  Independence  and  opened 
regularly  on  the  first  Monday  in  September,  1847,  with  Bev. 
Henry  L.  Graves,  of  Georgia,  President.  But  while  the  Bap- 
tist cause  was  moving  f  orAvard  grandly  in  the  interior  counties 
it  was  languishing  sadly  at  Houston,  Galveston  and  all  the 
coast  country.  Therefore  Brother  T.  J.  Pilgrim,  the  founder 
of  Texas  Sunday  schools,  and  other  far-seeing  Baptists,  sug- 
gested that  Brother  Tryon  should  remove  to  Houston  and 
awaken  an  interest  in  all  that  great  and  important  portion  of 
Texas.  Brother  Tryon  received  an  appointment  from  the 
jBoard  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention,  located  at  Marion, 
Ala.,  as  missionary  to  Houston.  He  entered  on  this  great 
-work  July  25,  1845.  But  found  the  little  church  organized 
hj  Brother  Huckins  in  1841,  had  held  no  regular  services  for 
years  and  was  well  nigh  dead,  but  soon  the  wonderful  talent 
of  Brother  Tryon  rallied  the  disspirited  band  and  a  hall  for 
-preaching  was  secured  and  soon  crowded  to  ■  overflowing. 
Brother  Tryon  saw  it  was  essential  to  have  a  house  of  worship 
and  that  it  would  be  years  before  the  little  band  of  Baptists  in 
Houston  could  build  one.     He  therefore  resolved  to  visit  the 


De.  Rufus  C.  BuKLESOisr.  6Y3 

older  states  arid  raise  the  money  to  build  tlie  churcli  and  at  the 
sajne  time  arouse  the  Baptists  of  the  older  states  to  the  great 
and  vital  importance  of  sending  missionaries  to  Texas.  He 
succeeded  grandly,  and  raised  nearly  $3,000  for  the  Baptist 
church  at  Houston  and  recruited  what  Brother  Z.  IST.  Morrell 
calls  a  "boat  load  of  Baptist  preachers  for  Texas."  His  burn- 
ing appeals  influenced  seventeen  missionaries  to  come  to  Texas. 
I  never  shall  forget  the  powerful  appeal  he  wrote  to  me  while 
a  student  at  the  Theological  Seminary  in  Covington,  Ky.,  on 
learning' that  I  was  considering  Texas  as  my  field  of  labor  for 
life.  Eternity  alone  can  unfold  the  good  this  visit  of  Brother 
Tryon  did  for  Texas. 

Another  grand  work  he  did  just  before  he  died  was  to 
introduce  a  resolution  into  the  Union  Association  for  appoint- 
ing a  committee  to  arrange  the  time  and  place  for  organizing 
the  Baptist  State  Convention  which  grand  work  was  consum- 
mated in  the  Baptist  State  Convention  at  Anderson,  Septem- 
ber 8,  1848.  The  last  grand  act  of  his  ministerial  life  was  re- 
storing peace  and  harmony  to  the  beloved  church  in  Houston. 
The  little  feeble  band  he  found  in  Houston  two  years  before 
had  grown  to  be  a  flourishing  church  of  about  100  members; 
all  working  gloriously  and  in  perfect  harmony,  and  his  con- 
gregation was  the  largest  in  the  city.  But  alas,  Satan  that 
entered  into  Paradise  always  devises  some  trick  to  sow  dis- 
sension and  discord  among  the  enemies  of  his  kingdom.  And 
Satan  got  a  fearful  strife  in  that  noble  band  of  Christians 
about  renting  the  pews  and  hiring  an  organist  for  the  church. 
Bitter  strife  and  recrimination  rose  so  high  the  church  con- 
ference broke  up  in  shameful  confusion,  many  of  them  vowing 
as  they  walked  out  they  would  never  enter  the  church  again. 
It  now  seems  that  the  last  grand  work  of  his  life  was  about 
to  go  down  into  utter  ruin,  but  he  spent  the  whole  night  in 
prayer  and  tears,  and  devised  a  plan  that  removed  the  difliculty 
so  perfectly  and  united  all  hearts  so  gloriously  that  it  wag 
never  referred  to  again.  Indeed  the  reconciliation  and  the 
increase  of  brotherly  love  prepared  the  way  for  a  glorious 
revival  of  religion  that  was  going  on  when  he  was  taken  sick 
to  die.  Oh,  that  God  would  give  Texas  many  such  peace- 
makers as  Brother  Trvon. 


674  The  Life  and  Wkitings  of 

Just  at  this  time  the  yellow  fever  was  making  its  in- 
siduous  appearance  in  Houston.  One  of  the  first  victims  of 
that  fatal  disease  was  the  great  and  good  statesman,  Isaac  Van 
Zandt,  then  canvassing  Texas  for  Governor  with  the  certain 
prospect  of  election.  He  was  a  devoted  Baptist  and  an  ardent 
lover  of  Brother  Tryon.  Brother  Tryon  and  the  brilliant 
young  doctor,  S.  O.  Young,  who  had  just  married  Miss  Jane 
Fuller,  the  belle  of  Houston,  visited  him  daily.  The  last  hours 
of  the  illustrious  patriot  were  spent  in  prayer  and  sending 
messages  of  love  to  his  wife  and  children,  requesting  that  his 
remains  should  be  removed  and  buried  by  the  side  of  liib 
little  son,  Isaac  Van  Zandt,  Jr.,  in  Marshall.  His  beloved 
wife  and  children  are  now  living  in  Fort  Worth.  After  his 
burial  Brother  Tryon  and  Dr.  Young  both  went  to  bed  sick, 
but  the  next  Sunday  Brother  Tryon  preached  his  last  sermon 
with  the  fever  on  him.  He  died  ISTovember  16,  1847.  He  was 
buried  by  the  dearly  beloved  church  he  had  spent  his  last 
days  in  liuilding.  His  death  sent  a  thrill  of  sorrow  through- 
out Texas  and  the  United  States.  Oh,  how  mournfully  mys- 
terious that  one  so  eminently  useful,  should  in  the  meridian 
of  life  and  great  usefulness,  be  removed.  But  the  distinguished 
statesman,  Isaac  Van  Zandt,  the  brillian  doctor,  S.  O.  Young, 
and  the  great  preacher  and  foundation  builder,  Wm.M.Tyrou, 
were  all  soon  reunited  in  that  land  that  is  fairer  than 
day,  where  sickness  and  death  never  come.  I  was  on  my  way 
to  Texas  as  missionary  to  Gonzales  when  I  heard  this  dreadful 
news,  at  the  same  time  I  learned  that  Brother  Richard  Ellis 
had  been  appointed  by  the  Colorado  Association  as  missionary 
to  Gonzales.  In  sadness  and  doubt  I  stopped  at  my  father's 
to  receive  farther  instruction  from  the  Board.  In  a  few  days 
and  to  my  great  amazement  I  received  a  letter  from  the  noble 
Secretary  of  the  Home  Mission  Board,  Russell  Holman,  stat- 
ing by  a  special  request  of  the  Church  in  Houston  I  had  been 
appointed  to  succeed  Brother  Tryon  as  pastor.  I  was  appalled 
at  the  A^er}'  thought  of  succeeding  so  great  and  so  illustrious 
a  man.  I  wrote  to  the  Board  that  I  was  too  young  and  too 
inexperienced  to  occupy  so  great  a  position,  and  begged  them 
to  assign  me  to  some  humbler  field  of  labor  in  Texas  and  to 
appoint  a  more  experienced  p]'eaeher  to  succeed  the  great  and 
illustrious  Tryon.     The  Secretary  replied  immediately  that 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson. 


675 


the  Cliurch  at  Houston,  some  of  the  prominent  members  of 
which  knew  me  well  had  renewed  their  request  to  appoint 
me  as  missionary  pastor  at  Houston.  With  much  fear  and 
trembling  I  accepted  the  arduous  position.  An  incident  oc- 
curred on  the  steamship  from  New  Orleans  to  Galveston  that 
still  increased  my  fears,  a  very  prominent  Texan  was  on  the 
same  boat  and  he  approached  me  in  amazement  saying,  ''Is  it 
possible  that  you  are  the  young  man  that  the  Board  has  ap- 
pointed to  fill  the  place  of  the  great  and  good  "Wm.  M.  Tryon  ?" 
I  answered,  "]^o,  sir,  I  nor  no  living  man  can  fill  Brother 
Tryon's  place,  but  I  will  stand  where  he  stood  and  by  the 
grace  of  God  preach  the  same  glorious  doctrine  he  preached 
and  leave  the  results  mth  God." 


EEY.  JAS.  HUCKINS. 


JAMES  HUCKINS. 

Kev.  James  Huckins  was  one  of  the  Old  Guard. 
Rev.  Jesse  Mercer,  that  far-seeing  and  eminent  man  of 
God,  suggested  him  as  the  associate  of  Rev.  Wm. 
M.  Tryon,  as  the  two  pioneer  missionaries  to  the  Repu.blic  of 
Texas.  They  came  as  before  stated,  in  1840.  Rev.  Wm.  M. 
Tryon  settled  at  Washington,  the  center  of  political  power 
and  the  capital  of  the  Republic.     Brother  Huckins  located  at 


676  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

Galveston,  the  chief  commercial  center,  with  instructions  to 
preach  at  Houston  also  then  just,  growing  into  prominence. 
Brother  Huckins  was  eminently  fitted  for  his  work.  He  was 
born  in  jSTew  Hampshire,  April,  1807.  He  was  left  a  homeless 
orphan  when  four  or  five  years  old.  He  was  converted  and  bap- 
tized at  fourteen  years  of  age.  He  was  aided  by  the  ITew  Eng- 
land Baptist  Educational  Society,  and  was  educated  at  Brown 
University  under  Dr.  Erancis  Wayland,  about  1835  or  1836. 
Dr.  Wayland  was  then  in  the  zenith  of  his  intellectual  power 
and  influence  as  a  great  teacher  and  president. 

ISo  student  ever  received  the  mental  and  moral  impress 
of  that  prince  of  educators  more  deeply  than  did  young  Huck- 
ins.  A  strong,  affectionate  and  intimate  correspondence  con- 
tinued between  them  until  the  death  of  Brother  Huckins  in 
1863.  After  Brother  Huckins  graduated  at  Brown  University 
he  married  a  lady  of  great  intellect  and  high  social  standing 
in  Rochester,  jSTew  York.  Soon  after  he  sought  a  wider  field  of 
usefulness  in  the  more  genial  clime  of  Georgia.  Here  he  be- 
came intimately  connected  with  Jesse  Mercer,  Billingtou 
Sanders,  Shelton  Sanford  and  also  his  future  yoke  fellow  in 
the  Texas  Mission,  Eev.  Wm.  M.  Tryon.  Here  he  saw  the 
burning  appeal  of  the  committee  appointed  in  a  consultation 
meeting  of  Rev,  Z.  ]^.  Morrell  and  the  few  scattered  Baptists 
found  in  and  around  Washington,  Texas,  in  1839,  to  solicit 
from  the  older  states  aid,  and  also  preachers  for  the  State  of 
Texas.  The  committee  was  composed  of  James  R.  Jenkins 
(my  father-in-law),  A.  Bufiington  and  H.  R.  Cartmell.  That 
appeal  stirred  the  great  heart  of  Jesse  Mercer.  It  not  only 
stirred  the  heart  and  purse  of  Mercer,  but  the  noble 
missionary  zeal  of  James  Huckins  and  Wm.  M.  Tryon,  and 
each  of  them  was  ready  to  say,  "Here  am  I,  send  me."  They 
were  both  appointed  on  the  basis  of  $2,500,  given  by  Jesse 
Mercer  for  the  Texas  Mission  and  the  pledge  to  donate  more 
when  needed.  Brother  Huckins  commenced  his  duties  at  Gal- 
veston in  1840,  when  33  years  old  and  in  the  intellectual 
power  of  his  manhood.  Galveston,  though  only  a  village 
of  2,500  or  3,000  inhabitants,  was  eminent  for  culture  and 
talent.  Brother  Huckins  at  once  became  a  leader  and  star  of 
the  first  magnitude.    As  a  preacher  he  stood  confessedly  at  the 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Bukleson.  677 

head.  He  organized  a  little  church  at  Galveston,  composed 
then  and  soon  after  of  such  gifted  and  noble  women  as  Mrs. 
John  S.  Sydnor,  Mrs.  Gov.  Hal.  G.  Runnells,  Mrs.  Howard, 
Dr.  Davis  and  wife,  and  Mrs.  Laura  H.  Jack  and  others. 
Brother  Huckins  always  wrote  out  with  great  care,  and  read 
his  sermons,  an  unfortunate  habit  never  accepted  in  the  South. 
Yet  he  was  the  most  popular  preacher  in  Galveston. 

The  first  persons  ever  baptized  in  Galveston  were  Mr. 
Gail  Borden,  of  "condensed  milk"  fame,  and  his  wife,  who  was 
a  daughter  of  Eli,  brother  of  Jesse  Mercer,  by  whose  influence 
and  money  the  two  great  missionaries  were  sent  to  Texas.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Borden  were  baptized  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  one 
beautiful  Sabbath  evening  just  at  simset.  The  whole  city 
turned  out  to  see  a  sight  so  novel,  so  beautiful  and  so  grand. 
The  waves  of  the  GuK  for  the  first  time  were  troubled  by  this 
beautiful  ordinance  and  emblem  of  the  Redeemer's  burial 
and  resurrection.  The  Avaters  had  often  been  troubled  by  the 
dashing  ships  and  roaring  cannons  of  the  great  pirate,  Lafitte, 
and  his  fellow  pirates,  who  made  Galveston  their  home  after 
they  were  expelled  from  Barataria  in  1814,  till  their  final  dis- 
persion by  United  States  Officer,  Lieutenant  Kearney,  in 
1821.  Brother  Huckins  also  organized  a  little  church  at 
Houston,  composed  of  such  noble  ladies  as  Mrs.  Piety  L. 
Hadley,  Mrs.  De  Cordova,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  James  House. 
He  preached  alternately  in  the  two  cities  with  great  power  and 
acceptance  to  all  classes.  But  alas  on  September  6,  1841,  the 
great  originator  of  Texas  Missions  died,  and  there  was  no  man 
rich  enough  and  farseeing  enough  to  take  his  place,  and  the 
mission,  so  well  begun,  was  left  to  struggle  alone.  Brother 
Tryon  had  married  a  wealthy  Alabama  lady,  and  lived  chiefly 
by  the  support  of  his  farm  from  1841  to  1845.  Brother 
Huckins  was  forced  into  the  schoolroom  at  Galveston,  and  to 
trading  in  town  lots  to  support  his  family,  and  being  a  born 
financier,  he  accumulated  at  least  $40,000  worth  of  property 
by  1855.  As  a  teacher  he  was  eminently  successful.  By  his 
many  influences  the  Galveston  Lyceum  was  chartered  and 
became  a  means  of  vast  power  and  influence.  The  Lyceum  be- 
came the  grand  center  of  attraction  and  eclipsed  the  useless, 
silly  parade  and  show  of  the  ballroom  and  theater.     I  found, 


678  The  Life  and  AVkitings  of 

during  the  four  weeks'  protracted  meeting  I  conducted  in 
G-alveston,  in  1848,  more  literary,  cultivated  and  refined 
young  ladies  and  gentlemen  than  I  ever  found  in  any  place 
of  its  size.  It  was  the  influence  of  that  Lyceum  and  its  lite- 
rary and  refined  associations  that  aided  and  inspired  and  guided 
to  eminence  such  noble  men  and  women  as  Mr.  Wm.  P.  Ball- 
enger  and  lady,  Robt.  H.  Howard,  Dr.  Truhart,  Mr.  Rhodes, 
Mrs.  George  Morris,  Mrs.  Sallie  Jones  Anderson,  Mrs.  Dr. 
Lipscombe  and  Charley  W.  Stewart,  our  present  congressman, 
then  the  son  of  an  intelligent  carpenter  in  Galveston.  Oh ! 
that  we  had  such  a  Lyceum  in  every  town  in  Texas  to  counter- 
act the  degrading  tendencies  of  the  ballroom,  theater  and 
doggery. 

While  Brother  Huckins  was  delighted  with  teaching  and 
the  refining  influence  of  the  Lyceum  and  in  making  money, 
yet  he  pined  for  holy  consecration  to  the  preaching  of  the 
gospel.  And  as  soon  as  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention  was 
organized  at  Augusta,  Georgia,  in  1845  and  the  old  spirit  of 
Mercer  was  revived,  he  gladly  accepted  an  appointment  as  a 
missionary  to  Galveston.  He  soon  gathered  around  him  a 
congregation  eminent  for  refinement  and  intelligence.  By 
the  aid  of  some  liberal  friends  in  Georgia,  South  Carolina, 
Virginia,  and  the  church  and  people  of  Galveston,  a  neat 
church  was  erected  and  dedicated  in  1847.  The  great  and 
lamented  Rev.  I.  T.  Hinton,  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church  in  ISTew  Orleans,  was  to  have  preached  the  dedication 
sermon,  but,  alas !  yellow  fever  struck  him  down  just  a  week 
before  the  dedication,  and  the  dedication  sermon  was  preached 
by  the  lamented  Tryon,  who  was  so  soon  to  be  smitten  down 
by  the  same  dreadful  disease. 

As  soon  as  the  $4,000  house  was  completed  and  dedicated, 
there  arose  that  mournful,  restless  craving,  that  has  crushed 
many  churches,  to  have  a  new  preacher  to  go  into  the  new 
church.  This  resulted  in  his  resignation  of  the  pastorship  and 
well  nigh  the  ruin  of  the  church.  Brother  Huckins  at  once 
(February,  1848),  entered  upon  a  wider,  grander,  field  of  use- 
fulness as  agent  of  the  infant  university  at  Independence. 

As  the  ardent  advocate  of  education,  Brother  Huckins, 
had  aided  in  organizing  at  Clear  Creek,  Fayette  county,  in 


Dr.  Eufus  C.  Buklesox.  679 

1842,  the  "Texas  Baptist  Educational  Society."  The  first 
officers  were :  Rev.  R.  E.  B.  Baylor,  President;  Stephen  Pearl 
Andrews,  Recording  Secretary;  Wm.  M.  Tryon,  Correspond- 
ing Secretary;  John  Collins,  Treasurer;  Board  of  Managers, 
James  Huckins,  Z.  X.  Morrell,  J.  L.  Farquhar,  Gail  Borden, 
Stephen  Williams,  W.  H.  Ewing,  and  J.  S.  Lester.  This 
society  is  still  flourishing  with  Rev.  Dr.  G.  W.  Rogers,  Presi- 
dent; Dr.  Reddin  Andrews,  Corresponding  Secretary.  This 
society,  then  representing  1,400  Baptists,  secured  the  charter 
and  inaugurated  Baylor  University  in  1845-46  at  Indepen- 
dence with  one  teacher.  Prof.  Henry  F.  Gilbert,  and  seventeen 
students.  The  University  (JJniversitas  in  ovuo,  as  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson says)  opened  in  an  old  two-story  frame  building  33x55 
feet,  which  had  been  bought  at  a  sheriff's  sale,  by  A.  G. 
Haynes  and  E.  W.  Taylor  and  by  them  donated  to  said  Uni- 
versity. It  was  of  course  a  co-educational  school  as  there 
was  but  one  teacher  and  seventeen  students.  But  our  hero 
brethren  intended  grand  buildings  and  endowment  and  library. 
To  attain  these  great  ends  Rev.  James  Huckins  was  appointed 
General  Agent  to  raise  money  when  as  yet  there  were  not  in 
all  Texas  but  four  Baptist  houses  of  worship  and  only  1,400 
Baptists. 

ISTever  was  there  a  grander  work  nor  a  more  suitable 
agent.  There  were  no  bridges  and  but  few  ferries.  He  had 
to  swim  most  of  the  streams.  Robertson  and  Burleson  coun- 
ties were  on  the  Indian  frontier  and  Gonzales  on  the  Mexican 
border.  The  neighborhoods  were  sparsely  settled  and  widely 
scattered,  and  money  so  scarce  that  trading  was  carried  on  in 
cows,  calves,  rawhides,  mustangs  and  wild  land.  I  have  pre- 
served for  future  generations  an  old  subscription  paper :  "For 
the  use  and  benefit  of  Baylor  University."  The  only  cash  do- 
nation was  $200  by  Gen.  Morgan  L.  Smith,  who  recently  died 
at  N^ewark,  New  Jersey,  but  was  then  a  merchant  and  sugar 
planter  at  Brazoria.  But  the  learned  and  indomitable  agent 
soon  visited  on  horseback  every  town  and  neighborhood  in 
Texas,  He  raised  but  little  money,  but  got  many  liberal  con- 
tributions in  wild  land,  mustangs,  cows,  calves  and  beeves. 
But  he  fired  all  Texas  with  a  noble  enthusiasm  for  a  Great 
Texas  Baptist  University, 


G80  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

He  disseminated  information  all  over  Texas  which  is  still 
bearing  precious  fruit. 

Brother  ITuckins  finding  it  impossible  to  raise  money 
sufficient  to  put  up  the  much  needed  building  and  purchase  an 
apparatus  and  library,  resolved  to  go  to  the  old  states.  He 
traversed  on  horseback  the  States  of  Louisiana,  Mississippi  and 
Alabama.  The  learned  and  enthusiastic  agent  by  his  genia- 
lity, his  wonderful  knowledge  of  human  nature  and  wild 
western  life  excited  interest,  good  will  and  attention,  but 
found  it  well  nigh  impossible  to  inspire  confidence  in  a  Texas 
University.  He  received  abundance  of  good  wishes  and  $1,200 
real  cash.  He  also  procured  in  New  York,  Philadelphia  and 
Boston,  the  nucleus  of  a  good  library  and  chemical  and 
philosophical  and  astronomical  apparatus. 

On  this  agency  he  visited  Charleston,  and  aided  the  great 
Dr.  Kichard  Fuller  in  a  protracted  meeting  of  six  weeks — the 
church  paying  his  salary  and  making  him  a  valuable  donation 
for  the  University. 

He  also  visited  his  old  Alma  Mater,  Brown  University. 
His  beloved  president,  Dr.  Wayland,  gave  him  a  joyful  wel- 
come and  a  liberal  donation  for  his  work,  though  Brown  Uni- 
versity was  then  struggling  for  existence. 

After  five  years  arduous  struggles  as  agent,  having 
secured  the  erection  of  the  first  building  now  called  Graves 
Hall,  a  library  and  apparatus  and  $30,000  in  notes  for  the 
endowment,  he  accepted  a  call  of  the  Galveston  church  and 
returned  to  his  pastoral  work  in  that  beautiful  city. 

There  he  remained  till  1859,  when  his  Charleston  friends 
were  looking  out  for  a  successor  to  their  great  and  good  pastor, 
Dr.  Fuller,  who  had  become  pastor  at  Baltimore,  their  hearts 
were  all  turned  to  the  great  Texan  who  had  labored  so  success- 
fully in  the  great  revival  in  1850.  He  accepted,  and  after 
nineteen  years  of  unceasing  toil  extending  from  1840  to  1859, 
he  bade  Texas  farewell.  'No  man  ever  left  Galveston  more 
regretted  by  all  classes.  The  citizens,  without  regard  to 
class,  oondition  or  religion,  presented  him  with  a  silver  service 
of  rare  beauty  and  great  cost  as  a  slight  token  of  their  esteem. 
Four  years  he  toiled  successfully  as  pastor,  universally  beloved 
by  all  classes.     When  he  saw  the  first  fatal  gun  fired  on  Fort 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson. 


681 


Sumpter,  he  knew  it  was  the  death  knell  of  slavery  and  South- 
ern equality  in  the  government. 

But  like  a  good  and  great  man  and  devoted  Christian, 
he  trusted  in  God,  and  pressed  on  in  his  duties  as  pastor  and 
chaplain.  He  visited  the  sick  and  wounded  soldiers.  He 
watched  and  wept  and  prayed  for  all.  Till  overwhelmed  with 
toils  and  cares  and  sorrows,  he  fell  prostrated  on  the  streets 
in  Charleston.,  lie  was  carried  to  a  house  near  by  and  thence 
borne  to  his  own  home  where  he  died  August  14th,  1863. 
Thus  lived  and  thus  died  Rev.  James  Huckins,  one  of  the 
greatest  workers,  and  one  of  the  greatest  financiers  of  the  Old 
Guard. 


Z.  N.  MORRELL. 


'¥- 


Z.  N.  MORRELL. 

t 

Elder  Z.  IST.  Morrell  was  the  third  Baptist  preacher  that 
ever  preached  in  Texas.  He  began  his  ministry  in  1835,  and 
ended  it  in  glory  December  19,  1883,  aged  81  years,  lacking 
28  days.     He  was  par  excellence  one  of  the  Old  Guard. 

Elder  Joseph  Bays  preached  the  first  sermon  in  Texas 
at  the  house  of  Moses  Shipman,  in  1825.  Elder  Thomas 
Hanks,  the  second  preacher,  preached  his  first  sermon  in  the 
same  house  in  1828.  Under  this  sermon  that  noble  mother  in 
Israel,  Sister  James  Allcom,  was  joyfully  converted. 


6i82  The  Life  and  Wkitings  of 

Bro.  Morrell,  the  third  preacher,  preached  his  first  ser- 
mon on  Little  River,  December  30,  1835.  He  is  so  widely 
and  so  well  known  by  his  inimitable  book,  "Flowers  and 
Fruits,  or  Forty-six  Years  in  Texas  and  Yucatan,"  that  I  will 
give  only  a  condensed  view  of  his  long  active  and  remarkable 
career. 

His  book,  written  in  a  plain,  unpretending  style,  demon- 
strates fully  that  "Truth  is  mightier  than  fiction."  His  un- 
varnished story  of  the  chivalrous  daring  exalted  patriotism  and 
Christian  heroism  of  our  fathers  shows  clearly  that  Texas  has 
all  the  materials  for  a  poem  grander  than  Homer's  Hiad  or 
Virgil's  ^neid.  I  repeat,  let  every  Texas  patriot,  especially 
every  Texas  Baptist,  read  and  study  a  book  that  is  second  in 
power  only  to  Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress,  written  by  an- 
other Baptist  preacher,  in  Bedford  jail. 

The  14  years  he  preached  in  Tennessee  was  at  the  time 
when  the  very  foundations  of  our  Zion  were  shaken  and 
our  Baptist  Churches  and  Associations  were  torn  asunder  by 
the  exciting  questions  of  foreign  missions,  an  educated  and 
paid  ministry,  temperance  and  Sunday  schools.  In  the  dis- 
cussions and  fierce  conflicts  about  these  great  questions,  Bro. 
Morrell  was  not  like  "dumb  cattle  driven,"  he  was  "a  hero  in 
the  strife." 

iSTone  but  a  philosophic  historian  can  ever  understand  the 
grand  underlying  principles  and  the  divine  mission  and  heroic 
struggles  of  Baptists  for  long  centuries  that  produced  these 
fierce  discussions  and  sad  divisions  among  our  brethren  in  1835 
to  1845. 

I  never  survey  calmly  all  these  things  without  dropping 
a  tear  of  sorrow  and  sympathy  for  our  anti-missionary  breth- 
ren, and  without  a  glow  of  admiration  for  our  Mercers, 
Daniels,  Furmans,  Manly's,  Lelands,  and  Morrels,  who  pro- 
claimed and  defended  the  truth  of  God  on  these  great  ques- 
tions. 

For  1,500  years  Baptists  had  resisted  unto  death  the 
innovation  of  sprinkling,  infant  baptism,  episcopacy,  popery 
and  every  other  innovation.  It  was  just  as  natural  for  a 
Baptist  to  hate  innovation  as  it  is  for  the  Devil  to  love  holy 
water,  which  he  invented.     And  to  the  thousands  of  our  un- 


Dr.  Kufus  C.  Burleson.  683 

educated  brethren,  missions,  Sunday  schools,  etc.,  seeme'i 
hated  innovations  to  be  resisted  unto  death. 

For  200  years  Baptist  had  contended  against  Cath- 
olics, Lutherans,  Episcopalians,  Presbyterians,  and  even  Puri- 
tan Fathers,  that  genuine  piety  and  a  divine  call  to  the  min- 
istry, and  not  education,  were  essential  to  a  preacher.  The 
Baptists  contended  against  the  whole  religious  world  that 
grace,  and  not  gifts;  that  piety,  not  education,  made  a 
preacher.  The  true  Baptist  doctrine  ever  was  that  education 
is  a  valuable  aid,  but  not  a  substitute  for  piety.  But  in  the 
bitterness  of  the  conflict  the  extremists,  and  the  illiterate  dis- 
paraged all  education,  claiming  ^'knowledge  only  puffed  up," 
and  was  to  be  avoided. 

For  500  years  preachers,  so-called,  were  the  laziest 
and  best  paid  professional  men  in  the  world. 

In  the  old  world,  many  Catholic  and  Protestant  preachers 
received  from  $10,000  to  $100,000  in  salary,  and  spent  their 
time  in  feasting  and  fox  hunting. 

Even  in  Massachusetts  and  Virginia  Puritan  and  Epis- 
copal preachers,  rolling  in  luxury,  ground  the  poor  to  the 
earth  in  tithes  and  tobacco  tax.  To-day  Spurgeon  and  every 
Baptist  in  England  is  taxed  to  pay  Episcopal  preachers. 

The  Lord  used  the  Baptists  as  his  battle-axe,  or  rather  as 
"a  scourge  of  small  cords  to  drive  this  accursed  gospel  of  mer- 
chandise and  these  Scribes  and  Pharisees  from  his  holy 
temple." 

These  hirelings  in  Massachusetts  and  West  Virginia  said : 
"If  that  old  Baptist  devil,  John  Leland,  or  Isaac  Bachus,  Sam 
Harris  or  Elias  Craig  should  preach  here  once,  he  would  put 
the  old  devil  into  our  people  so  big  they  would  not  pay  our 
salaries  for  ten  years,  and  our  families  will  have  to  live  like 
other  poor  people." 

I  repeat  it,  let  it  never  be  forgotten  that  it  was  the  dis- 
cussion of  these  points  that  gave  our  fathers  a  dread  for  the 
corrupting  power  of  filthy  lucre  in  the  church  and  caused  them 
to  look  with  such  jealousy  on  big  salaries  for  preachers  and 
education. 

Baptists  in  all  ages  and  in  all  countries  have  been 
the  boldest  champions  of  soul  liberty,  of  true  personal  liberty. 


684  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

And  who  can  doubt  that  the  "personal  liberty  dodge"  en- 
tangled and  bewildered  the  intellects  of  plain  Baptists  and 
arrayed  them  against  temperance  societies?  Especially  when 
we  see  how  this  "personal  liberty  dodge"  bewildered  the  brain 
of  our  noble  Senator  Coke  and  Congresman  Mills,  whose 
father  was  a  Hardshell  Baptist.  AVhat  Baptist  can  calmly 
review  all  these  grand  historic  facts  without  praising  God  for 
giving  us  a  Wayland,  a  Cone,  a  Mercer,  a  Fuller  and  a  Mor- 
rell  to  discern,  enhance  and  defend  the  glorious  cause  of  mis- 
sions, temperance  and  Sabbath  schools,  and  at  the  same  time 
drop  a  tear  for  our  anti-missionary  brethren,  who,  acting  from 
noble  but  misguided  Baptist  impulses,  were  entangled  into  the 
meshes  of  anti-missions,  anti-temperance  and  anti-education 
and  anti-Sunday  schools. 

Instead  of  sneering  at  them  as  Hardshells,  mossbacks  and 
iron-jackets,  let  us  pray  for  them  as  Bro.  Morrell  did,  that 
the  whole  Baptist  family  may  be  reunited  and  stand  as  one 
body,  as  they  have  for  1800  years. 

But  by  14  years  of  incessant  labor,  often  averaging  one 
sermon  a  day  for  a  whole  year,  Bro.  Morrell  grew  mighty  in 
the  Scriptures,  but  his  outer  man  was  perishing.  By  almost 
daily  preaching  to  vast  multitudes,  often  in  the  open  air,  he 
commenced  bleeding  at  the  lungs.  His  physicians  and  loving 
friends  knew  that  nothing  but  rest  and  a  warm  climate  would 
save  his  life.  He  started  out  to  explore  Texas  with  five  Ten- 
nessee friends,  two  lawyers,  Chester  and  Hays,  two  deacons. 
Hunt  and  Moore,  and  one  doctor,  Butler.  They  crossed  the 
Sabine  river  at  Fort  Gaines,  September  21,  1835,  just  twelve 
days  after  Gen.  Cos  and  the  whole  Mexican  army  surrendered 
to  Gen.  Burleson  at  San  Antonio. 

On  the  30th  day  of  September  he  preached  his  first  ser- 
mon in  Texas,  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Childress,  an  old  Tennes- 
see friend,  on  Little  river. 

Having  selected  the  Falls  of  the  Brazos  seven  miles  south- 
west from  where  Marlin  now  stands,  he  hurried  back  to  bring 
his  wife  and  nine  children  to  Texas.  He  passed  through 
ISTacogdoches  on  Sunday,  January  6,  1836.  God's  holy  Sab- 
bath, as  in  all  Catholic  countries,  was  a  day  of  desecration. 
A  political  election  was  held  that  Sunday.     The  town  was  full 


Dk.  Rufus  C,  Buklesok.  685 

of  Indians,  Mexicans  and  Texans.  His  great  soul,  like  Paul's 
at  Athens,  was  stirred  within  him  and  getting  do^vn  and  hitch- 
ing his  mule  and  standing  on  a  pile  of  hewed  logs  lying  near 
the  public  square,  all  crowded  with  the  surging  masses,  and 
holding  up  his  watch,  he  cried :  "Oh,  yes !  Oh,  yes  !  Every- 
body who  wants  to  buy  without  money  and  without  price,  let 
him  come  here !"  While  singing  that  grand  old  battle  song, 
"Am  I  a  soldier  of  the  Cross,"  a  vast  crowd,  of  all  sizes  and 
ages  and  colors  crowded  around  him.  After  prayer  and  singing 
two  verses  of  the  song, 

"Tis   religion   that   can   give 
Sweetest  pleasure  while  we  hve." 

he  preached  from  that  grand  old  text,  "The  wilderness  shall 
blossom  as  the  rose."  Isa.  xxxv,  1.  "While  preaching  a  re- 
markable coincidence  occurred.  The  preacher  unexpectedly 
saw  his  dear  old  brother,  Wm.  Whitaker,  with  his  family 
drive  up  in  their  wagons.  What  must  have  been  the  joy  of 
preacher  and  deacon  and  their  families !    ' 

On  returning  to  Texas  with  his  family,  April  6,  1836, 
he  found  the  road  from  ISTacogdoches  to  San  Augustine  all 
crowded  with  people  fleeing  from  Santa  Anna,  who  on  the  (5th 
of  March  had  butchered  Travis,  Bonham,  Bowie  and  Crockett, 
and  was  swooping  down  on  Texas  like  a  vulture  on  his  prey. 

He  was  everywhere  urged  to  turn  back,  he  was  even  de- 
nounced as  a  fool  biit  still,  with  the  heroic  spirit  of  Paul  he 
could  say:     "None  of  these  things  move  me." 

The  young  beaver,  reared  in  a  bam,  that  never  saw  a 
stream,  will  build  carefully  a  dam  across  his  barn  floor,  so 
"there  is  a  destiny  that  shapes  our  ends  rough  hew  them  as 
we  will."  The  same  destiny  guided  our  heroic  brother.  Be- 
fore he  reached  the  leeches  brave  men  on  fleet  horses  came 
shouting,  "Victory,  victory,  Houston  and  his  immortal  783 
have  routed  and  captured  Santa  Anna  and  the  whole  Mexican 
army  of  2400  men." 

The  fleeing  wives  and  children  were  invited  to  return 
home,  but  the  cowardly  men  who  fled  from  the  field  of  danger 
and  glory  were  told  that  Texas  would  be  unhealthy  for  them. 
In  l^ovember,  1836,  Bro.  Morrell,  with  his  wife  and  four 
children  reached  their  forest  home  at  the  Falls  of  the  Brazos. 


686  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

Finding  six  or  eight  families  and  a  number  of  soldiers  he 
preached  on  the  first  Sunday  and  this  began  forty-six  years  of 
toil  for  the  glory  of  his  Redeemer  in  Texas. 

He  preached  the  first  sermon  ever  preached  in  the  to^vn 
of  "Washington,  January  3d,  1837. 

He  preached  the  first  sermon  in  the  city  of  Houston, 
March,  1837.  While  absent  on  a  tour  of  preaching  and  secur- 
ing supplies  of  provisions  and  powder  and  lead,  the  Indians  in 
June,  1837,  destroyed  the  little  settlement  at  the  Falls,  burned 
up  his  house,  with  all  his  furniture — his  wife  and  four  child- 
ren marvelously  escaping  to  I^ashville,  45  miles  lower  down 
on  the  Brazos.  Washington  having  been  fixed  upon  as  the 
temporary  capital  of  the  Republic  of  Texas,  he  located  there. 
Having  no  other  means  of  support  and  having  a  small  capital 
of  $2000,  the  price  of  lands  sold  in  Mississippi,  he  bought  a 
small  stock  of  goods  in  New  Orleans  and  went  to  merchan- 
dising. He  employed  as  his  clerk  an  energetic,  reliable  young 
man,  Peter  J.  Willis,  who  has  become  one  of  the  merchant 
'  princes  of  Galveston.  While  the  faithful  young  clerk  looked 
after  the  store,  the  great  pioneer  preacher  visited  all  the  scat- 
tering Baptists  for  a  hundred  miles  around  and  preached  in 
all  the  little  settlements  without  money  and  price.  But  like 
all  great  foundation  builders  he  knew  nothing  could  be  done 
without  organization. 

Finding  H.  R.  Cartmell  and  A.  Bufiington,  of  Nashville, 
Tennessee,  Jas.  R.  Jenkins  of  Georgia,  Noah  T.  Byars,  Rich- 
ard Ellis  and  a  few  other  scattered  Baptists  he  first  organized 
a  prayer  meeting,  and  there  in  1837  the  first  Baptist  church 
ever  organized  west  of  the  Brazos,  except  a  Primitive  Baptist 
church  in  Burleson  settlement  near  Bastrop,  of  which  Abner 
Smith,  father  of  Elder  C.  C.  Smith,  was  pastor.  This  little 
band  at  Washington,  appointed,  as  we  have  seen  a  committee 
of  Jas.  R.  Jenkins,  H.  R.  Cartmell  and  A.  Bufiington  to  pub- 
lish an  appeal  for  and  to  the  Baptists  of  all  the  older  states,  to 
help  evangelize  the  infant  Republic  of  Texas.  That  appeal, 
as  we  have  seen,  stirred  the  great  heart  and  great  purse  of 
Jesse  Mercer  and  also  the  heroic  missionary  zeal  of  Wm.  M. 
Tryon  and  James  Huckins. 

Eternity  alone  can  ever  unfold  the  mighty  influence  of 
that  little  organization  and  the  appeal  of  that  committee. 


Dr.  Rufus  C  Burleson.  QS^ 

That  little  cliurch  was  soon  strengthened  by  the  presence, 
ardent  piety  and  queenly  address  of  the  bride  of  the  president 
of  the  Republic,  Mrs.  Maggie  Lee  Houston,  for  whom  our 
Maggie  Houston  hall  is  named.  But  Brother  Morrell  like 
Paul,  having  preached  Jesus  in  all  the  regions  on  the  Brazos 
and  Trinity,  his  soul  yearned  for  "the  regions  beyond"  the 
Colorado. 

He  explored  the  country  as  far  as  Corpus  Christi,  preach- 
ing as  he  went.  Finding  two  or  three  Mexican  families  and 
about  as  many  Irish  at  Goliad,  he  assembled  them  in  the  old 
deserted  Catholic  mission  house  and  preached  them  Jesus  on 
the  very  spot  where  Fannin  and  his  357  heroes  were  massacred 
as  prisoners  of  war  on  Sunday,  March  27,  1836.  To  be  nearer 
the  center  of  his  new  parish,  he  finally  settled  at  Gonzales. 
In  order  to  reach  his  appointments  he  had  often  to  ride  50 
miles  at  night  to  avoid  the  Indians.  But  in  the  midst  of  all 
these  exciting  and  rough  surroundings,  his  soul  longed  for 
something  higher  and  he  took  his  two  sons  and  little  daughter, 
mounted  on  horseback  to  Middleton,  Mississippi,  and  put  them 
in  Middleton  college,  under  the  presidency  of  that  grand  Bap- 
tist champion.  Rev.  S.  S.  Lattimore.  While  engaged  in  this 
vast  missionary  work  at  his  own  charge  the  dark  days  of  1841- 
2-3,  spread  like  a  pall  of  midnight  gloom  over  all  Texas.  The 
gallant,  noble  and  poetic  President,  Gen.  Mirabeau  B.  Lamar, 
sank  under  the  mighty  load  retired  from  his  office  with  a 
crushed  spirit  and  ruined  health,  and  left  the  Vice-President 
to  finish  his  term  of  office.  The  killing  of  the  Indian  chiefs 
at  San  Antonio  and  the  intrigues  of  Cordova  and  other  Mexi- 
can agents  had  infuriated  the  Indians  and  their  camp  fires 
blazed  along  750  miles  of  our  bleeding  frontier,  8,000,000 
of  enraged  Mexicans  were  threatening  to  exterminate  the  Tex- 
ans  and  re-establish  Mexican  authority  to  their  ancient  bound- 
ary, the  Sabine  River.  In  September,  1842,  the  Mexican  Gen. 
Woll,  with  1300  cavalrymen,  rushed  into  San  Antonio  sur- 
rounded the  court  house,  captured  Judge  Hutchinson,  the 
lawyers,  the  sheriff,  the  clerk  with  all  his  documents,  the 
criminals  and  all  the  witnesses  while  trying  an  exciting  case. 
The  capture  was  so  complete  that  when  they  retreated  to  the 
Hondo  a  waggish  lawyer  proposed  to  the  judge  to  order  the 
sheriff  to  call  the  court  and  "proceed  with  the  case."     Judge 


688  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

Hutchinson  with  the  prospect  of  a  long  imprisonment  in  the 
Mexican  dungeon  parote,  was  in  no  funny  mood  and  decided 
that  the  case  must  lie  over  till  the  next  regular  term  of  court. 
Brother  Morrell  was  one  of  the  ''minute  men"  always  ready 
to  rush  to  the  front.  He  had  gone  out  with  the  gallant  Cald- 
well with  202  men  to  repel  Woll  and  his  marauders.  While 
securely  concealed  in  a  ravine  and  successfully  repelling  with 
death  dealing  rifles  Woll's  whole  force,  now  increased  to 
1,600  men,  they  saw  the  gallant  Capt.  Dawson  with  fifty-two 
brave  recruits  from  LaGrange  coming  across  the  boundless 
prairie.  That  little  heroic  band  was  intercepted  by  the  ]\Iexi- 
can  cavalry  and  surrounded  by  overwhelming  numbers. 
Brother  Morrell  knew  that  his  darling  son  was  among  Daw- 
son's men.  Oh  what  a  scene  for  a  loving  father  and  his  brave 
compeers  to  lie  in  that  ditch  utterly  helpless  and  behold  his 
son  and  the  little  heroic  band  fired  upon  by  1,600  Mexicans. 
Dawson  and  thirty-five  of  his  men  lay  dead  on  the  field,  two 
escaped,  fifteen  were  disarmed  and  captured.  On  the  retreat 
of  Gen,  Woll,  Brother  Morrell  and  other  fathers  in  Caldwell's 
command  hurried  forth  to  hunt  among  the  mangled  corpses 
for  their  sons.  Brother  Morrell  saw  the  brave  sons  of  his 
brethren  and  neighbors  weltering  in  their  blood  but  found  his 
son  not  dead  but  doomed  to  the  galling  bondage  of  a  Mexican 
prison.  After  chasing  the  cowardly  Woll  out  of  Texas,  he  re- 
turned to  his  home  to  tell  the  weeping  mother  and  sister  of 
the  fate  of  the  son  and  brother. 

In  all  these  dark  days  Brother  Morrell  was  a  hero, 
whether  preaching  to  the  gamblers  at  Springfield,  or  quelling 
with  his  hickory  stick  a  mob  at  Washington,  or  as  Chaplain  of 
Congress,  or  aiding  Tryon  and  Huckins  in  forming  the  Texas 
Baptist  Education  Society  at  Clear  Creek,  and  founding  Bay- 
lor University  or  organizing  the  Baptist  State  Convention  at 
Anderson.  He  was  a  born  leader,  brave  as  Caesar  in  battle, 
simple  as  a  child  and  devout  as  a  martyr  in  religion,  a  Cato  in 
firmness  he  was  fitly  called  "The  grand  old  Roman."  His 
faults,  like  the  black  spots  on  the  sun,  were  unseen  in  the 
brightness  of  his  shining  excellences.  But  a  brighter  day 
dawned.  The  hero  of  San  Jacinto  was  re-elected  President. 
The  magic  of  his  name  conciliated  the  infuriated  Red  Men. 
The  Mexicans  were  chased  back.     The  darling  boy,  Allen, 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Buelesox. 


689 


returns  home  from  his  worse  than  Egyptian  bondage.  The 
great  VanZandt  and  others  secure  the  annexation  of  Texas. 
The  Southern  Baptist  Convention  is  organized — the  old  Texas 
mission  spirit  of  Mercer  is  revived  and  to  use  Brother  Morrell's 
expressive  words,  "A  whole  boat  load  of  preachers  arrives." 
Texas  is  full  of  preachers  and.  still  his  great  soul  is  panting 
"for  the  regions  beyond"  and  there  being  no  more  destitution 
in  these  parts  he  spends  two  years  in  the  destitute  regions  of 
Yucatan.  But  with  the  noble  instinct  of  all  noble  animals 
even,  he  wants  to  come  home  to  die.  But  still  there  is  a  grand 
work  to  do.  He  is  urged  to  put  on  record  his  recollections 
of  his  forty-six  years  of  frontier  life.  His  modesty  is  shocked. 
But  encouraged  by  the  entreaties  of  friends  and  aided  by  his 
son  in  the  gospel,  Eev.  Martin  V.  Smith,  ^'His  flowers  bloom 
and  His  fruits  ripen"  to  the  perpetual  glory  of  Texas.  In  his 
dying  hour  he  said  in  exultant  tones  to  Martin  V.  Smith,  "T 
"wdll  soon  be  safe  at  home."  Oh  when  shall  we  look  upon  his 
like  again  ? 

E.  E.  B.  BAYLOR. 


Hon.    and 
'Old    Guard." 

44 


^  ^SiiwifflP^^ilg. 


R.  E.  B.  BAYLOR. 

Rev.    R.    E.    B.    Baylor    is    one 
And    his    name    will   never    be 


of    the 
forgotten 


690  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

by  Texas  Baptists.  Five  hundred  years  hence  the 
name  of  Baylor  will  shine  as  resplendently  as  the  names  of 
Harvard,  Yale  and  Brown  in  America,  or  Oxford  or  Cam- 
bridge in  England.  For  a  third  of  a  century — from  1839  to 
1873 — he  acted  a  noble  part  and  bore  an  unsullied  name  in 
Texas.  He  was  a  leader,  not  only  as  an  eminent  statesman 
and  jurist,  but  as  an  eloquent  preacher  and  a  liberal  donor  to 
every  good  work  of  charity.  His  name  was  synonymous  with 
purity,  child-like  simplicity,  charity,  piety  and  patriotism.  He 
was  a  grand  pathfinder  and  foundation  builder.  His  name  is 
engraven  on  the  foundation  stone  of  the  greatness  of  Texas  and 
Texas  Baptists,  and  there  it  will  remain  while  the  stars  shine 
or  the  waves  of  the  gulf  dash  on  our  shore.  As  a  grand  model 
for  imitation,  every  Texan,  and  especially  every  Baptist  and 
every  student  of  Baylor  University,  should  study  profoundly 
his  heroic  life. 

Our  illustrious  brother  was  bom  in  Bourbon  county,  Ky., 
May  10,  1791.  He  was  of  an  illustrious  family.  His  father, 
Robert  Baylor,  was  a  colonel  in  the  Revolutionary  army,  and 
one  of  the  aides  of  the  great  "Washington,  as  was  also  his 
uncle,  George  Baylor.  And  the  private  papers  of  the  "Father 
of  his  Country,"  as  published  some  years  ago  by  order  of  Con- 
gress, showed  how  often  and  on  what  important  and  delicate 
duties  Washington  sent  Colonel  Robert  Baylor.  Brother 
Baylor's  maternal  grandfather,  Bledsoe,  was  one  of  the  three 
Baptist  preachers  imprisoned  in  Virginia  for  preaching  Bap- 
tist doctrine,  and  afterwards  so  ably  defended  by  the  great 
Patrick  Henry.  He  was  a  cousin  of  Robert  Baylor  Sample,  the 
first  president  and  with  Luther  Rice,  chief  founder  of  Colum- 
bia University,  Washington  City.  He  was  a  cousin  of  Rev.  and 
Hon.  Thomas  Chilton  and  Hon.  W.  P.  Chilton  and  Mrs. 
George  Denton,  of  Honey  Grove,  known  and  beloved  all  over 
TTorth  Texas  as  "Aunt  Sallie  Denton."  Brother  Baylor  re- 
ceived the  foundation  of  a  solid  English  education  at  a  country 
school  and  at  a  flourishing  academy  at  Paris,  Ky.  By  reading 
and  intense  study  he  became  eminent  as  a  Belles  Lettres 
scholar  and  critic.  He  studied  law  under  his  uncle,  Mr.  Bled- 
soe, a  celebrated  lawyer  of  Kentucky,  and  a  relative  of  Judge 
Bledsoe,  of  Sherman,  Texas.  He  entered  public  life  when 
the  unrivaled  eloquence  of  Heniy  Clay  was  at  its  zenith,  and 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Bukleson.  691 

fired  all  aspiring  young  men  to  be  orators.  He  was  elected  to 
the  legislature  of  Kentucky  when  he  was  23  years  old,  and 
notwithstanding  his  youth;  his  commanding  person — 6  feet 
2-|  inches  tall — and  his  burning  eloquence  won  for  him  dis- 
tinction. Like  most  young  men  of  his  day,  he  had  been  car- 
ried away  by  the  shallow  sophistry  of  Voltaire  and  the  coarse- 
ribaldry  of  Tom  Paine.  But  while  in  the  legislature,  by 
God's  providence,  he  heard  the  real  "forest-born  Demos- 
thenes," Kev.  Jeremiah  Vardeman.  Elder  Vardeman  was  in 
the  pulpit  what  Clay  was  at  the  bar  or  in  the  Senate.  The 
yovmg  lawyer  and  skeptic  was  amazed  to  see  a  plain,  unedu- 
cated Baptist  preacher  eclipse  the  learning  of  such  preachers 
as  Dr.  Holly,  president  of  Transylvania  University,  and  Dr. 
Blackburn,  and  others.  He  was  still  more  amazed  to  find  that 
the  preacher's  irresistible  eloquence  was  all  learned  from  the 
sublimity  of  Bible  themes  and  Bible  quotations.  After  the 
adjournment  of  the  legislature,  the  eloquent  young  lawyer  fol- 
lowed the  prince  of  pulpit  orators  into  the  country  and  sat 
under  his  preaching  two  weeks,  and  noted  down  and  com- 
mitted to  memory  his  sublime  quotations  from  the  Bible.  He 
did  this  "to  educate  his  soul  to  sublimity,"  as  Isadorus  com- 
manded all  students  in  oratory  to  do.  It  was  the  study  of  these 
sublime  passages  from  Daniel,  Isaiah,  Habakkuk  and  Paul 
that  finally  led  young  Baylor  to  see  the  silly  weakness  of 
skepticism,  and  that  the  Bible  is  not  only,  as  Lord  Bryon  truly 
said,  "the  Book  of  God,  but  the  god  of  books."  He  removed 
to  Alabama  and  settled  at  Oataba  in  1833. 

He  immediately  rose  to  distinction,  and  was  elected  to 
congress  from  the  Tuscaloosa  district  for  two  terms.  But  the 
political  atmosphere  was  repugnant  to  his  pure  heart  and  re- 
fined tastes.  In  1839  his  beloved  cousin,  Thomas  Chilton, 
held  a  protracted  meeting  at  Talladega  during  court  week. 
The  eloquent  lawyer  and  congressman,  Baylor,  was  led  to  see 
he  was  a  lost  sinner,  and  the  only  hope  of  salvation  was  faith 
in  the  atoning  blood  of  Jesus.  He  laid  all  his  learning,  elo- 
quence and  fame  do^vn  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  and  accepted  him 
as  his  all-sufficient  Savior  and  Lord  and  Master.  He  was  bap- 
tized, and,  like  Saul  of  Tarsus,  he  straightway  preached  Jesus 
with  a  power  that  moved  whole  multitudes.  He  was  at  once 
licensed  to  preach  that  precious  gospel  which  in  his  infidel 


092  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

blindness  he  had  reviled.  He  was  just  on  the  eve  of  removing 
to  La  Grange,  Texas,  where  he  was  joyfully  received  by  Elder 
Z.  ]S^.  Morrell,  Wm.  Scallorn,  J.  S.  Lester  and  the  few  scatter- 
ing Baptists.  In  the  poor  and  unsettled  condition  of  the  coun- 
try he  did  what  nearly  all  the  great  lawyers  of  the  South  have 
done — taugh  school — as  a  stepping  stone  to  greatness. 

He  also  shouldered  his  gun  and  bore  his  part  as  a  private 
in  repelling  the  Indian  and  Mexican  invaders  in  1841-2-3. 
He  and  Z.  JST.  Morrell  and  T.  W.  Cox,  all  Baptist  preachers, 
fought  under  Gen.  Burleson  at  the  battle  of  Plum  Creek, 
where  they  crushed  at  one  blow  the  Indian  powers  that  had 
sacked  and  burned  Linnville  and  pillaged  all  the  surrounding- 
country,  and  recaptured  the  plunder  and  Mrs.  Watts  and  so 
many  children  of  murdered  families,  whom  the  savage  mon- 
sters were  carrying  away  to  be  redeemed  by  sorrowing  friends. 

He  was  elected  to  Congress  in  1842-3.  He  was  also  a 
member  of  the  Annexation  Convention  in  1845,  and,  in  con- 
nection with  Isaac  Yan  Zandt,  A.  C.  Horton,  R.  M.  William- 
son and  other  old  Texans,  formed  the  first  State  Constitution, 
which  Senator  Coke  and  others  regard  as  the  wisest  and  best 
Constitution  Texas  ever  saw.  Lie  was  Circuit  Judge  of  Wash- 
ington, Fayette,  Burleson,  Milam  and  McLennan  Counties  f  oi* 
twenty  years.  JSTo  more  just  and  impartial  Judge  ever  sat  on 
the  bench.  He  would  hold  court  all  the  week,  and  preach  on 
Sunday,  and  sometimes  every  night  in  the  week,  and  thus  led 
scores  to  trust  in  Jesus.  While  holding  court  at  Washington 
lie  held  a  gi-eat  revival,  and  baptized  thirty-six  converts  in  the 
Brazos  river  one  beautiful  moonlight  night. 

What  more  beautiful  scene  did  the  moon  ever  look  upon 
than  that  of  an  ex-Congressman  and  eminent  Judge  baptizing 
the  young,  the  beautiful  and  the  great  in  the  ''Brazos  de 
Deos,"  which  means  the  "Arms  of  God."  While  holding  the 
first  court  ever  held  in  Waco  he  preached  the  first  sermon  ever 
preached  in  Waco,  in  the  hotel  of  Capt.  S.  P.  Ross,  father  of 
the  present  distinguished  Governor  of  Texas.  Ko  tongue, 
pen  or  pencil  can  ever  tell  his  influence  for  good  in  his  two- 
fold duties  as  a  Circuit  Judge  and  eloquent  preacher.  He 
often  preached  the  gospel  of  mercy  from  the  same  stand  at 
night  and  on  Sunday  where  he  had  dispensed  law  and  justice 
•during  the   week   of   court.     His   preaching   was   not   dead 


Du.  RuFUs  C  BuKLESOiV.  693 

formalism,  but  with  tears  and  burning  eloquence  from  his 
heart.  Good,  old-fashioned,  experimental  Baptist  religion 
was  the  burden  of  his  preaching.  I  first  heard  him  at  the 
formation  of  the  "Baptist  State  Convention"  at  Anderson, 
September  8th,  1848,  which  had  been  called  by  a  resolution  of 
Eev.  Wm.  M.  Tryon,  in  the  Union  Association  at  Houston, 
just  before  he  died  of  yellow  fever,  l^ovember  16,  1847. 
Hon.  A.  C.  Horton,  Hon.  J.  S.  Lester,  Eli  Mercer,  Gail  Borden 
and  all  the  ''Old  Guard"  were  there.  Gen.  Sam  Houston, 
though  he  was  not  then  a  Baptist,  was  there  to  do  honor  to  that 
mighty  array  of  talent,  representing  1,900  Baptists  of  Texas. 
Judge  Baylor  stood  there  as  a  grand  Titan  among  Titans,  not 
of  brute  force,  but  of  moral  heroism.  Z.  N".  Morrell  preached 
the  introductory  sermon  from  the  text,  "Of  the  increase  of  His 
govern  merit  and  peace  there  shall  be  no  end."  Isaiah  9  :T. 
Brother  Baylor  was  elected  President  by  acclamation,  but  he 
arose  with  tears  of  gratitude  and  thanked  the  brethren  for  their 
confidence,  but  added:  "I  am  compelled  to  be  at  Spring- 
field, sixty  miles  aw^ay,  to  open  court  Monday  at  11  o'clock, 
and  must  leave  by  1  o'clock  on  Sunday  and  ride  till  midnight 
to  meet  my  ofiicial  engagement.  He  preached  at  11  o'clock  on 
Sunday  a  sermon  of  wonderful  power  and  pathos,  that  moved 
and  melted  the  vast  multitude.  He  mounted  his  horse  after 
dinner  and  rode  thirty  miles  that  night.  He  rose  at  4  o'clock 
Monday  morning,  and  at  11  o'clock  was  ready  to  open  court 
at  Springfield,  sixty  miles  from  the  convention  at  Anderson. 
This  one  instance  illustrates  the  zeal  and  drive  and  soul  of  E. 
E.  B.  Baylor  and  the  "Old  Guard"  of  1848— men  who  drove 
back  the  Indians  and  Mexicans  and  caused  the  wilderness  to 
blossom  as  the  rose,  and  increased  the  little  heroic  band  of 
1,900  in  1848  to  a  grand  army  of  180,000  Baptists  in  1887. 

Judge  Baylor  in  honor  always  preferred  his  brethren  to 
himself.  Yet  duty  compelled  him  to  accept  the  ofiice  of  Mod- 
erator of  Union  Association,  the  mother  of  all  associations  in 
Western  Texas.  Also  that  of  President  of  the  Texas  Baptist 
State  Convention,  and  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  univer- 
sity that  bears  his  name  and  will  perpetuate  his  fame  forever. 
He  was  also  the  first  President  of  the  Texas  Baptist  Educa- 
tional Society.  He  w^as  also  a  short  time  on  the  Supreme 
bench  of  Texas. 


•694  The  Life  a^'d  AVkitixgs  of 

Judge  Baylor  was  never  married.  It  is  said  a  beautiful 
young  lady  to  whom  he  was  engaged  in  early  life  died  sud- 
denly a  few  weeks  before  their  anticipated  marriage.  This 
blight  on  his  poetic  and  sensitive  nature  never  passed  away. 
He  built  him  a  beautiful  home  in  a  majestic  grove  of  live 
oaks  six  miles  west  of  Independence. 

His  sister,  Mrs.  Metcalf,  who  was  very  similar  to  him  in 
piety,  gentleness  and  taste,  lived  with  him,  and  made  his  home 
happy  and  joyous. 

Judge  Baylor  was  passionately  fond  of  music,  poetry  and 
painting.  He  was  a  lover  of  all  that  was  beautiful,  pure  and 
grand.     He  was  an  ardent  lover  of  little  children,  good  men 


ON  THE  OLD  COLLEGE  CAMPUS  AT  INDEPENDENCE. 
<jkave  of  JuD(iE  R.  E.  B.  Baylor,  in  Whose  Honor  Baylor  University  was  Named 

and  women,  of  God,  the  church  and  his  country.  Without  a 
particle  of  pomp,  he  was  princely  in  his  manners.  His  liber- 
ality was  great.  He  made  the  first  $1,000  donation  ever 
given  to  the  cause  of  education  in  Texas.  To  the  poor  and  to 
every  good  cause  his  heart  and  purse  were  ever  open.  Judge 
Baylor  was  not  such  a  born  leader  or  planner  as  his  illustrious 
co-laborer,  Wm.  M.  Tryon,  but  he  was  rather  an  inspiration 
for  every  good  plan  by  whomsoever  originated.  He  was  emi- 
nent as  a  peacemaker  in  society  and  among  his  brethren. 
While  he  was  a  Landmark  Baptist,  he  loved  devotedly  all 


Dk.  Eufus  C.  Bukleson. 


69J 


Christ's  people,  whether  Protestant  or  Catholic.  But  he  was 
never  ashamed  of  his  religion  or  of  being  a  Baptist.  In  the 
forests,  in  log  cabins,  in  palatial  halls,  every  man  recognized 
in  him  an  humble,  devoted  Christian  and  a  Baptist.  Who 
can  ever  estimate  the  influence  of  such  a  man  in  a  new  and 
formative  state  of  society  as  Texas  was  in  1839  to  1873!  The 
last  ten  years  of  his  life  ^vas  devoted  to  religious  duties,  read- 
ing the  Bible,  meditations,  prayer  and  preaching.  On  the 
10th  of  December,  1873,  in  his  82nd  year,  he  fell  asleep  in 
Jesus,  as  gently  as  sinks  the  gale  when  storms  are  over.  May 
the  noble  example  of  Rev.  and  Hon.  R.  E.  B.  Baylor  live  in 
the  affectionate  remembrance  of  Texas  Baptists.  May  the 
Lord  raise  us  up  many  such  men  as  Wm.  M.  Tryon  and  R.  E. 
B.  Baylor  and  their  co-laborers,  and  may  the  glory  of  the 
"jSTew  Guard"  excel  the  glory  of  the  "Old  Guard,"  is  my  earn- 
est prayer. 


ELDER  ISTOAH  T.  BYARS. 


N.  T.  BYARS. 


This  name  justly  deserves  a  prominent  place  among  "the 
pathfinders  and  foundation  builders"  of  Texas  Baptists.  Eor, 
though  an  uneducated  man,  he  did  in  his  sphere  a  glorious 


696  The  Life  and  Whitings  of 

work  not  surpassed  by  Baylor,  Tryon,  Hiickins,  or  any  other 
man.  He  aided  and  was  largely  instrumental  in  organizing 
three  associations,  covering  at  that  time  all  Western  Texas 
and  sixty  churches.  And  his  name  and  Christian  labors 
should  ever  be  held  dear  by  every  Baptist. 

He  was  born  in  South  Carolina,  May  ITtli,  1808.  His 
parents  were  pious,  but  poor,  and  unable  to  give  him  an  educa- 
tion beyond  reading,  writing  and  arithmetic.  But  he  used 
this  limited  education  for  great  and  glorious  purposes  during 
his  long  and  useful  life.  He  was  converted  when  sixteen 
years  old,  and  felt  a  strong  desire  to  exhort  sinners  and  lead 
them  to  Christ.  But  his  education  was  so  limited  he  could 
not  realize  that  an  Allwise  and  powerful  God  would  call  such 
an  ignorant  youth  as  he  was  to  discharge  the  glorious  work  of 
leading  lost  sinners  to  their  only  Savior.  He,  therefore, 
smothered  these  convictions,  and  learned  and  pursued  vigor- 
ously his  trade  as  blacksmith.  In  1830,  when  twenty-two 
years  old,  he  removed  to  Georgia,  and  five  years  later,  hearing 
the  mighty  call  from  Texas  to  come  and  repel  the  Mexican 
invaders  on  the  west  and  the  bloody  savages  on  the  norih,  he 
came  to  Texas  and  located  at  Washington,  on  the  Brazos, 
then  the  capital  of  Texas.  He  opened  a  large  blacksmith  shop 
and  armory  to  make  and  repair  implements  of  warfare  for  Gen. 
Houston's  army,  and  also  agricultural  implements.  His 
friend  and  brother,  Richard  Ellis,  a  devoted  young  Baptist 
and  patriot,  was  remarkably  skilled  in  the  use  of  the  whip- 
saw,  and  furnished  Brother  Byars  with  the  material  to  erect 
his  shop;  and  as  this  was  the  largest  hall  in  Washington,  it 
was  used  for  an  assembly  of  the  Constitutional  Convention. 
And  there  the  immortal  Declaration  of  Independence  of  Texas 
was  made  March  2,  1836.  Brother  Byars  hoped  amid  stir- 
ring, exciting  scenes  of  war  his  convictions  in  regard  to  preach- 
ing would  pass  away.  But  as  he  saw  scores  and  hundreds  of 
young  men  far  away  from  home  and  mother  and  churches,  he 
heard  the  call  tenfold  louder  by  day  and  by  night,  "Woe  is  me 
if  I  preach  not  the  gospel."  And  when  the  grand  old  hero, 
Elder  Z.  ^N".  Morrell,  proposed  to  establish  an  appointment  for 
preaching  every  Sunday,  prayer-meeting  every  Wednesday 
night,  Brethren  IN".  T.  Byars,  H.  S.  Cartmel,  A.  Buffing-ton, 
Bichard  Ellis  and  J.  R.  Jenkins  promptly  responded  to  hi* 


De.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  697 

call.  And  in  1837  they  organized  a  Baptist  ckurch,  the  first 
ever  organized  in  Texas,  and  the  influence  of  that  church  has 
been  widely  felt  throughout  Texas,  and  its  influence  will  never 
die  till  the  stars  fade  away.  In  addition  to  Brother  Byars' 
work  in  his  armory  and  blacksmith  shop,  he  discharged  the 
duties  of  sergeant-at-arms  for  the  Senate  of  Texas,  but  when 
the  Capital  was  removed  from  Washington  to  Houston  the 
town  of  Washington  was  for  a  few  years  almost  deserted,  and 
the  members  of  that  heroic  little  church  were  scattered  abroad, 
but,  like  the  early  Christians  at  Jerusalem,  though  "scattered 
abroad"  on  the  murder  of  Steven,  they  went  everywhere 
preaching  the  gospel  and  sowing  the  seeds  of  light  and  knowl- 
edge. Brother  Byars  removed  to  the  Colorado  Valley  and 
settled  above  Bastrop.  Here  he  became  Associate  Justice  of 
the  county  for  two  years  and  was  re-elected  for  two  succeeding 
years.  But  as  there  was  no  preaching  in  that  vast 
destitute  region,  he  could  resist  the  call  to  preach 
no  longer,  and  he  and  others  united  in  organizing 
the  little  church,  Macedonia.  He  was  immediately  licensed  to 
preach,  and  in  less  than  a  year  the  church  called  for  his  ordi- 
nation, and  he  was  ordained  October  16,  1841,  to  the  grand 
work  of  his  life  by  Elder  Z.  IST.  Morrell  and  John  Woodruff. 
In  the  meantime,  realizing  the  great  truth,  "it  is  not  good  for 
man  to  be  alone,"  and  that  a  guardian  angel  was  very  neces- 
sary on  the  frontier  of  Texas,  he  married  a  lovely  woman,  who 
became  a  heroic  helpmeet  to  him  for  a  long  life  of  struggling 
for  the  glory  of  the  Redeemer.  Brother  Byars  immediately 
became  pastor  of  Macedonia  Church,  and  established  another 
church  in  what  is  now  known  as  Burleson  County,  on  the 
Yegua  river.  The  brethren  here  erected  a  comfortable  house 
of  worship,  which  Judge  Baylor  said  was  the  best  in  the  Repub- 
lic of  Texas  at  that  time.  In  1842  he  was  commissioned  by 
President  Sam  Houston  as  armorer  and  blacksmith  for  the 
Indians.  He  accepted  this  position  for  a  twofold  purpose; 
first,  he  hoped  he  could  thereby  gain  access  to  the  hearts  of 
the  Indians  and  Christianize  and  civilize  them;  second,  he  was 
sorely  pressed  for  means  to  support  his  growing  family;  but 
after  a  faithful  trial  he  found  it  impossible  to  win  the  Texas 
Indians  to  Christ  and  civilization.  He  resigned,  and  resolved 
to  devote  his  whole  life  to  preaching,  to  his  countrymen,  and 


698  The  Life  and  "Wkitings  of 

especially  in  destitute  places.  He  removed  from  the  Colorado 
to  Richland  Creek,  in  ISTavaro  County,  and  to  supplement  his 
meager  support  he  reluctantly  accepted  the  office  of  ]^otary 
Public  for  Navaro  County.  But  finding  this  office  conflict- 
ing with  many  calls  for  preaching  in  remote  and  destitute 
places,  he  resigned.  Brother  Byars  carried  out  fully  the  early 
Texas  motto,  ''Crowd  upon  the  track  of  the  Indian  and  buffalo, 
and  wherever  you  see  the  smoke  of  the  white  man  curling 
there  unfold  the  banner  of  the  cross." 

In  1843  he  was  the  only  preacher  between  the  Brazos 
and  Trinity  rivers,  from  Grimes  and  Walker  Counties  to  Red 
river.  The  Southern  Baptist  Convention  was  organized  in 
1845,  and  soon  after  he  was  appointed  as  missionary  to  this 
vast  territory.  The  Baptist  State  Convention  of  Texas  was 
organized  at  Anderson  in  1848.  Brother  Byars  was  sick  in 
bed,  but  sent  his  best  wishes  and  prayers  for  the  success  of  the 
convention.  He  was  the  first  missionary  appointed  under  the 
convention,  and  continued  his  labors  under  the  Convention 
Board  for  ten  years,  during  which  time  he  organized  over 
sixty  churches,  and  aided  very  materially  in  organizing  three 
associations,  and  traveled  thousands  of  miles  over  vast  prairies, 
often  during  the  melting  rays  of  the  summer  sun  and  under 
the  freezing  northers  of  winter. 

In  1851  he  organized  the  first  Baptist  Church  in  Waco 
mth  seven  members.  He  organized  churches  and  Sunday- 
schools  in  every  part  of  his  vast  territory.  And  he  always 
organized  on  the  strictest  principles  of  gospel  churches,  accord- 
ing to  Baptist  usages. 

1^0  missionary  work  has  ever  stood  the  test  of  time 
better  than  the  work  of  Brother  Byars.  But  this  vast  mis- 
sionary labor,  often  swimming  creeks  and  sleeping  under  trees 
at  night,  and  preaching  in  log  cabins  or  under  live  oak  trees 
or  brush  arbors,  sadly  impaired  his  health,  especially  brought 
on  throat  trouble,  and  his  physicians  declared  that  he  must 
suspend  his  missionary  labors,  for  a  while  at  least.  And  as  he 
and  many  other  brethren  had  growing  families  they  were  not 
able  to  send  to  older  and  more  expensive  institutions,  they 
were  eager  to  have  a  Baptist  college  on  the  frontier,  where 
they  could  educate  their  loved  ones  nearer  home  and  cheaper. 
Brother    Byars    resolved  that  he  would  unite   with   these 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Bueleson.  699 

brethren  and  establish  a  Baptist  college  at  Palo  Pinto,  a 
healthy  and  beautiful  village  in  jSTorth  Texas.  He  entered 
upon  this  great  and  difficult  work  with  his  usual  zeal  and 
energy.  Our  beloved  and  grand  old  pioneer  preacher  and 
stock  king,  Elder  Gr.  "W.  Slaughter,  started  the  subscription 
for  ''Brazos  College"  with  $1,500  casii.  Brother  Byars  spent 
over  two  years  traveling  through  Texas  and  part  of  Mississippi 
to  secure  money  to  erect  the  building.  The  buildings  were 
erected,  but  for  some  defect  in  the  walls  they  gave  way,  and 
after  being  used  a  few  years,  like  so  many  Baptist  schools  in 
Texas,  utterly  failed.  The  physicians  now  urged  Brother 
Byars  to  go  to  the  coast  country  on  account  of  his  throat 
trouble.  He  settled  hear  Galveston  Bay,  and  as  his  voice 
strengthened  he  preached  to  destitute  places,  and  labored  to 
build  up  an  institution  called  "Byars  Institute."  While  in 
this  part  of  Texas  he  was  Moderator  of  Tryon  Association. 
But  finding  his  throat  trouble  not  improving,  he  moved  to  the 
State  of  Mississippi  to  gain  rest  and  secure  the  education  of  his 
children.  His  throat  improved,  and  in  1869  he  became  State 
evangelist  and  missionary  of  the  Sunflower  Association.  But 
it  is  a  well-known  fact,  no  man  who  has  ever  breathed  the 
fresh,  pure  air  of  Texas,  and  gazed  upon  her  boundless  prai- 
ries, carpeted  %vith  unending  green  and  fragrant  with  flowers, 
can  ever  be  content  to  live  out  of  Texas.  Hence  in  1871 
Brother  Byars  returned  to  his  beloved  Texas.  He  imme- 
diately took  work  in  the  "West  Fork  Association,  and  then  two 
years  in  the  Salado  Association;  then  two  years  under  the 
Texas  Baptist  General  Association.  After  this  he  served  the 
Brownwood  Church  for  a  year  and  a  half.  Then,  as  he 
expressed  it,  "he  was  like  an  old  ship  laid  up  in  ordinary."  His 
first  wife  having  died  some  years  before,  he  married  a  worthy 
lady  near  Brownwood,  and  came  in  possession  of  a  little  home, 
where  he  spent  his  last  days  in  comparative  ease  and  quietness. 
The  beloved  pastor  of  Brownwood,  Rev.  J.  D.  Robnett,  who 
has  recently  joined  him  and  our  grand  army  of  Texas  pioneers 
in  glory,  did  all  he  could  to  render  the  aged  missionary  com- 
fortable and  happy.  Thus  lived  and  died  Elder  E'oah  T. 
Byars,  one  of  the  most  indefatigable  and  useful  missionaries 
that  God  ever  gave  to  bless  Texas. 


roo 


The  Life  ais'd  "Writings  of 
ELDER  HOSEA  GARRETT. 


HOSEA  GARRETT. 

Our  venerable  brother  is  the  oldest  member  of  the  Old 
Guard  now  living.  He  was  bom  in  Laurens  District,  South 
Carolina,  N'ovember  26,  1800,  just  the  same  age  of  Gov.  A- 
C.  Horton,  and  nine  years  younger  than  Hon.  R.  E.  B.  Baylor,, 
and  just  nine  years  older  than  Rev.  "Wm,  M.  Tryon,  his  noble- 
and  departed  peers. 

He  moved  to  Texas  in  1842,  and  settled  on  the  place 
where  he  now  lives.  He  has  lived  and  acted  and  preached 
in  the  same  neighborhood  for  nearly  half  a  hundred  years- 
Avithout  a  breath  of  suspicion  on  his  name  as  a  neighbor,  a 
patriot,  a  Christian  and  a  preacher.  Hence  no  man  in  Wash- 
ington County  or  Texas  in  more  honored  or  beloved  that 
"Father  Garrett."  Though  his  long  life  in  Texas  is  utterly 
void  of  those  thrilling  events  that  characterize  "the  Heroine  of 
the  Alamo,"  and  many  of  the  Old  Guard,  and  his  early  educa- 
tion was  limited,  and  though  he  has  none  of  the  grace  of  person 
or  oratory,  yet  he  stands  pre-eminent  in  usefulness,  and  the 
unbounded  confidence  and  love  of  his  brethren  and  all  good 
citizens.  He  is  a  monument  of  what  uneducated,  strong 
common  sense,  incorruptible  honesty  and  devoted,  humble 
piety  can  attain. 


De.  Eufus  C.  Burleson.  701 

He  is  one  of  tlie  founders  and  for  forty- two  years  a  trus 
tee  of  Baylor  University  and  for  thirty-five  years  President  of 
the  Board  of  Trustees.  He  has  been  President  of  the  Baptist 
State  Convention  and  Vice-President  of  the  Southern  Baptist 
Convention.  He  was  converted  and  baptized  about  1830; 
was  ordained  in  1834.  His  first  pastorate  was  in  liis  native 
district  in  South  Carolina.  He  has  been  the  efficient  pastor 
of  many  of  the  most  prominent  churches  in  Washington, 
Burleson  and  Austin  Counties. 

The  grand  old  pioneer  church  of  Providence,  Washington 
County,  Prospect,  Caldwell  and  Post  Oak,  in  Burleson 
•County,  and  Bellville,  Austin  County,  were  especially  blessed 
by  his  long  and  faithful  pastoral  labors.  Though  some  of 
these  churches  were  thirty  and  forty  miles  from  his  home,  and 
over  streams,  often  swimming,  and  without  bridges,  he  rarely 
ever  missed  an  appointment. 

His  sermons  are  always  plain,  without  any  of  the  graces 
of  declamation,  always  logical,  Scriptural,  'Svith  tears."  I 
never  heard  him  preach  a  sermon  that  did  not  give  food  for 
thought.  And  it  has  been  truly  said,  "Good  living  is  the 
tallest  kind  of  preaching,"  and,  according  to  this  standard,  his 
was  of  the  highest  order.  , 

Indeed,  he  was  an  eminent  example  of  what  a  devout 
Christian  preacher  can  do  by  daily  reading  the  Bible  and  good 
l30oks  and  Baptist  papers,  and  meditating  on  them.  A  promi- 
nent Methodist  preacher.  Rev.  Thomas  Woolrige,  said  to  me : 
"Brother  Hosea  Garrett  is  the  closest  student  I  ever  knew. 
He  is  always  thinking  and  always  studying  at  home  or  abroad, 
on  the  fanri  or  on  the  roadside.  Eiding,  walking  or  sitting, 
he  is  always  thinking." 

And  it  is  my  deliberate  comdction  that  no  preacher  in 
Texas  has  made  greater  improvement  in  knowledge  in  the  last 
forty-six  years  than  Brother  Hosea  Garrett.  Though  he  was 
probably  never  inside  of  a  college  till  he  became  a  trustee,  yet 
by  reading,  conversation  and  observation,  he  is  profoundly 
acquainted  and  skilled  in  the  great  interests  of  colleges — 
their  value  and  means  of  advancement. 

In  this  age  I  am  rejoiced  to  hear  so  much  said  about  edu- 
cation for  the  ministry,  and  am  equally  pained  to  hear  so  little 
•said  about  education  in  the  ministry.     It  is  appalling  to  see 


702  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

how  soon  many  of  our  promising  young  preachers  stop  growing 
in  the  ministry. 

Every  man  ought  to  grow  in  body  till  he  is  twenty  years 
old,  and  he  ought  to  grow  in  knowledge  till  he  is  three  score 
and  ten,  or  till  he  dies.  How  mournful  to  see  many  of  our 
preachers  begin  to  decline  in  pulpit  power  at  thirty  or  thirty- 
five,  and  at  forty-five  rust  out,  and  leave  their  congregations, 
because  their  congregations  have  left  them.  To  all  such  I 
commend  the  example  of  Father  Garrett. 

I  pray  that  his  example  may  impress  the  1,400  Baptist 
preachers  in  Texas  with  the  profound  importance  of  Paul's 
command :  "Study  to  show  thyself  a  workman  approved 
unto  God.  Give  attendance  to  reading;  meditate  on  these 
things  that  thy  profiting  may  appear  unto  all  men."  But, 
next  to  his  ardent  piety,  the  great  source  of  his  power  is  in  his 
sound,  practical  judgment — his  wise  counsels.  I  was  most 
intimately  associated  with  him  during  the  ten  years  I  was  Pres- 
ident of  Baylor  University,  at  Independence,  for  he  was  Presi- 
dent of  the  Board  of  Trustees  all  that  time.  And  I  never 
knew  a  man  whose  judgment  was  on  all  occasions  equal  to  his. 

It  was  his  sound  judgment,  more  than  any  other  man's, 
that  saved  Texas  from  rushing  headlong  into  all  the  ultraisms 
of  "Old  Landmarkism  Reset,"  on  the  one  hand,  and  to  the  bit- 
ter antagonism  to  our  indefatigable,  earnest  and  beloved 
Bro.  J.  R.  Graves  on  the  other.  All  the  Old  Guard,  except 
three,  were  genuine  Old  Landmarkers  from  the  beginning. 
"When  they  were  converted,  baptized  and  ordained  they  were 
"set"  firmly  on  the  Old  Landmarks,  and  never  needed  "reset- 
ting." Bro.  J.  R.  Graves  and  the  great  Dr.  J.M.Pendleton  had 
received  members  into  Baptist  churches  on  Pedo-baptist  or 
alien  immersion,  and  engaged  in  union  meetings  and  needed 
"resetting"  the  worst  kind,  but  alas!  in  resetting  their  Old 
Landmarks,  and  not  being  very  familiar  with  the  old  lines, 
they  took  in  "Pulpit  Communion"  or  afiiliation  and  other 
points  that  were  not  included  in  the  old  landmarks  set  by  our 
fathers,  that  God  commands  us  not  to  remove. 

In  the  midst  of  the  fierce  and  ever-to-be  deplored  con- 
troversy between  Dr.  R.  B.  C.  Howell,  my  dear  old  pastor, 
and  Dr.  J.  R.  Graves,  Brother  Garrett  spent  several  months  in 
Tennessee  seeking  a  cure  for  a  cancer  that  was  eating  away 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Bukleson.  703 

the  life  of  his  first  angel  wife.  While  there  he  studied  prayer- 
fully and  carefully  the  "Landmark  Question"  and  the  Howell- 
Graves  difficulty. 

He  came  home  iresolved  to  guard  Texas  'against  all 
"entangling  alliances,"  and  to  hold  Texas  Baptists  firmly  on 
the  old  landmarks,  without  any  "resetting;"  in  other  words, 
to  let  Tennessee  settle  her  own  difficulties,  and  to  avoid  all 
ultraism  and  new  issues  about  Pulpit  Affiliation,  the  Interme- 
diate State,  "Did  the  Divinity  Suffer  ?"  and  "Inter-Commun- 
ion," and  to  consecrate  all  our  energies  to  make  Texas  the 
greatest  Baptist  State  between  the  oceans. 

March  9,  1887. 

REV.  DAVID  B.  MORRILL. 

This  name  deserves  to  be  recorded  by  the  side  of  Rev. 
James  H.  Stribling  on  the  roll  of  "The  Old  Guard"  of  Texas 
Baptists.  I  met  him  first  in  Galveston  in  1848  during  a 
great  revival  I  conducted  in  that  city. 

Brother  Morrill  descended  from  the  illustrious  ISFew 
England  family  of  Morrills,  but  he  was  bom  in  IsTew  York, 
and  came  to  Texas  a  poor  boy,  and  engaged  to  drive  a  hack 
from  Galveston  to  Matagorda  for  Mr.  J.  W.  Winnie.  He 
was  so  industrious,  frugal  and  devoted  to  business  he  had 
become  part  owner  of  that  great  stage  line  and  was  the  super- 
intendent. He  invested  all  his  earnings  in  Galveston  city 
property,  and  was  laying  the  foundation  of  a  splendid  fortune, 
all  of  which  he  surrendered  for  the  life  of  a  pioneer  Baptist 
preacher.  His  partner,  Mr.  Winnie,  said  to  me :  "You  have 
spoiled  the  finest  business  young  man  in  Galveston."  I  replied, 
"It  is  the  Lord's  doing,  and  not  mine."  Brother  Morrill 
immediately  entered  Baylor  University  at  Independence  to 
prepare  thoroughly  for  his  life  work. 

At  Baylor  University  he  met  a  true  yoke-fellow,  Rev. 
Jas.  H.  Stribling.  They  studied  hard  and  prayed  earnestly 
all  the  week,  and  preached  on  Sunday  in  all  the  surrounding 
neighborhoods.  They  conducted  some  of  the  greatest  revi- 
vals known  in  Texas,  and  at  ISTew  Year's  Creek  over  seventy- 
five  souls  were  converted. 

Brother  Morrill  was  still  a  student  in  Baylor  University 
when  I  became  President  in  1851.    He  was  reading  Horace, 


T04  The  Life  and  "Writings  of 

Homer  and  the  Greek  Testament  with  great  zeal  and  fluency. 
But  his  beloved  yoke-fellow  had  gone  into  the  great  West  to 
preach  Jesus,  and  often  wrote  him  of  the  vast  destitution  and 
hundreds  of  destitute  towns  and  settlements,  and  "the  Mace- 
donian cry"  was  ringing  in  his  ears  by  day  and  by  night, 
"Come  over  and  help  us,"  till  at  last  he  said  to  me,  "I  can  stay 
no  longer."  About  this  time  a  devout  Baptist  young  lady, 
Miss  Laura  Hatch,  came  to  visit  her  old  pastor.  Rev.  G,  W. 
Baines,  and  his  family.  The  devout  son  of  ISTew  York  and 
the  lovely  daughter  of  Mississippi  "met  by  chance,  but  the 
usual  way,"  as  directed  by  Divine  Providence.  As  two 
transparent  dewdrops  of  the  morning  mutually  attract  and 
flow  together,  so  these  pure  and  noble  young  hearts  attracted 
each  other,  and  on  the  I7th  of  February,  1852,  they  met  at 
the  hymeneal  altar,  and  the  Bev.  George  W.  Baines  made 
them  one  in  name,  and  one  in  destiny,  as  they  were  already  one 
in  affection,  l^ever  were  two  hearts  more  devoted  to  each 
other  or  more  consecrated  to  the  church  of  the  Bedeemer. 

Brother  Morrill  became  pastor  of  Victoria,  and  Brother 
Stribling  at  Gonzales,  but  they  held  meetings  together  in  all 
the  growing  towns  from  the  mountains  to  the  Gulf.  This 
arduous  frontier  labor  was  seriously  impairing  Brother  Mor- 
rill's health  and  depriving  him  of  the  opportunity  of  study  he 
so  much  desired.  Hence  he  accepted  the  pastorship  of  the 
church  at  Crockett.  But  while  pastor  at  Crockett  he  gained  a 
clearer  insight  into  the  sad  condition  of  the  Baptist  cause  lying 
easl  of  the  Trinity  river. 

Brother  Morrill,  therefore,  accepted  a  call  to  the  Mont- 
gomery Church,  and  spent  two  years  in  earnest,  successful 
work  and  profound  study  of  God's  holy  word.  But  his  soul 
pined  for  a  wider  and  more  laborious  field  for  organizing  the 
denomination  in  Eastern  Texas.  In  1859  "an  open  door" 
was  given  him;  he  was  elected  general  agent  and  missionary  of 
the  East  Texas  Baptist  Convention  and  corresponding  editor 
■of  the  Texas  Baptist.  Thus,  in  the  three-fold  capacity  of 
■agfent,  editor  and  evangelist,  he  visited  all  Eastern  Texas  from 
the  Bed  Biver  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

His  noble  wife  stayed  at  home  and  supported  the  family 
while  he  traversed  all  Eastern  Texas  and  aroused  the  brethren 
and  churches  to  a  greater  zeal  for  Jesus  and  our  native  land. 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  705 

Brother  Morrill  and  other  noble  spirits  in  Eastern,  Northwest- 
em  and  Central  Texas  saw  that  to  meet  the  growing  needs  of 
all  these  sections  there  should  be  organized  a  General  Asso- 
ciation to  act  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  dear  old  Baptist 
State  Convention,  which  for  twenty  years  had  done  such  glo- 
rious work  in  Texas.  To  achieve  this  grand  result.  Brother 
Morrill  visited  every  association  and  nearly  all  the  churches, 
and  aroused  the  whole  of  Eastern  and  ^Northwestern  Texas  to 
the  importance  of  a  wider  and  stronger  and  grander  organi- 
zation. 

While  engaged  in  this  noble  work  of  love  and  union  God 
greatly  blessed  his  preaching,  and  many  glorious  revivals  fol- 
lowed and  hundreds  were  converted.  At  Ladonia  alone  seven- 
ty-five souls  were  converted.  The  East  Texas  Convention  and 
the  district  associations  cordially  approved  the  new 
organization,  and  appointed  messengers  to  meet  for  general 
consultation  in  Tyler  during  the  regular  session  of  the  Chero- 
kee Association,  in  October,  1867.  After  a  full  and  broth- 
erly consultation  in  Tyler,  it  was  unanimously  resolved  to 
meet  at  Chatfield,  ITavarro  County,  August,  1868,  for  per- 
manent organization.  Brother  D.  B.  Morrill  was  appointed 
to  preach  the  introductory  sermon  and  to  continue  his  general 
agency  for  Eastern  Texas.  The  spirit  of  prayer  and  broth- 
erly love  was  so  earnest  in  this  Tyler  meeting  God  gave  us  a 
glorious  revival,  and  over  125  souls  were  converted.  But, 
alas,  with  a  sad  and  almost  bleeding  heart,  I  saw  Brother 
Morrill  had  entirely  overworked  himself,  and,  like  Spurgeon 
and  many  of  our  noblest  workers,  neglected  to  hear  the  com- 
mand of  our  all-wise  and  merciful  Savior,  ''Come  ye  apart  and 
rest  awhile."  I  saw  his  whole  nervous  system  was  prostrate, 
and  I  shuddered  and  wept  when  I  saw  that  powerful  consti- 
tution he  had  when  we  toiled  together  in  Galveston  twenty 
years  ago  was  now  utterly  broken  down.  He  removed  to 
Ladonia  to  supply  that  church  as  pastor  and  be  nearer  his 
great  work  on  Bed  River  and  ISTorthwest  Texas.  Though  so 
prostrate  from  overwork,  work  was  essential  to  his  happiness. 
Great  revivals  and  a  new  spirit  of  missions  abounded  wherever 
he  went.  In  February,  1868,  he  went  to  the  beautiful  town 
of  Honey  Grove  to  preach  an  important  doctrinal  sermon 
repelling   some    assaults    on    Baptist    doctrine    and    history. 

45 


Too  The  J.ife  axd   Wkitings  of 

Though  so  feeble,  he  preached  with,  wonderful  power  for  two 
hours,  utterly  anihilating  all  the  false  charges  against  the 
Baptists.  He  rode  home  that  evening  amid  a  piercing  norther, 
snow  and  ice.  Reaching  home,  shivering  with  cold,  he  said 
to  his  devoted  wife :  "I  have  preached  my  last  sermon.  I 
am  going  home,  where  chilling  winds  are  felt  and  feared  no 
more."  The  whole  town  was  aroused.  Unceasing  prayers 
were  offered  for  his  recovery  "by  day  and  by  night.  But  he 
cheerfully  said :  "1  am  going  home.  Tell  my  brethren 
everywhere  I  die  in  the  arms  of  Jesus  and  in  the  path  of  duty, 
and  I  want  them  to  be  united  in  love  and  meet  me  in  heaven." 
Scores  of  anxious  friends,  and  even  infidels,  gathered  around 
his  deathbed,  to  see  with  what  ti'inmphant  joy  a  Christian  can 
die. 

Many  were  converted  in  the  great  revival  that  imme- 
diately followed,  and  ascribed  their  conversion  to  the  triumph- 
ant death  of  Brother  Morrill.  When  the  noble  bands  of  East- 
ern, Central  and  Northwestern  Texas  assembled  at  Chatfield 
in  1868,  Brother  Morrill  was  sleeping  with  Jesus  at  Ladonia, 
and  his  spirit  was  rejoicing  in  heaven;  and  there  was  a  sad 
vacancy  in  every  heart.  Thus  lived  and  died  Elder  David  B. 
Morrill,  in  the  vigor  of  manhood  and  the  full  tide  of  useful- 
ness. In  his  dying  prayer  he  commended  his  devoted  wife 
and  eight  children  to  God,  "and  though  dead  he  yet  speaketh," 
and  his  sermons  will  live  in  Texas  till  the  stars  grow  dim. 


GOV.  A.  C.  HORTOIN^. 

I 
Gov.  A.  C.  Horton,  as  a  cavalry  officer  of  Fannin's  ill- 
fated  army,  as  a  leading  member  of  the  first  Texas  Congress 
in  1836,  as  a  member  of  the  Annexation  Convention  of  1845, 
as  Governor  of  Texas — as  a  man  of  princely  wealth  and  hospi- 
tality— as  a  devoted  Baptist  deacon — as  a  member  of 
the  first  Texas  Baptist  State  Convention  in  1848, 
as  a  Trustee  of  Baylor  University,  was  for  thirty  years  a  noble 
co-worker  of  the  Old  Guard.  Gov.  Horton  was  a  giant  in 
body  and  intellect.  Eor  native  force,  for  clear  reasoning,  and 
for  profound  penetration  he  had  no  superior.       And  if  his 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  •  707 

great  brain  had  not  been  weighed  down  by  a  vast  pile  of  cotton 
bales,  and  sngar  barrels,  and  rich  plantations,  he  would  have 
been  the  peer  of  Houston,yanZant,  W.  H.  Jack  and  Thos.  J. 
Rusk.  Gov.  Horton  was  born  in  the  grand  old  State  of 
Georgia  in  1800.  His  father  died  when  he  was  quite  young, 
and,  like  Washington,  Marion  and  Tryon,  and  so  many  great 
men,  he  was  brought  up  by  a  pious  widowed  mother  on  a 
small  but  ample  farm. 

His  noble  mother,  however,  made  one  fearful  mistake, 
which,  but  for  the  grace  of  God,  would  have  damned  him  for- 
ever. Under  the  fatal  plausible  plea  of  keeping  him  at  home, 
she  allow^ed  him  to  acquire  great  skill  and  passion  for  card- 
playing.  This  fatal  knowledge  and  skill  soon  brought  him 
in  contact  with  gamblers — the  most  hardened  criminals  that 
ever  cursed  the  earth.  Gamblers  1854:  years  ago  sat  do\\Ti  on 
the  trembling  earth,  under  the  darkened  heavens,  by  the 
bleeding  cross,  and  gambled  for  the  seamless  coat  of  the  dying 
Jesus,  while  his  weeping,  heart-broken  mother  stood  beside 
him  and  would  have  given  her  heart's  blood  for  that  garment 
as  a  relic,  as  a  memento,  of  her  murdered,  loving  son.  This 
act  displayed  "the  true  inwardness"  of  all  gamblers  then  and 
now.  The  gamblers  of  Waco  and  Dallas  are  just  as  heartless 
to-day,  and  their  occasional  reckless  display  of  their  easily 
gotten  gains  is  simply  a  trick  of  their  profession  to  cover  their 
heartlesness.  All  fathers  and  mothers  should  teach  their 
sons  to  shun  cards  and  gamblers  as  they  would  rattlesnakes. 
This  the  widowed  mother  of  Gov.  Horton  found  out  when  it 
was  too  late.  And  if  Gov.  Horton's  mother  could  speak  from 
the  eternal  world  to-day,  she  would  say :  "Mothers,  teach 
your  sons  to  shun  cards  and  gamblers  as  deadly  vipers."  For 
she  saw  her  noble  son  goaded  on  by  his  fatal  passion  for  gam- 
bling, in  spite  of  his  own  better  judgment  and  his  mother's 
tears.  He  frequented  gambling  houses,  and  especially  race 
grounds,  and  was  often  a  winner  and  oftener  a  loser.  He  wan- 
dered out  into  the  Tennessee  Valley  in  ISTorth  Alabama,  then 
the  garden  spot  of  the  South — celebrated  for  brave  men,  beau- 
tiful women  and  fin6  race  horses.  Miss  Dent,  the  daughter 
of  Deacon  Dent,  was  the  reigning  belle.  Her  misguided 
father  allowed  her  to  attend  that  most  fatal  and  fascinating  of 
all  the  accursed  fonns  of  gambling — horse  racing — and  the 


T08  The  Life  and  Weitings  of 

accompanying  balls.  To  the  infinite  disgust  of  Deacon  Dent, 
two  or  three  dashing  gamblers  sought  the  heart  and  hand  of 
the  wealthy,  beautiful  heiress,  till  in  his  delirium  of  grief  the 
father  said :  "I  do  believe  my  poor  child  is  doomed  to  marry 
a  gambler,  and  if  I  could  find  a  decent  gambler,  she  might 
marry  him."  Young  Horton  heard  of  this,  and  presented 
himself  at  once  and  frankly  said :  "Sir,  what  you  seek  is  not 
on  the  earth;  they  ai-e  a  race  of  heartless  demons,  I  am 
among  them,  but  not  one  of  them.  If  you  will  trust  your 
beautiful,  angel  daugher  to  me,  I  will  make  her  happy."  And 
the  beautiful  belle  became  the  loving  bride  of  the  young 
Georgian  about  1828.  But  neither  the  tears  of  his  mother, 
the  prayers  of  Deacon  Dent,  nor  the  entreaties  of  his  adored 
bride  could  break  that  fatal  fascination  for  gambling.  But 
an  event  occurred  which  none  but  "poor,  blind  men,"  who 
have  "traveled  East  in  search  of  light,"  can  ever  appreciate. 
He  joined  the  Masonic  Lodge  at  LaGrange,  Alabama.  Rev. 
Wm.  Leigh,  grandfather  of  Leigh  and  Rufus  Burleson,  and 
Mr.  Segim  B.  Moore  conferred  the  degree  with  all  its  power 
and  beauty.  Young  Horton  wept  like  a  child.  Going  out  of 
that  lodge  room  he,  with  tears,  said  to  Mr.  Leigh :  ''Oh,  sir, 
this  night  I  begin  a  new  life.  In  this  degree  1  see  the  beauty 
and  eternal  value  of  all  my  mother,  my  wife  and  her  father 
have  said.  I  have  bet  my  last  dollar.  I  am  raised  into  a 
higher,  holier  life.  I  am  a  new  man."  A  few  days  after, 
"the  strong  grip  of  the  Lion  of  the  Tribe  of  Judah"  raised 
him  high  up  into  a  Christian  life.  He  was  joyfully  converted 
and  baptized  by  that  eloquent  preacher,  Daniel  P.  Baptis,  who 
a  short  time  before  had  married  Miss  Townes,  the  bosom  friend 
and  reigning  belle  \vith  Miss  Dent.  Soon  afterwards  the  elo- 
quent preacher  and  the  reformed  gambler  moved  with  their 
large  wealth  to  Green  County,  Alabama.  Brother  Horton 
was  elected  and  served  one  term  in  the  Senate  of  Alabama,  but 
he  followed  the  star  of  empire  in  its  westward  flight,  and  in 
1835  he  came  to  Texas  and  bought  several  leagues  of  land  on 
"Old  Caney,"  and  settled  at  Matagorda. 

In  October  of  that  same  year.  Santa  Anna,  finding  the 
Mexicans  utterly''  incapable  of  self-government,  established 
the  only  government  suited  to  a  Catholic  people — a  military 
despotism.     He  sent  his  brother-in-law.  Gen.  Cos,  to  estab- 


Dr.  Eufus  C.  Burleson.  709 

lish  the  same  government  in  Texas.  The  advance  guard  of 
Gen.  Cos'  army  was  routed  at  Gonzales  and  driven  into  San 
Antonio  by  the  brave  Texans,  under  Col.  John  H.  Moore. 
Gen.  Cos,  with  his  whole  army,  was  besieged  in  San  Antonio 
from  October  28th  to  December  9th,  when  he  and  his  whole 
army,  with  all  the  military  stores,  surrendered  to  Gen.  Edward 
Burleson,  the  commander  of  the  Texan  army. 

Santa  Anna  was  enraged  at  the  capture  of  his  brother-in- 
law,  Cos,  and  his  men.  He  raised  an  army  of  8,000  picked 
troops,  whom  he  had  led  to  victory  on  so  many  battlefields. 
Also  his  1,000  Guatemalean  Indians — called  his  black  angels 
of  death.  He  moved  with  his  usual  celerity  on  San  Antonio 
and  captured  and  killed  the  last  one  of  its  brave  defenders. 

All  Texas  was  marching  to  meet  the  invaders.  Brother 
Horton  raised  a  company  of  cavalry,  and  joined  the  brave  but 
ill-fated  Col.  Fannin  and  his  noble  army,  made  up  chiefly  of 
Georgians.  One  company,  however,  was  Capt.  (Doctor) 
Shackleford's,  made  up  of  a  noble  set  of  young  men,  sons  of 
Gov.  Hoston's  old  Alabama  friends.  As  soon  as  the  Alamo 
fell,  Gen.  Houston,  their  commander-in-chief,  ordered  Col. 
Fannin  to  blow  up  the  fortification  at  Goliad  and  retreat  to  the 
Colorado.  Gov.  (then  Captain)  Horton  urged  Col.  Fannin 
to  obey  Houston's  order,  both  because  it  was  the  order  of  the 
commander-in-chief,  and  because  the  eagle-eyed  Horton 
clearly  foresaw  that  if  they  remained  there  the  brave  boys  of 
loving  mothers  in  Alabama  and  Georgia  would  be  sacrificed  in 
vain.  But  the  gallant  Fannin,  more  daring  than  wise,  refused 
to  obey  promptly,  but  lingered  until  his  retreat  was  cut  off,  and 
he  and  his  whole  army  captured  retreating,  seventeen  miles 
from  Goliad,  on  the  Coleto,  and  led  back  to  Goliad  and  shot 
in  cold  blood  on  the  27th  of  March.  Capt.  Horton  and  his 
cavalry  were  all  of  Fannin's  men  who  escaped,  and  that  by  a 
mere  accident.  In  setting  out  on  the  retreat  from  Goliad, 
spies  reported  that  cavalry  from  Santa  Anna's  army,  then 
moving  from  the  Alamo  to  Gonzales,  were  seeking  to  cut  off 
Fannin's  retreat,  and  Col.  Fannin  ordered  Capt.  Horton  with 
his  cavalry  to  drive  them  back  and  scour  the  whole  country 
between  Goliad  and  Victoria.  This  hazardous  duty'  he  exe- 
cuted, bravely  chasing  Santa  Anna's  men  many  miles  and 
scouring  the  country  as  directed,  but  alas !  on  hastening  back 


'?'10  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

to  join  Fannin  he  found  he  was  cut  off  entirely,  and  his  whole 
army  made  prisoners. 

Who  can  tell  the  grief  that  wrung  the  great  heart  of  Hor- 
ton  when  he  saw  the  brave  sons  of  his  old  Alabama  and 
Georgia  friends  led  forth  like  sheep  to  the  slaughter  !  Among 
them  that  heroic  fourteen-year-old  boy,  Fenner,  who,  hearing 
the  dastard  foe  cocking  their  muskets  behind  them  when  they 
were  placed  into  line  to  be  shot,  cried  out :  ''Boys,  they  are 
going  to  shoot  us  in  the  back;  let  us  turn  our  faces  and  die 
like  men !"  And,  turning  around,  a  Mexican  ball  pierced 
his  noble  heart,  and  he  fell  dead.  This  noble  boy  was  a  son 
of  Capt.  Horton's  old  neighbor  near  La  Grange,  Ala.  Capt. 
Horton  and  his  gallant  company  hastened  back  to  join  Gen. 
Houston,  and  hence  were  fully  prepared  on  the  plains  of  San 
Jacinto  to  shout,  '"Remember  Goliad !  Remember  the 
Alamo !" 

As  soon  as  independence  was  gained.  Brother  Horton 
was  elected  to  the  first  Texas  Congress,  that  framed  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  Republic  of  Texas.  He  was  one  of  the  Com- 
missioners appointed  by  President  Lamar  to  select  and  locate 
the  city  of  Austin.  He  Avas  also  a  member  of  the  Annexation 
Committee.  He  was  elected  Lieutenant  Governor  with  Gov. 
J.  Pinkney  Henderson,  the  first  Governor  of  Texas,  in  1846. 
Gov.  Henderson  resigned  to  go  into  the  Mexican  war,  and  Gov. 
Horton  succeeded  him  as  Governor,  and  no  man  ever  filled  the 
Governor's  chair  with  more  dignity  and  ability.  When  liis 
term  of  office  expired,  he  followed  his  inclinations  and  retired 
to  his  farms.  His  immense  estates,  variously  estimated  at 
from  $300,000  to  $400,000,  engrossed  all  his  time. 

I  met  him  first  at  the  organization  of  the  Texas  Baptist 
State  Convention,  at  Anderson,  September  8,  1848.  I  seiwed 
with  him  on  the  committee  to  draft  the  constitution.  My 
father  knew  him  intimately  in  Alabama,  and  often  spoke  of 
him  as  a  remarkable  man,  but  his  penetration  and  vast  com- 
pass of  mind  far  excelled  all  my  expectations,  for,  though 
Brother  R.  S.  Blount  and  I  had  been  at  work  on  the  constitu- 
tion two  months,  and  had  collated  and  culled  from  the  Consti- 
tutions of  Virginia,  ISTorth  Carolina,  Tennessee  and  Georgia, 
and  secretly  written  out  the  constitution  before  leaving  Hous- 
ton, we  were  both  startled  at  the  questions  and  wisdom  of 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Buklesox.  711 

Gov.  Hortoii,  Avlio  probably  never  saw  a  constitution  of  a  Bap- 
tist State  Convention.  I  knew  him  intimately  afterwards  as 
deacon  at  Matagorda,  and  tiiistee  and  patron  of  Baylor  Uni- 
versity. ISTothing  ever  impressed  me  more  than  his  tender  and 
deep  interest  for  the  comfort  and  religious  welfare  of  his 
slaves.  He  owned  nearly  300 — a  large  number  of  them  mem- 
bers of  the  Baptist  Church.  He  made  a  church  house,  built 
convenient  between  his  plantations,  and  employed  a  preacher 
to  preach  for  them.  Bro.  Xoali  Hill,  his  pastor,  said  it  was 
the  most  touching  scene  he  ever  saw  to  see  Gov.  Horton  and 
his  noble  wife  reading  the  Bible  and  prapng  for  their  serv- 
ants. If  the  South  had  been  full  of  such  Christian  masters 
as  Gov.  Horton,  God  never  would  have  allowed  the  abolition 
fanatics  to  set  the  slaves  free  till  they  were  christianized  and 
prepared  for  citizenship,  or  to  return  home  to  Africa  and  col- 
onize and  christianize  "the  Dark  Continent."  The  African  race 
would  thereby  have  been  a  blessing  to  both  continents.  When 
I  visited  him  as  President  of  Baylor  University,  by  his  special 
request,  I  preached  for  his  slaves.  As  a  deacon  he. was  faith- 
ful, tender  and  liberal.  As  a  trustee,  he  not  only  gave  $5,000 
and  a  magnificent  bell,  but  he  gave  our  beloved  sons  his 
prayers,  and  he  assured  me  it  was  his  purpose  ultimately  to 
endow  a  professorship  of  not  less  than  $50,000.  But  alas! 
that  cruel  war  crushed  his  great  heart,  wrecked  his  princely 
fortune,  and  turned  his  once  happy  and  contented  slaves  loose 
to  become  homeless  vagabonds,  and  made  the  richest  part  of 
Texas  little  else  than  an  African  territory.  Our  great  and 
good  brother,  after  a  wonderful  career,  fell  asleep  in  Jesus. 
"But  he  being  dead  yet  speaketh."  and  may  his  love  of  Texas, 
his  devotion  to  Baylor  University,  and  his  zeal  for  the  salva- 
tion of  the  colored  race  inspire  us  to  love  Texas  more  than  life, 
to  endow  Baylor  University  with  $500,000,  and  never  cease 
to  pray  and  toil  for  the  colored  people  till  Ethiopia  shall 
stretch  forth  her  hand,  and  the  last  one  of  the  sons  of  Ham 
shall  be  saved  and  sit  at  the  feet  of  Jesus. 


712  The  Life  and  Weitings  of 

HON.  ISAAC  VANZANDT. 

Even  Moses  needed  an  Aaron  and  a  Hur  to  hold  up  and 
strengthen  his  failing  arms.  Without  the  aid  of  his  co-la- 
borers the  greatest  leader  and  law-giver  the  world  ever  saw 
could  not  have  accomplished  his  grand  mission.  And,  though 
the  Old  Guard  were  heroic,  self-reliant  men,  and  every  man  a 
statue  of  his  own  base  and  altitude,  yet  their  grand  work 
would  not  have  been  so  well  accomplished  without  their  co- 
laborers. 

The  name  of  Isaac  Vanzandt,  like  a  pure,  unclouded 
star,  shines  resplendent.  As  a  patriot,  a  profound  statesman 
and  diplomatist,  he  had  few  equals  and  no  superiors.  To  him 
Texas  is  largely  indebted  for  her  timely  and  auspicious  annex- 
ation in  1845  to  the  United  States. 

When  the  enemies  of  Texas  were  seeking  to  blacken  her 
fame  and  brand  her  as  an  asylum  for  runaways,  thieves  and 
robbers,  the  great  Vanzandt  appeared  at  Washington  City  as 
Charge  d'  Affaires  from  Texas.  His  commanding  person, 
his  open,  frank  countenance,  beaming  with  intelligence, 
attracted  the  attention  and  excited  the  admiration  of  every 
beholder,  while  his  profound  statesmanship  enabled  him  to 
grapple  with  the  mightiest  diplomats  of  the  Old  and  the  New 
World.  And,  like  another  Atlas,  he  bore  on  his  shoulders 
the  Lone  Star  of  Texas,  fixed  her  forever  in  the  galaxy  of 
States,  no  longer  as  the  Lone  Star,  but  the  bright  star  of  the 
American  Union.  When  he  had  performed  this  great  service 
for  his  beloved  Texas,  his  grateful  fellow-citizens,  with  almost 
unanimous  consent,  desired  him  as  their  Governor.  And 
within  a  few  weeks  of  his  election  he  was  smitten  down  with 
that  fell  disease,  yellow  fever,  and  died,  at  the  age  of  thirty- 
eight,  in  Houston.  He  fell,  like  a  brilliant  sun,  in  the  noon- 
day of  his  manhood  and  glory. 

Mr.  Vanzandt  was  born  in  Franklin  County,  Tennesse. 
His  school  education  was  cut  short  by  feeble  health,  but  his 
strong  intellect  and  great  thirst  for  reading  supplied  so  fully 
the  lack  of  scholastic  training,  that  for  general  intelligence  he 
had  few  equals.  He  was  emphatically  the  architect  of  his 
own  fortune.     At  the  early  age  of  sixteen  he  was  converted, 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  713 

joined  the  Baptist  Church,  and  was  baptized  by  Rev.  Mr. , 
Wood,  and  through  an  exciting  and  eventful  career,  and 
deprived  often  of  his  beloved  church  privileges,  he  never  for- 
got his  allegiance  to  his  Redeemer.  When  a  leading  mem- 
ber of  the  Texas  Congress,  in  1842,  he  was  invited  to  deliver 
an  address  oh  Sunday-schools.  An  eminent  Presbyterian 
minister  who  heard  that  address  pronounced  it  one  of  the 
ablest  pleas  he  ever  heard  for  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath 
and  the  indispensible  necessity  of  religion  as  the  foundation 
of  morals  and  liberty.  Rev.  and  Hon.  R.  E.  B.  Baylor,  who 
knew  him  intimately,  and  roomed  with  him  during  their 
arduous  labor  in  framing  the  constitution  and  articles  of  annex- 
ation, 1845,  has  often  said  to  me:  "I  never  knew  a  more 
conscientious,  upright,  Christian  statesman,  though  he  was 
never  permitted  to  enjoy  church  privileges  in  Texas." 

While  a  member  of  the  Texas  Congress,  in  1840  and 
1841,  he  first  became  acquainted  with  Rev.  W.  M.  Tryon. 
They  at  once  felt  that  they  were  congenial  spirits.  He  not 
only  aided  in  electing  Brother  Tryon  Chaplain,  but  he  became 
his  devoted  friend  and  co-laborer  in  every  good  work. 

Soon  after  his  marriage  to  Miss  Lipscomb,  a  lady  fitted  in 
every  respect  to  be  the  companion  of  a  hero,  he  removed  first 
to  Coffeeville,  Miss.,  in  1835. 

In  1839  he  removed  to  Texas,  and  soon  his  splendid  tal- 
ents, his  incorruptible  integrity,  and  his  affable,  frank  and 
genial  bearing  gained  him  universal  favor.  He  became,  as  we 
have  seen,  in  1840,  a  Congressman  of  the  Republic.  In  1845 
he  received  the  appointment  of  Charge  d' Affaires  to  the 
United  States,  then  the  most  responsible  and  difficult  position 
any  Texan  could  fill.  How  well  he  discharged  that  trust,  the 
glorious  results  demonstrate. 

But  how  fearfully  does  the  unexpected  death  of  this  great 
man  illustrate  the  immortal  words  of  the  great  Massillon, 
standing  by  the  coffin  of  the  grand  monarch,  Louis  XIV: 
"Here  we  see  there  is  nothing  great  but  God ;  there  is  nothing 
pure  but  heaven." 

After  a  successful  campaign  Texas  expected  to  see  him 
soon  inaugurated  as  Governor.  He  had  gone  to  Houston  as 
one  of  the  last  places  he  would  speak  in  the  canvass. 

But,  alas !  he  had  contracted  yellow  fever  either  at  Vic- 


714 


"The  Life  and  Writings  of 


toria  or  Galveston,  where  that  insidious  epidemic  was  just 
beginning  its  fatal  course. 

A  short  time  before  his  (h-ath,  liev.  ALr.  Tryon  asked 
him :  "On  what  are  your  hopes  of  acceptance  with  your 
Creator  and  your  Judge  founded?"  He  promptly  replied: 
''On  the  merits  of  Christ  only." 

It  was  by  such  dying  testimony  as  this,  and  by  such  elo- 
quent pleas  for  the  Sabbath-school  and  the  strict  observance 
of  the  Lord's  Day  that  this  great  Statesman  became  an 
efficient  co-laborer  of  the  Old  Guard. 

Thus  lived  and  died  one  of  the  noble  founders  of  Texas 
independence  and  glory  and  a  pillar  of  virtue  and  morality. 
The  remains  were  borne  to  the  new  Baptist  Church  by  his 
Masonic  l)rethren  and  an  immense  concourse,  where  his  dear 
old  friend,  Tryon,  preached  a  sermon  of  great  power  and  ten- 
derness. His  noble  companion,  a  mother  in  Israel,  his  two 
daughters,  Mrs.  Col.  Clough  and  Mrs.  Dr.  Beall,  and  Judge 
Vanzandt,  the  banker,  all  live  in  Fort  Worth. 

May  the  mantle  of  the  father  fall  on  the  son,  and  may  his 
noble  example  inspire  all  the  youth  of  Texas  to  deeds  of  piety, 
patriotism  and  glory. 

HOK  A.  G.  HAYNES. 


A.  G.  HAYNES. 


In  a  previous  article  on  the  spotless  lives  and  noble  deeds 
of  our  dear  brethren  of  The  Old  Guard,  I  wrote :     "God's 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burlesox.  715 

mercv  to  Texas  is  eminently  displayed  in  giving  her  true, 
■wise  and  heroic  leaders  in  Cliurch  and  State,  equally  so  in 
the  noble  men  and  women  He  gave  to  aid  them  in  their  great 
plans.  And  if  I  can  do  full  justice  to  the  co-laborers  who 
stood  by  the  Old  Guard  and  like  Aaron  and  Hur,  held  up 
their  hands,  the  reader  will  doubt  whether  to^  praise  God  more 
for  the  Old  Guard  or  for  their  co-laborers."  This  sentiment 
-will  be  fully  illustrated  and  confirmed  by  the  noble  deacon, 
Hon.  A.  G.  Haynes,  whose  long,  zealous  and  eminently  use- 
ful life  I  now  desire  to  record,  as  a  monument  to  his  praise 
and  rich  legacy  to  his  family,  to  Texas  Baptists  and  the  Em- 
pire State  he  loved  so  well. 

Bro.  Albert  G.  HajTies  was  born  in  Green  county, 
Georgia,  August  1,  1805,  and  was  converted  and  baptized 
into  the  Concord  church  in  1828.  He  was  married  to  ]\Iiss 
Matilda  Freeman  in  1831,  who  by  her  lovely,  genial  spirit 
and  unsurpassed  domestic  Christian  virtues  was  eminently 
fitted  to  be  the  bosom  companion  to  so  noble  a  husband. 
After  spending  two  years  in  Montgomery  county,  Alabama., 
and  eight  in  Xoxuby  county,  Mississippi,  he  fixed  his  life- 
long home  in  a  beautiful  live  oak  grove  at  Independence, 
Texas,  where  he  spent  twenty-nine  useful,  happy  and  honor- 
able years,  honored  and  loved  by  old  and  young,  saint  and 
sinner,  white  and  colored.  He  was  ordained  deacon  of  the 
Baptist  church  in  1843.  He  was  always  present  and  a  pillar 
in  the  church  and  the  joy  and  stay  of  his  pastor.  He  was  a 
born  missionary  and  Judge  Baylor  often  said,  what  I  and 
others  have  so  often  said :  "Any  man  can  preach  far  better 
after  hearing  Bro.  Haynes  sing  one  of  the  good  old  songs  with 
his  heart  overflowing  with  love  and  his  eyes  full 
of  tears."  He  was  one  of  the  oldest  members  and 
often  the  Treasurer  and  Moderator  of  the  grand 
old  Union  Association,  the  mother  of  all  the  Baptist  Associa- 
tions of  'Western  Texas,  as  the  Sabine  Pass  Association  was 
of  all  those  in  Eastern  Texas.  Bro.  Haynes  was  one  of  the 
leading  spirits  in  founding  and  locating  Baylor  University 
in  1845,  and  first  trustee.  He  and  E.  W.  Taylor  and  Brother 
Root  came  to  its  rescue  in  a  critical  moment  and  by  a  liberal 
subscription  fixed  the  location  at  Independence.  After  the 
Texas  Baptist  Educational  Society  procured  the  charter  and 


716  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

the  Board  of  Trustees,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  receive 
bids  for  location.  Health,  location  and  bonus  all  to  be  care- 
fully considered.  The  four  earnest  competing  points  were 
LaGrange,  Travis,  in  Austin  county,Independence  and  Hunts^ 
ville.  At  the  last  moment  Huntsville  was  about  to  receive  the 
much  coveted  location  by  donating  a  five-acre  lot  with  the 
one  story  brick  academy.  To  offset  this  valuable  donation 
Bro.  Haynes  and  Messrs.  E.  E.  Taylor  and  his  partner  and 
brother-in-law,  Mr.  Root,  subscribed  the  two  story  frame 
building  known  as  "Independence  Female  Academy"  which 
had  been  sold  and  bought  in  at  Sheriff's  sale  for  $350,  Brother 
Haynes  agreeing  to  pay  one-half  and  Messrs.  Root  and  Taylor, 
then  merchants  at  Independence  and  afterwards  at  Houston, 
the  other  half  of  the  $350.  At  the  first  meeting  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees  ever  held,  appointed  to  meet  at  Independ- 
ence March  1,  1845,  there  being  no  quorum  they  adjourned 
to  meet  at  the  newly  established  town  of  Brenham  March  15, 
1845,  when  a  full  boaid  met.  On  motion  of  Bro.  Haynes, 
Judge  R.  E.  B.  Baylor  was  unanimously  elected  President, 
hence  he  enjoyod  the  distinction  of  making  the  first  motion 
ever  made  in  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Baylor  University. 
Erom  1 845  to  the  day  of  his  death,  in  1870,  and  for  twenty- 
five  years  he  was  a  faithful,  liberal  Trustee. 

For  fifteen  years  its  Treasurer,  and  at  one  time  President 
of  the  Board.  The  m(>elings  of  the  Board  were  often  held  at 
his  house,  and  there  was  alv/ays  the  Independence  home  of 
Father  Garrett,  Judge  Baylor,  Tyrell  Jackson  and  others; 
and  many  of  the  wisest  plans  of  the  Board  were  matured  un- 
der the  wide-spreading  and  majestic  live  oaks  in  Bro.  Haynes' 
yard.  At  the  earnest  and  unanimous  request  of  his  fellow 
citizens  he  served  two  years  as  Justice  of  the  Peace,  but  with- 
out fee  or  any  reward  except  the  pleasure  of  doing  good,  being 
a  useful  citizen  and  a  peacemaker  in  his  community.  In 
1856  he  was  elected  to  the  Legislature  and  served  with  ability 
and  eminent  fidelity.  He  was  too  old  to  enter  the  army, 
but  volunteered  to  take  a  large  number  of  colored  men,  mostly 
his  own,  to  help  build  the  breastworks  at  Galveston.  He, 
with  this  force,  helped  to  mount  the  cannon  and  was  present 
at  that  glorious  Confederate  victory  at  Galveston.  His  old- 
est son,  Thomas,  was  wounded  in  a  terrible  battle  in  Virginia. 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Bukleson.  717 

and  returning  home  on  his  crutches  was  killed  in  a  railroad 
accident  near  Vicksburg,  Mississippi.  His  noble  boy,  Rich- 
ard, was  killed  in  the  second  battle  of  Manassas.  His  young- 
est son,  Albert  G.,  a  promising  young  lawyer,  died  in  1885. 
His  son  living,  Hon.  Harry  Haynes,  who  occupies  the  old 
homestead,  isa  noble  temperance  orator,  has  been  a  leading 
member  of  the  Legislature  and  is  a  model  citizen.  The 
daughters  of  Bro.  Haynes  are  all  model  Christian  mothers, 
and  his  oldest  daughter,  Mary  Jane,  deserves  a  monument  for 
her  sacrifices  and  success  in  rearing  her  large  family  so  well. 
Bro.  Haynes  was  eminent  for  his  modesty  and  love  of  retire- 
ment and  the  sanctity  of  home,  but  his  fellow  citizens  feeling 
the  necessity  of  his  incorruptible  integrity  and  keen  foresight, 
often  called  him  to  fill  places  of  trust,  as  Justice  of  the  Peace, 
Legislator,  and  Commissioner  of  the  County  Court.  His 
liberality  and  hospitality  were  simply  unbounded.  In  June, 
1851,  I  saw  him  entertain  joyfully  sixty-three  persons,  with 
three  little  log  rooms  and  four  live  oaks.  The  occasion  was 
the  annual  examination  of  Baylor  University,  and  the  meet- 
ing of  the  Texas  Baptist  State  Convention. 

He  was  called  to  his  glorious  reward  in  Heaven  March 
22,  1870,  full  of  years  of  honor  and  leaving  the  rich  legacy 
of  a  good  name  and  a  noble  life  to  his  family  and  to  Texas  for 
all  future  time.  His  fellow  citizens,  as  a  token  of  their 
high  appreciation  of  his  eminent  worth,  erected  a  beautiful 
monument  over  the  spot  where  he  sleeps  in  Jesus. 

March  23,  1887. 


TYRELL  J.  JACKSO^T. 

Bro.  Jackson  was  a  noble  co-laborer  of  the  Old  Guard — 
a  real  Aaron  and  Hur  to  Wm.  M.  Tryon,  R.  E.  B.  Baylor, 
Jas.  Huckins,  Z.  ISF.  Morrell,  Hosea  Garrett  and  a  peer  of  O. 
H.  P.  Garrett,  T.  J.  Pilgrim  and  A.  G.  Haynes.  Indeed  the 
lives  and  character  of  brethren  Haynes  and  Jackson  were  very 
similar.  They  were  both  born  in  Green  Co.,  Georgia,  both 
converted  and  baptized  early,  both  lived  some  time  in  Ala- 
bama, both  married  noble  Christian  ladies,  and  raised  and 
educated  large  families  of  useful  sons  and  daughters.     Both 


718  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

moved  to  Texas  and  settled  in  AVashington  county  in  1841, 
both  were  Baptist  deacons  and  trustees  of  Baylor  University 
for  over  a  quarter  of  a  century,  both  were  plain,  wealthy 
farmers,  eminent  for  their  public  spirit  and  hospitality,  both 
lived  and  died  without  even  a  breath  of  suspicion  on  their 
reputation  as  Baptist  deacons  and  Christians.  I  knew  them 
most  intimately.  I  educated,  baptized  and  married  their 
children.  And  many  of  the  happiest  hours  of  my  life  have 
been  spent  in  their  families,  and  in  counseling  with  them  for 
the  cause  of  Christ  and  for  the  glory  of  Texas. 

Brother  Jackson,  as  we  have  seen,  was  bom  in  Green 
county,  Georgia,  but  was  raised  chiefly  in  Alabama,  where  he 
resided  till  he  moved  to  Texas.  When  2Y  years  old  he  mar- 
ried Miss  Julia  A.  Coleman,  a  lady  eminent  for  modesty, 
gentleness,  and  every  domestic  excellency.  She  ever  dis- 
pensed the  hospitality  of  their  beautiful  home  so  cordially  and 
so  sweetly  that  every  guest  was  anxious  to  return,  and  as  a 
loving  Christian  wife  and  mother  she  had  no  superior. 

In  1838  Bro.  Jackson  was  converted  and  baptized  by 
Elder  John  A.  Taylor  into  the  fellowship  of  the  Mount  Enon 
Church,  Dickens  county,  Alabama.  He  moved  to  Texas  and 
settled  in  Washington  county  in  184:1.  He  first  joined  the 
church  at  Independence  and  under  circumstances  very  pecu-' 
liar  and  illustrative  of  the  crisis,  of  the  character  of  himself 
and  his  noble  wife  and  the  consummate  generalship  of  Rev. 
W.  M.  Tryon.  It  was  in  the  midst  of  the  fearful  struggles 
of  the  little  handful  of  Baptists  with  Campbellites  as  led  by 
the  unfortunate  leader,  T.  W.  Cox.  The  little  church  at  In- 
dependence was  nearly  equally  divided;  thirteen  in  favor  of 
Cox  and  twelve  Baptists  firndy  set  on  the  Old  Land  Marks. 

The  church  conference  was  that  day  to  settle  the  vital 
questions;  first,  the  validity  of  the  baptism  of  Rev.  Lindsey 
P.  Rueker,  and  second,  whether  T.  W.  Cox  or  Wm.  M.  Tryon 
should  be  elected  pastor. 

Rev.  Mr.  Rueker  (now  an  Episcopal  minister),  had  been 
a  Methodist  Protestant  preacher  but  being  a  good  scholar,  he 
saw  immersion  alone  was  baptism  and  applied  for  membership 
in  the  little  church  at  Independence.  He  was  cordially  re- 
ceived and  his  baptism  fixed  for  a  day  in  the  near  future. 
But  Dr.    Clough,   a   deacon,    and   thoroughly  imbued   with 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  719 

Campbellite  ideas,  persuaded  Elder  Rucker  that  any  man 
had  a  right  to  administer  baptism  and  took  him  down  to  tho 
beautiful  little  stream  called  Rocky  and  immersed  him,  con- 
trary to  the  grand  old  landmark,  that  "three  things  are  essen- 
tial to  a  valid  baptism:  1.  A  converted  believer.  2.  A 
regularly  ordained  Baptist  preacher  in  good  standing.  3. 
Immersion  in  water  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  Son  and  Holy 
Spirit. 

The  twelve  Baptists  knowing  the  Campbellites  had  one 
majority,  made  every  effort  to  get  Bro.  Jackson  and  wife  to 
put  in  their  letters,  which  would  give  them  a  clear  working 
majority  of  one.  But  Bro.  Jackson,  with  his  great  love  of 
peace,  and  having  been  sorely  tried  by  the  fearful  divisions 
of  the  churches  in  Alabama  about  missions,  Sunday  schools, 
etc.,  resolved  to  keep  out  of  church  trials  and  wars,  and  re- 
sisted all  importunities  to  join  till  the  difficulties  were  settled. 
The  Campbellites  came  up  so  full  of  confident  success  that 
they  invited  Bro.  Tryon  to  preach  on  Saturday  before  going 
into  conference.  The  old  Independence  Female  Academy 
building  was  crowded.  Bro.  Jackson  and  wife  rode  twelve 
miles  to  be  there. 

Bro.  Tryon's  sermon  was  to  demonstrate  the  duty  and 
importance  of  every  good  soldier  coming  boldly  to  the  front 
in  the  day  of  battle,  and  to  illustrate  the  shame  of  a  soldier 
shirking  danger,  he  related  the  familiar  story  of  the  old  pion- 
eer when  the  big  black  bear  came  into  his  little  log  cabin, 
climbed  up  into  the  loft  till  his  wife  with  the  axe  tackled  the 
bear  and  felled  the  black  monster  in  the  floor,  and  when  the 
danger  was  all  over  the  husband  jumped  down,  seized  the  stool 
and  knocking  the  bear's  brains  out,  shouted :  "Old  woman, 
ain't  we  brave !"  Bro.  Jackson's  angel  wife  gave  him  a  sug- 
gestive look,  and  in  telling  me  the  incident  af tenvards,  he  said : 
"I  first  felt  small  enough  to  crawl  into  an  auger-hole,  and  then 
felt  brave  enough  to  fight  a  whole  regiment  of  black  bears, 
and  thirteen  Campbellites  besides."  As  soon  as  Bro.  Tryon's 
sermon  was  over  he  said :  "Julia,  I  do  wish  we  had  our  letters- 
here;  I  want  to  join  right  now."  The  angel  wife  replied: 
"All  right;  I  brought  them  along  in  case  we  might  conclude 
to  join !" 


720  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

They  joined;  they  elected  Wm.  M.  Tryon  pastor;  they 
told  Deacon  Clough  and  good  Bro.  Rucker  and  the  whole 
Campbellite  element  to  go !  That  one  vote  secured  by  the 
bear  story  saved  the  little  church  at  Independence,  defeated 
the  wiley  and  fallen  T.  W.  Cox,  and  made  Independence  the 
gTeat  educational  center  of  Texas  for  nearly  forty  years. 

Yet  the  unthinking  world  will  never  understand  the  im- 
portance of  little  things,  and  also  that  there  is  often  more  logic 
in  an  anecdote  or  fable  than  in  a  learned  stupid  essay. 

Bro.  Jackson  and  his  angel  wife  saved  the  church  at  In- 
•  dependence.  Soon,  however,  they  aided  in  organizing  dear 
old  Providence,  near  his  home.  He  and  O.  H.  P.  Garrett  and 
Nelson  Kavanaugh  became  deacons  and  Hosea  Garrett  pastor. 
For  years  it  was  the  strongest  country  church  in  Texas.  In 
one  single  revival  there  were  eighty-four  conversions. 

There  Pev.  James  H.  Stribling  was  converted  and  bap- 
tized, and  for  more  than  forty  years  he  has  been  a  noble  banner 
bearer  in  every  good  and  great  enterprise.  There  ISTelson 
Kavanaugh  and  his  noble  wife  were  converted  and  baptized, 
and  became  pillars  in  our  church  at  Houston  and  Brenham. 

Bro.  Jackson  and  his  angel  wife  lived  to  see  all  Wash- 
ington county  dotted  with  Baptist  churches.  They  raised 
and  educated  a  noble  family  of  sons  and  daughters,  who  are 
to-day  an  honor  to  their  parents  and  pillars  in  the  Baptist 
cause,  wherever  they  are.  It  was  one  of  their  daughters,  Mrs. 
P.  J.  Sledge,  with  her  noble  husband,  who  said  to  our  aged 
homeless  brother,  Z.  ]^.  Morrell :     "Our  house  is  your  home." 

I  often  think  of  the  many  times  I  have  seen  Brethren  A. 
G.  Haynes,  Tyrol  J.  Jackson,  James  Huckins,  Nelson  Kav- 
anaugh, P.  E.  B.  Baylor,  Henry  L.  Graves,  A.  C.  Horton, 
Robt.  Jarman,  James  P.  Jenkins,  and  others,  seated  in  the 
cool  shade  of  the  magnificent  live  oaks  in  Bro.  Haynes'  yard 
in  delightful  familiar  conversation  about  the  cause  of  Christ 
and  Texas  and  Baylor  University.  And  by  faith  I  see  them 
by  the  rivers  of  Paradise,  under  the  shade  of  the  tree  of  life, 
with  their  noble  wives,  all  shouting :  "Safe  at  home  !"  And, 
like  Paul,  T  am  in  a  strait  bet^vixt  the  two,  having  a  desire  to. 
depart  and  be  with  them  at  Jesus'  feet,  nevertheless  it  is  prof- 
itable for  me  to  abide  in  the  flesh  to  finish  the  work  they  besran 
in  building  up  a  great  Texas  Baptist  University  that  shall 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Bukleso>\ 


721. 


dispense  light  and  knowledge  and  holiness  for  a  thousand 
years  to  come. 


GAIL  BORDE^^  JR. 


GAIL  BORDEX. 

Bro.  Borden  published  at  San  Filipe,  in  1835,  the  first 
newspaper  ever  printed  in  Texas,  called  The  Texas  Telegraph. 
He  and  his  angel  wife  were  the  first  persons  ever  baptized  in 
the  gulf  at  Galveston,  He  was  for  nearly  twenty  years  dea- 
con and  Sabbath  school  superintendent  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church  at  Galveston.  He  was  the  inventor  of  Borden's  con- 
densed milk,  now  famous  around  the  globe.  He  was  emi- 
nent for  child-like  simplicity,  humility  and  earnest  piety. 
He  therefore  deser^-es  a  place  in  the  ranks  of  "The  Old  Guard 
and  their   Co-Laborers." 

Bro.  Borden  was  born  in  the  State  of  ISTew  York,  ISTovem- 
ber  9th,  1801.  In  1814  his  father,  Gail  Borden,  Sr.,  moved 
to  the  far  "West  "to  grow  up  with  the  country,"  and  after  re- 
siding a  few  years  in  Covington,  Ky.,  he  settled  in  Indiana 
while  it  was  yet  a  territory. 

Seeking  still  a  milder  climate,  the  whole  family  moved  to 
Pearl  River,  Miss.,  in  1824  or  1825.    There  Brother  Borden 

46 


722  The  Life  and  Wijitings  of 

was  so  fortunate  as  to  win  the  heart  and  hand  of  the  noble 
daughter  of  Eli  Mercer,  brother  of  the  celebrated  Jesse  Mer- 
cer, of  Georgia. 

As  Texas,  the  Paradise  of  the  AYest;  was  then  attracting 
universal  attention,  and  none  but  persons  of  high  moral  char- 
acter were  allowed  to  join  Austin's  colony,  it  was  believed  it 
would  become  a  real  paradise.  In  1833,  Brother  Borden, 
with  his  two  brothers,  John  P.  and  Paschal,  and  his  father- 
in-law,  Eli  Mercer,  came  to  Texas,  each  receiving  a  league, 
4,428  acres,  and  a  labor  177  acres.  They  settled  near  Egypt, 
so  called  not  from  its  darkness  or  its  pyramids,  but  for  its 
abundant  supply  of  corn  always  for  sale.  Brother  Borden  first 
tried  farming,  but  not  succeeding  like  his  father-in-law,  wh.) 
was  a  prince  among  farmers,  he  became  discouraged  and 
moved  over  on  the  IN'anadad  river  and  joined  the  celebrated 
ISTorth  Alabama  colony  composed  of  the  Hinds,  the  Menafees, 
the  Southerlands  and  many  others,  all  intimate  friends  of  my 
father  in  Morgan  county,  and  noted  for  their  purity,  hospital- 
ity, industry  and  patriotism.  In  this  model  community, 
Brother  Borden,  like  E.  T.  Wheeler,  Pt.  E.  B.  Baylor,  J.  D. 
Giddings,  O.  M.  Roberts  and  most  great  men,  taught  school 
as  the  first  ascending  round  in  the  ladder  of  fame. 

In  1834  he  removed  to  San  Filipe  de  Austin,  the  capital 
of  Austin's  colony.  In  this  historic  town,  where  Thos.  J. 
Pilgrim  established  the  first  Sunday  school  in  Texas  in  1828, 
Brother  Borden  and  his  brother,  Thomas,  established  the  first 
Texas  newspaper,  called  The  Texas  Telegraph. 

The  Borden  brothers,  though  2,000  miles  away  from  a 
telegraph  line  and  dependent  for  news  on  fleet  telegraphic 
mustangs,  made  a  lively  paper,  full  of  all  the  latest  news, 
especially  of  the  fearful,  stormy  war  cloud  gathering  darkness 
in  the  West.  They  kept  all  Texas  informed  as  to  the  move- 
ments of  Santa  Anna  in  subverting  the  Bepublican  Constitu- 
tion of  1824  and  the  repeal  of  the  colonization  act,  which  vio- 
lated the  plighted  faith  of  Mexico  to  the  Texans,  and  the 
brutal  imprisonment,  in  a  Mexican  dungeon,  of  the  spotless 
and  beloved  Stephen  F.  Austin,  wholly  on  account  of  his  fidel- 
ity and  devotion  to  Texas. 

In  burning  words  the  Telegraph  spread  over  all  Texas 
the  return  of  Stephen  F.  Austin  and  his  stirring  speech,  de- 


Dk.  Eufus  C.  Burleson.  723 

livered  to  a  thousand  of  his  devoted  fellow-citizens,  assembled 
at  Brazoria  to  greet  his  return  and  hear  the  advice  of  their 
political  father  and  ]^estor.  It  gave  a  glowing  account  of  the 
glorious  victory,  October  2,  1835,  of  the  Texans  at  Gonzales, 
under  Colonel  John  H.  Moore,  over  the  Mexican  army  under 
Castanado,  and  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Convention  of  all 
Texas,  assembled  at  San  Felipe,  N^ovember  3,  under  the  presi- 
dency of  Dr.  Branch  T.  Archer.  On  receiving  the  thrilling, 
glorious  news  that  the  Texan  army,  under  command  of  Gen- 
eral Burleson,  had  captured  the  city  of  San  Antonio,  with 
General  Cos  and  the  whole  Mexican  army,  a  flaming  extra 
was  issued,  giving  all  the  particulars  of  the  undying  heroism 
of  Ben  E,.  Milam,  F.  W.  Johnson,  J.  C.  ISTeil  and  others,  with 
the  whole  terms  of  the  surrender,  signed  by  Gen.  Edward  Bur- 
leson, Commander  of  Texas  Army;  Gen.  Cos,  Commander  of 
Mexican  Army. 

This  memorable  extra  is  now  before  me,  and  was  pre- 
sented to  me  as  a  family  relic  by  Mrs.  Judge  Sneed,  of  Austin, 
daughter  of  Gen.  Burleson. 

But  that  faithful  sentinel  soon  telegraphed  to  all  Texas 
that  Santa  Anna,  the  Attila  of  the  South,  had  determined  to 
vindicate  his  title,  "The  Napoleon  of  the  West,"  by  organiz- 
ing an  army  of  8,000  veterans,  flushed  with  over  twenty  vic- 
tories, and  swoop  down  like  an  eagle  on  Texas. 

The  next  Telegraph  was  that  the  Alamo  had  fallen. 
Travis,  Bonham,  Bo'wae  and  Crockett  were  dead.  That 
Fannin  and  his  little  army  were  captured  at  Collita  and 
butchered  at  Goliad,  and  that  Houston,  with  his  army  and  all 
Texas,  were  fleeing  before  Santa  Anna.  The  editors  mounted 
their  press  in  a  wagon;  just  escaped  from  San  Felipe  in  time 
to  look  back  from  the  eastern  banks  of  the  Brazos  and  see  their 
office  and  the  town  burned  to  ashes. 

But  the  Telegraph,  mounted  on  a  flying  mule  wagon, 
poured  forth  its  bitter  denunciations  of  tyranny,  and  its  trum- 
pet called  all  freemen  to  rush  to  the  rescue  and  be  free  or  die. 
But  the  enraged,  savage  foe  captured  the  faithful  sentinel  at 
Xew  Washington,  threw  it  into  the  fire,  and  then  scraped  up 
the  t^^pe  and  ashes  and  threw  them  into  the  San  Jacinto  river; 
but,  like  the  bones  of  the  liberty-loving  John  Wickliffe,  when 
burned  to  ashes  and  thrown  into  the  rushing  stream,  con- 


'724:  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

tinned  to  thunder  against  Catholic  tyranny  and  despotism. 
The  waves  of  that  San  Jacinto,  lashing  against  the  shore,  in- 
spired the  battle  cry,  "Remember  the  Alamo,"  "Remember 
Goliad;"  and  San  Jacinto  became  the  fatal  Waterloo  to  "The 
ISTapoleon  of  the  West." 

As  the  town  of  San  I'ilipe  was  burned  to  ashes  and  Col- 
umbia was  selected  as  tbe  temporary  capital  of  the  new  Re- 
public that  had  sprung  into  full  being,  fully  armed  and 
•equipped,  like  Minerva,  from  the  brain  of  Jupiter,  Brother 
Borden  bought  a  new  press  and  resumed  publication  at  Col- 
umbia as  The  Texas  Telegraph  and  8tar,  and  continued  to 
flood  the  country  wdth  the  glorious  results  of  the  war  and  the 
organization  of  the  Republic  of  Texas,  with  Gen.  Sam  Hous- 
ton, President;  General  M.  B.  Lamar,  Vice-President,  and 
Ste|)hen  F.  iVustin  as  Secretary  of  State. 

But  in  the  midst  of  universal  rejoicing,  the  Telegraph 
■announced  that  Stephen  P.  Austin  died  December  27,  1836 — 
a  man  whose  name  deserves  a  place  on  the  tablets  of  undying 
fame  by  that  of  Washington,  Fabricius,  Aristides  and  Epami- 
nondas.  Austin  lived  to  see  the  little  company  of  fourteen 
persons  with  whom  he  crossed  the  Brazos  on  ISTew  Year's  day, 
1822,  form  into  a  heroic  Republic  of  60,000  people  in  four- 
teen years. 

Brother  Borden,  becoming  deeply  interested  in  the  ris- 
ing fortunes  of  Galveston,  sold  his  Telegraph  and  Star  to  Dr. 
Francis  Moore,  who  removed  it  to  Houston,  and,  under  the 
•editorial  supervision  of  Dr.  Moore  and  E.  H.  Gushing,  has 
exerted  a  powerful  influence  in  shaping  the  destiny  of  Texas. 
Who  can  ever  estimate  the  power  of  Brother  Borden's  press 
in  that  dark  and  trying  hour,  and  yet  how  strange  how  few  edi- 
tors or  historians  of  Texas  ever  even  refer  to  it.  As  the  world 
grows  wiser,  men  will  learn  "the  pen  is  mightier  than  the 
sword,"  and  that  the  man  who  moulds  the  sentiments  of  men 
is  entitled  to  as  much  praise  as  the  man  who  moulds  the  bullets. 

Brother  Borden  became  a  large  real  estate  owner  in  Gal- 
veston in  1837,  and  for  nearly  twenty  years  held  the  highly 
responsible  oflSce  of  Secretary  of  the  Galveston  City  Company. 

There  he  and  his  noble  wife  were  converted  and  baptized, 
in  1840,  by  the  great  pioneer  missionary  sent  to  Texas  by  the 
;$2,500  given  by  Jesse  Mercer  for  the  Texas  Mission,  who, 


De.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  725- 

as  a  far-seeing  divine  and  philosopber,  saw  the  coming  great- 
ness and  glory  of  Texas. 

Brother  Borden  and  wife  were  baptized  on  a  beautiful 
Sabbath  evening,  just  before  sundown.  The  whole  village^ 
estimated  at  1,500  or  2,000  persons,  assembled  on  the  beach 
to  witness  an  ordinance  so  solemn  and  so  beautiful,  now  ad- 
ministered for  the  first  time  in  Galveston.  A  talented  and 
devout  Presbyterian  lady  gave  me  a  glowing  description  of  it 
in  1848,  as  the  most  impressive  scene  she  ever  beheld.  She 
said  that  Mrs.  Borden's  face,  as  she  came  up  out  of  the  gulf, 
was  so  radiant  with  joy  and  devotion,  and  seemed  to  be  the 
countenance  of  an  angel.  Oh,  what  a  change  from  the  time 
when  those  waves  were  lashed  and  agitated  by  the  dashing 
ships  and  roaring  cannon  of  the  pirate,  La  Fitte,  and  his  bloody 
men,  who  made  Galveston  their  home  till  expelled  by  Commo- 
dore Kearney  in  1821.  For  nearly  twenty  years  Brother 
Borden  served  the  First  Baptist  Chuch  as  a  zealous  deacon  and 
Sabbath  school  worker,  often  under  the  greatest  discourage- 
ment. 

There  I  first  met  him  in  1848  in  a  great  revival.  His 
angel  wife,  whose  praise  was  on  all  lips,  had  been  called  home, 
and  he  had  married  again,  yet  his  love  and  zeal  were  untiring. 
He  led  the  choir,  he  led  in  prayer  meetings,  he  superintended 
the  Sunday  school;  indeed,  was  city  Sunday  school  missionary 
for  poor  children  and  for  strangers.  His  joy  to  see  his  preci- 
ous daughter.  Miss  Phila,  since  Mrs.  Johnson,  and  son,  Lee, 
and  scores  of  others,  converted,  was  unbounded. 

His  countenance,  so  radiant  with  smiles  and  tears  of  joy 
thirty-nine  years  ago,  has  never  been  effaced  from  my  mem- 
ory. And  yet  every  rose  has  a  thorn;  no  joy  on  earth  is  un- 
mixed. And  I  remember  with  sadness  the  pain  I  was  com- 
pelled to  inflict  on  one  I  loved  so  well.  Brother  Huckins  had 
baptized  Brother  Borden,  but  had  not  obeyed  that  great  com- 
mand after  baptism,  "to  teach  them  all  things."  Brother 
Huckins,  like  most  men  brought  up  under  the  shadow  of 
Plymouth  Rock,  was  not  an  old  Landmark  Baptist — did  not 
'^contend  earnestly  for  the  faith,"  and  had  never  explained 
Baptist  faith  and  Bible  doctrine.  I  was  astonished  at  the  utter 
ignorance  of  people  of  rare  intelligence  about  Baptist  practice 
and  history. 


726  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

Two  devout  Presbyterian  ladies  of  great  intelligence, 
when  I  announced  that  at  the  3  o'clock  service  'Sve  would 
open  the  door  of  the  church  for  the  reception  Of  a  number  of 
young  converts/'  came  and  asked  the  privilege  of  attending, 
as  they  supposed  the  door  of  the  church  house  would  07ily  be 
opened  for  those  who  wished  to  join. 

Another  man  objected  seriously  to  Baptist  "close  com- 
munion/' for,  said  he,  the  bread  and  wine  are  to  show  forth 
the  Lord's  death,  and  I  don't  believe  we  ought  to  close  the 
doors  at  communion.  And  I  actually  met  people  that  thought 
Eoger  Williams  founded  the  Baptist  Church  and  others  that 
Baptists  originated  with  the  Anabaptists  of  Germany.  They 
had  never  learned  that  Christ  founded  the  Baptist  Church 
Avhen  He  said,  "Thou  art  Peter,  and  on  this  rock  I  will  build 
my  church,  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it, 
neither  shall  it  be  destroyed  nor  given  to  another  people" — 
Matt.  16:18,  Dan.  2:44 — and  that  Heaven  and  earth  could 
pass  away  sooner  than  that  promise  could  fail,  and  that  church 
history  demonstrates,  as  Sir  Isaac  ^Newton  and  others  have 
sliown,  has  never  failed. 

I  saw  a  special  obligation  was  laid  upon  me  to  teach  the 
young  converts  baptized  to  obser^'e  all  things,  as  Jesus  com- 
manded. 

Hence,  when  the  vast  throngs  crowded  around  our  bap- 
tismal waters,  I  explained  baptism  clearlv,  boldly'  and  "in 
love." 

Our  dear  Brother  Borden  was  alarmed.  He  said,  "Oh, 
my  dear  brother,  you  will  offend  the  I^^edobaptists  and  ruin 
our  meeting.  Brother  Huckins  never  did  preach  on  baptism, 
and  he  was  the  most  popular  preacher,  with  everybody,  ever 
in  Galveston."  I  assured  him  that  I  would  deeply  regret  to 
annoy  any  child  of  God,  but  that  Jesus  commanded  "to  teach 
young  converts  all  things,"  to  contend  earnestly  for  the  faith, 
and  that  as  God's  "witnesses  we  were  bound  to  tell  the  truth 
and  the  whole  truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth.  He  came 
to  me  finally  with  the  proposition  that  as  I  had  already 
preached  Baptist  doctrine  enough,  to  turn  our  glorious  re- 
Aaval  into  a  union  meeting,  and  invite  Rev.  Dr.  S.  Henderson, 
the  Presbyterian  pastor,  and  Rev.  J.  ]\r.  Wesson,  the  Metho- 
dist pastor,  who  were  attending  tlie  meetings  daily,  to  join  us 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  727 

in  a  union  meeting,  and  preach  nothing  but  Christ,  and  not 
saj  one  word  about  baptism.  I  assured  him  no  living  man 
could  preach  Jesus  and  leave  out  the  first  act  of  His  public 
life  in  the  river  Jordan  and  His  last  command  as  He  ascended 
on  Mt.  Olivet.  And  that  union  meetings  geiierally  ended  in 
strife  and  disunion  and  sectarian  warfare,  so  much  to  i!e  la- 
mented; that  I  never  had  held  a  union  meeting,  and  never 
would;  that  I  had  no  doubt  Elders  Henderson  and  Wesson 
were  noble  Christian  gentlemen,  and  I  would  rejoice  to  have 
aid,  but  with  the  distinct  understanding  it  was  a  Baptist  meet- 
ing, and  if  I  aided  them  in  a  meeting,  I  would  understand  it 
was  their  meeting;  that  on  this  plan  every  man  could  preach 
his  own  doctrine  plainly  and  tenderly,  and  give  no  reasonable 
ground  of  offense.  By  pursuing  that  plan,  Elders  Henderson 
and  Wesson  and  I  have  been  lifelong,  devoted  friends.  By 
pursuing  this  for  nearly  forty  years,  I  have  lived  in  love  with 
the  greatest  and  best  men  in  all  the  denominations,  without 
ever  compromising  a  single  iota  of  Baptist  or  Bible  doctrine. 

But  Brother  Borden,  like  very  many  other  devoted 
Christians,  had  never  been  taught  the  grand  Bible,  philosophic 
truth  that  Christianity  or  religion  has  a  body,  a  form,  as  well 
as  a  spirit;  that  there  is  one  body  as  well  as  one 
Spirit,  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism.  And  while 
the  body  is  never  as  important  as  the  Spirit,  yet  it  is  neces- 
sary to  enable  the  Spirit  to  accomplish  its  mission  on  earth. 
The  casket  is  not  so  valuable  as  the  jewel,  but  every  jewel 
should  have  a  casket;  and  the  costliest  perfume  is  wasted 
without  a  vase.  Our  pious  Pedobaptist  friends  have  the  soul 
of  religion  without  the  body.  Our  Campbellite  friends,  I 
fear,  have  often  the  body  or  form  of  religion  without  the  soul, 
but  a  genuine,  old-fashion  Bible  Baptist  has  the  body  and  soul 
of  religion  united  in  one  body;  and  not  a  body  or  form  of  his 
own,  that  he  can  neglect  or  change,  but  that  very  body,  that 
very  form  that  Jesus  selected  1887  years  ago,  and  was  so 
beautiful  and  so  simple  that  an  angel  said,  "Come,  behold;  I 
will  show  the  bride  the  Lamb's  wife." 

Brother  Borden  never  had  been  taught  the  l^eautiful  and 
sublime  truth,  like  thousands  of  good  meaning  Christians  are 
ready  to  say, 

For  modes  of  faith  let  graceless  bigots  fight: 
Those  can't  be  wrong  who  act  within  the  right. 


728  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

This  mistake  has  introduced  all  the  strife  and  confusion 
in  the  Christian  world,  and  if  ever  carried  out  fully,  would 
drive  Christianity  from  the  earth. 

Baptists,  as  God's  witnesses  on  earth,  should  guard  against 
these  delusive  errors  Avith  great  firmness  and  tenderness. 

From  Brother  Borden's  standpoint,  he  saw  no  inconsist- 
ency, when  he  moved  to  'New  York  and  the  Baptists  did  not 
treat  him  cordially,  because  he  owned  slaves  in  Texas,  he 
joined  the  Congregationalists.  But  in  all  times  and  places 
and  changes,  he  was  an  earnest,  devout  Christian  worker.  As 
a  church  member  and  deacon.  Brother  Borden  was  eminently 
faithful  and  tender. 

His  conscientiousness  was  equal  to  his  piety  and  tender- 
heartedness. 

I  was  his  guest  for  several  days  when  he  was  a  witness  in 
an  important  suit  in  which  Galveston  City  Company  was 
largely  interested.  He  trembled  under  the  fearful  responsi- 
bility. One  morning  I  was  walking  in  a  retired  part  of  his 
large  fig  orchard  and  heard  a  low  voice  agonizing  in  supplica- 
tions. Supposing  Brother  Borden  was  at  the  court  house,  I 
drew  near  to  see  who  it  could  be,  and  there,  in  sweat  and  tears, 
was  Brother  Borden,  imploring  divine  aid  to  enable  him  to 
so  give  his  testimony  as  to  honor  God  and  his  profession  as  a 
Christian  and  good  citizen. 

I  was  greatly  rejoiced,  the  next  day,  to  hear  a  lawyer  on 
the  opposite  side  say:  "Mr.  Borden's  testimony,  under  the 
critical,  trying  circumstances,  was  the  clearest  and  most  satis- 
factory I  ever  heard."  But  the  greatest  achievement  of  life, 
and  that  which  has  extended  his  name  around  the  globe  and 
perpetuated  his  fame  for  ages  to  come,  is  Borden's  Condensed 
Milk. 

A  great  philosopher  said  a  man  who  discovers  a  new 
article  of  food  or  invents  a  new,  healthy  dish,  is  a  greater 
benefactor  than  he  who  discovers  a  new  planet  or  a  new  solar 
system.  This  simple  and  wonderful  invention  of  Brother 
Borden  condenses  all  the  essential,  nutritious  properties  of 
sweet  milk,  so  as  to  preserve  it  fresh  for  years  or  ship  it  to  the 
remotest  ends  of  the  earth,  and  so  cheap  that  the  humblest 
family  can  buy  it. 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Bueleson.  Y20 

The  origin  of  the  wonderful  discovery  was  as  simple  as 
the  falling  of  that  apple  that  led  ISTewton  to  discover  the  law 
of  gravitation  in  the  solar  universe. 

Brother  Borden  had  been  tormented  all  his  life  with  a 
passion  for  invention.  He  had  wasted  $60,000  in  a  fruitless 
effort  to  invent  "a  wind  wagon/'  or  a  wagon  to  be  run  by  sails 
propelled  by  wind  alone;  and  condensed  meal  and  meal  bis- 
cuit, etc.,  etc.  The  last  hobby  failed,  the  last  hope  of  a  great 
invention  had  fled,  and  Brother  Borden  was  dying  from  sheer 
gloom  and  melancholy.  His  old  and  devoted  friend,  without 
a  single  hope  of  success,  but  simply  to  preserve  the  life  of  a 
gentle,  noble  spirit,  showed  him  a  slip  cut  from  a  French 
newspaper,  showing  that  a  French  scientist  was  endeavoring 
to  invent  a  plan  to  condense.  This  bare  announcement  aroused 
all  his  inventive  genius  and  restored  his  vigor.  Soon  he  dis- 
covered his  wonderful  plan  that  condensed  milk  and  kept  it 
fresh,  and  thus  furnished  the  whole  earth  with  a  most  healthy 
and  nutritious  diet. 

This  invention  made  him  a  millionaire  and  pays  his 
heirs  annually  a  royalty  on  his  patent  of  $100,000. 

It  is  a  beautiful  and  fitting  coincidence  that  a  man  so 
full  of  the  milk  of  human  kindness  should  have  discovered  a 
plan  for  supplying  the  world  with  fresh,  sweet  milk. 

Brother  Borden  died  at  Borden,  on  the  Sunset  Railway, 
ten  miles  west  of  Columbus,  Texas,  January  10,  1874,  about 
thirty  miles  of  the  place  near  Egypt,  where  he  settled  in  1829, 
just  forty-five  years  before.  His  remains  were  carried  back 
to  his  native  State  and  buried  in  the  family  burial  ground, 
forty  or  fifty  miles  from  the  city  of  'Rew  York. 

Thus  lived  and  thus  died  Brother  Gail  Borden,  Jr. — a 
man  simple  as  a  child,  loving  as  a  woman,  devout  as  a  martyr. 


DEACON  THOS.  J.  PILGRIM. 

Thos.  J.  Pilgrim,  as  the  father  of  Texas  Sunday  Schools, 
as  a  life-long  Sabbath-school  worker,  as  a  trustee  of  Gonzales 
College,  as  a  faithful  deacon  of  Gonzales  Church,  was  a  zealous 
co-laborer  of  the  Old  Guard  for  a  half  a  hundred  years,  from 


730  The  Life  and  Wkitings  of 

1827  to  1875.  T.  J.  Pilgrim  was  all  that  his  name  implied, 
eminent  for  his  purity,  his  patriotism  and  devotion  to  God. 

He  was  born  in  Middlesex,  Conn.,  December  19,  1805, 
and  died  at  Gronzales,  Texas,  October  29,  1877.  He  was  de- 
scended from  the  genuine  old  Pilgrim  Fathers  of  the  May- 
flower. He  was  early  converted  and  baptized,  and,  burning 
with  a  desire  to  be  useful,  his  church  persuaded  him  that  he 
ought  to  preach,  and  gave  him  license  to  use  his  gifts  publicly 
wherever  God  in  His  providence  might  cast  his  lot. 

He  was  sent  to  that  grand  old  school  of  the  prophets, 
Madison  Hniversity,  the  Alma  Mater  of  over  one  hundred 
missionaries;  then  Hamilton  College. 

Brother  Pilgrim's  health  failing  from  over-study,  his 
physicians  and  friends  advised  him  to  seek  health  in  the 
Sunny  South.  The  glorious  description  given  by  the  sainted 
murdered  La  Salle  in  1687,  and  by  that  noble  old  son  of 
Connecticut,  Moses  Austin,  in  1820,  had  induced  an  immense 
tide  of  immigration  to  Texas,  fitly  called  by  the  Comanches, 
Tehas  or  Paradise.  And  God  who  was  preparing  great  things 
for  Texas,  directed  the  steps  of  young  Pilgrim  to  join  Stephen 
r.  Austin's  immortal  three  hundred  families.  It  may  be  well 
to  explain  here  a  thing  shamefully  misunderstood  about  the 
early  Texans.  For  the  question  will  naturally  arise,  "Why 
did  so  saintly  a  man  as  Thos.  J.  Pilgrim  join  such  a  band  of 
outlaws  and  cut-throats  as  the  early  Texans?"  I  answer  that 
such  a  question  is  based  upon  a  vile  slander  on  our  heroic 
founders,  and  has  not  a  word  of  truth  in  it.  Let  it  never  be 
forgotten  that  the  Mexicans,  utterly  disgusted  with  the  fili- 
bustering spirit  in  1789,  in  1805-7,  and  1812,  in  1819— 
dreaded  nothing  on  earth  as  much  as  a  lawless,  fighting,  de- 
moralized people.  Hence  they  determined  to  allow  none  to 
purchase  property  but  pure  men  of  high  moral  character  who 
would  become  peaceable  citizens,  as  farmers  and  stockmen.  In 
pursuing  this  fixed  policy,  they  rejected  $5,000,000  offered, 
according  to  tradition,  by  the  infidel,  Robert  Owen,  for  all  the 
land  lying  between  the  Brazos  and  Colorado  rivers,  and  from 
the  Gulf  to  Burleson  and  Bastrop  counties,  because,  he  stated, 
that  in  this  country  there  was  to  be  no  Sunday,  no  Bible,  no 
preacher,  no  individual  property  and  no  God.  And  the  great 
infidel  was  forced  to  invest  his  millions  at  I^ew  Harmony,  on 


Dr.  Eufus  C.  Burleson.  731 

the  Wabash,  in  Indiana,  to  test  the  folly  of  his  communistic 
infidel  theory  of  government. 

The  Mexican  government  not  only  scorned  the  infidel's 
^old,  but  made  Moses  Austin  and  his  son,  Stephen  F.,  lay  their 
hands  on  the  Holy  Bible  and  kissing  the  sign  of  the  cross, 
swear  they  would  bring  no  person  to  Texas  that  was  not  of  high 
moral  character,  and  a  firm  believer  in  God  and  his  holy 
word  and  Sabbath.  And  to  make  the  matter  more  certain,  in 
their  esteem  they  sent  Rev.  (Padre)  Muldoon,  an  Irish-Catholic 
priest  in  Mexico  to  go  around  and  re-marry  every  emigrant  for 
$16  a  couple,  and  to  baptize  their  children  for  $2.50  a  head. 
A  distinguished  cousin  of  mine  paid  in  182?  $33.50  to  get  re- 
married and  to  have  his  seven  children  baptized.  So  that  our 
Catholic  father  made  literally  as  many  silver  dollars  as  his 
pack-mule  could  carry.  The  Mexicans,  in  order  to  secure  a 
farming  and  stock  raising  people,  gave  every  head  of  a  family 
one  league  of  land,  and  a  labor,  for  farming  land,  provided  it 
was  stocked  and  put  in  cultivation  in  six  years.  Under  these 
rigid  restrictions  and  with  the  great  inducements  the  300 
families  that  Stephen  F.  Austin  first  brought,  and  the  1,200 
families  he  afterwards  brought  were  composed  of  the  cream 
and  chivalry  and  purity  of  the  South  and  North,  and  among 
these  was  our  devoted  Brother  Pilgrim.  And  the  colonists 
brought  out  by  DeWitt,  Mercer,  Eobertson  and  others  were 
•of  the  same  general  order.  And  I  doubt  whether  the  same 
number  of  families  ever  contained  more  educated,  refined  and 
heroic  men  and  women,  and  more  college  graduates.  They 
were  God-sent  men  to  lay  the  foundation  of  the  grandest  Stato 
between  the  oceans.  And  the  Omniscient  Being  makes  no  mis- 
takes in  His  agents. 

But  the  question  still  will  arise,  how  did  Texas  get  such 
a  terrible  name  as  the  home  of  cut-throats,  runaways  and 
thieves.  When  did  so  many  criminal  court  dockets  and  so 
many  merchants'  books  bristle  with  those  symbolic  letters,  '  G. 
T.  T."^ — Gone  to  Texas.  All  this  was  a  later  date,  and  in  the 
dark  days  of  revolution. 

Mexico,  becoming  jealous  of  the  power  and  prosperity  of 
Texas,  rescinded  her  colonization  laws,  and  resolved  to  place 
a  military  despotism  over  those  they  had  promised  civil  free- 
dom.    It  was  the  jealousy  of  Don  Salcedo,  who  swore  if  it  was 


T32  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

possible  he  would  prevent  tlie  very  birds  from  the  United 
States  from  flying  over  Texas.  This  old  Spanish  hate  of  for- 
eigners bred  in  their  wars  with  the  Moors  flamed  out  as  soon- 
as  they  had  attained  their  grand  desire  of  planting  a  U.  S.  col- 
ony as  a  bulwark  between  them  and  the  dreaded  Comanches, 
Wacoes  and  Kickapoos,  Let  it  never  be  forgotten  that  when 
Mexico  broke  her  plighted  faith  and  resolved  to  enslave  her 
Texan  colonists,  then  arose  the  fight  for  existence.  Then. 
Texas  had  to  open  wide  her  doors  and  invite  aid  from  every 
man  who  could  fire  a  gun  or  wield  a  sword.  In  this  wild,  un- 
settled state  some  of  the  worst  men  of  all  the  States  flocked  ta 
Texas. 

Some  of  them  fugitives  from  justice  and  debts,  some  from 
a  love  of  excitement  and  some  from  a  desire  to  aid  a  struggling 
band  of  60,000  patriots  against  8,000,000  Mexicans  and  750 
miles  of  Indian  frontier.  After  this  wild  excitement  died  away 
and  these  people  ended  their  mission  in  Texas,  the  gold  fever 
of  California  in  1849  drained  them  utterly,  so  that  Texas, 
from  1822  to  1835,  and  from  1849  to  1887,  has  been  blessed 
with  as  law-abiding  people  as  was  ever  found  in  any  new 
State  from  Massachusetts  to  California. 

After  this  digression,  vindicating  the  noble  founders  of 
Texas  and  the  bosom  friends  of  Brother  Pilgrim,  I  return  with 
great  pleasure  to  the  noble  part  he  acted.  As  soon  as  ha 
landed  at  San  Filipe,  in  1827,  he  accepted  a  position  as  a 
teacher  of  the  children  of  the  Mexican  Hidalgos.  As  a  super- 
ior Latin  scholar,  as  fellow  student  of  that  prince  of  scholars^ 
Dr.  A.  C.  Kendrick,  he  soon  became  a  profound  master  of  the 
Spanish  language,  which,  to  the  day  of  his  death  he  loved  to- 
read  on  account  of  its  melody  and  sweetness.  He  aided  Stephen 
Austin,  a  graduate  of  Transylvania  University,  Ky.,  in  trans- 
lating the  l^-ws  of  Mexico  into  English. 

He  became  the  most  eminent  teacher  in  the  colony,  and 
Hon.  James  H.  Bell,  the  first  white  child  born  west  of  the 
Brazos,  and  Col.  Moses  Austin  Bryan,  and  Hon.  Guy  M. 
Bryan,  perchance  the  purest  of  all  our  Texas  statesmen,  and 
many  others,  were  his  students.  But  his  pure  and  profound 
soul  felt  that  nothing  but  the  Bible  and  its  holy  teachings 
could  ever  form  the  basis  of  personal  and  political  greatness. 
Hence  he  founded  in  his  little  log-cabin  school  house  at  Sanr 


Db.  Rufus  C.  Burleson. 


733 


Filipe  the  first  Sabbath-sdiool  ever  known  west  of  Sabine,  and 
-every  Sabbath  morning  he  sought  to  lead  his  students  and  the 
joung  people  of  the  town  to  Jesus.  What  a  sublime  picture ! 
Thus  our  heroic  brother  inscribed  on  the  foundation  stone  of 
Texas  greatness,  Sabbath-schools.  And  may  the  last  cap-stone, 
when  brought  forth  with  shouting,  ^'Grace,  grace,  grace,  unto 
God,"  have  emblazoned  on  it  Sabbath-schools.  And  for  fifty 
years  he  was  the  same  ardent  friend  of  Sabbath-schools.  Indeed 
he  was  so  ardently  devoted  to  his  Sunday-school,  and  in  hi« 
shrinking  modesty  he  could  not  be  induced  to  leave  home  to 
attend  our  general  meetings  for  Missions,  Education  and  Col- 
portage.    He  married  Miss  Sarah  J.  Bennett  in  1841. 


THE  FIRST  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  IN  TEXAS. 

In  1840  he  settled  in  Gonzales  and  engaged  in  banking 
and  farming.  In  1854  I  visited  him  for  the  first  time  during 
the  called  session  of  the  Baptist  State  Convention.  It  was  a 
treat  never  to  be  forgotten.  Eev.  Jas.  H.  Stribling  was  pastor 
and  Thos.  J.  Pilgrim  was  superintendent  of  the  Sunday 
School.  Everything,  even  the  songs,  the  calling  of  the  rolls, 
bore  the  impress  of  a  gentle  Christlike  spirit.  Oh  that  Texas 
had  1,000  such  Sunday  Schools,  and  1,000  such  preachers  and 
superintendents.  And  I  do  believe  that  the  little  seed  planted 
by  our  sainted  Brother  Pilgrim  60  years  ago  at  San  Filipe, 
will  grow  up  into  a  mighty  tree  whose  branches  shall  spread 


734  The  Life  and  Writings  oe 

from  the  Gulf  to  the  Ked  River,  and  from  Sabim? 
to  the  Eio  Grande,  and  the  children  of  all  Texas 
shall  sit  down  under  its  shade  and  learn  of  Jesus  and 
Salvation.  Brother  Pilgrim  Avas  not  only  devoted  to  Sunday 
Schools,  but  as  a  deacon  he  was  ever  a  great  aid  to  his  pastor, 
the  poor  and  the  stranger.  He  was  also  devoted  to  all  the  in- 
terests of  his  town  and  country.  His  toils,  his  great  zeal  and 
sacrifices  for  Gonzales  College  were  worthy  of  the  student  of 
his  illustrious  teacher.  Dr.  jSTathaniel  Kendrick.  Like  a  true 
pilgrim  wherever  he  traveled  he  carried  his  religion  with 
him.  In  1845  he  visited  Houston  on  business  of  great  and 
pressing  importance,  but  hearing  that  there  was  a  meeting  at 
the  church  at  4  o'clock  he  dropped  all  and  went  (or  rather 
God  sent  him)  to  the  prayer  meeting.  For  to  his  surprise  there 
were  seven  Baptist  sisters  gathered  to  counsel  and  pray  that 
God  would  send  them  a  pastor  to  revive  the  work  so  nobly 
begun  there  by  Brother  Huckins.  That  prayer  meeting  re- 
sulted in  calling  the  great  and  good  Tryon  and  the  glorious 
work  following  in  1849.  He  came  to  Galveston  where  Brother 
N^oah  Hill  and  I  were  making  a  life  and  death  struggle  for  a 
revival.  He  had  only  one  day  to  spend  in  the  city  and  a  great 
land  interest  was  pressing  upon  him.  Yet  he  found  time  to 
come  to  our  rescue,  and  lend  to  our  aid  his  great  social  in- 
fluence and  to  pray  for  mourners  and  point  them  to  Jesus. 
After  this  toiling  on  for  Jesus  in  Texas  for  half  a  hundred 
years,  Jesus  said :  "It  is  enough,  come  up  higher."  But  as  the 
angels  on  their  snowy  wings  bore  him  home  he  cast  his  eyes 
back  on  his  weeping  loved  ones  and  his  beloved  Texas.  Oh, 
what  changes  could  he  behold.  Instead  of  one  little  Sabbath 
School  which  he  founded  in  1827  he  saw  more  than  4,000 
Sabbath  Schools  in  all  denominations.  Instead  of  one  poor  old 
preacher,  Elder  Bays,  he  could  see  more  than  1,200  Baptist 
preachers.  Instead  of  the  Egyptian  darkness  and  Catholic 
superstitution  that  surrounded  his  little  goshen  he  saw  1,000 
Baptist  churches  and  Sunday  Schools — as  great  lighthouses 
extending  from  Galveston  to  Denison,  and  from  Marshall  to 
El  Paso.  Instead  of  a  little  colony  of  309  families  surrounded 
by  60,000  Indians  and  8,000,000  Mexicans,  he  saw  an  empire 
State  with  nearly  2,000,000  souls  destined  to  eclipse  the  glory 
of  old  Virginia  and  the  old  empire  State  of  l^ew  York. 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Buklesoi^.  735 

Metliinks,.  his  angel  mother  and  his  grand  old  teacher. 
Dr.  Kendrick,  and  the  sainted  Tryon  and  Huckins  and  Bay- 
lor and  Hill,  all  gathered  on  the  shores  of  Paradise  to  greet 
his  coming.  And  Jesus  smiling  said  "well  done  good  and 
faithful  servant  enter  into  the  joys  of  thy  Lord." 


MRS.  DICKEI^SOI^. 
The  Heroine  of  the  Alamo. 

The  Heroine  of  the  Alamo  and  her  husband,  Lieutenant 
Dickenson,  were  born  in  Pennsylvania  and  brought  up  in  the 
"City  of  Brotherly  Love."  But  when  the  cry  came  from  GO,- 
000  Texans,  struggling  for  freedom  against  8,000,000  Mexi- 
cans, Lieutenant  Dickenson  said,  "I  must  respond  to  freedom's 
call."  His  young  wife  said,  "I  will  go  with  you  my  husband." 
He  came,  enlisted  and  was  made  lieutenant  in  the  immortal 
band  of  Captain  William  Barrett  Travis,  a  young  and  dashing 
cavalier  from.  Alabama.  It  will  be  remembered  that  General 
Cos  and  the  whole  Mexican  army  sent  to  subjugate  Texas, 
after  a  siege  of  five  weeks,  surrendered  on  December  5,  1824, 
to  General  Edward  Burleson,  the  commander.  General  Burle- 
son paroled  them  on  honor  to  retire  across  the  Rio  Grande  and 
never  to  bear  arms  against  Texas.  It  was  earnestly  hoped  that, 
the  Texans  having  driven  the  last  armed  Mexican  from  the 
soil,  Texas  would  be  let  alone.  But  Santa  Anna,  maddened 
by  the  inglorious  defeat  of  his  armies  by  a  handful  of  Texans, 
at  once  resolved  that  he  would  gather  fresh  laurels  by  swoop- 
ing down  on  Texas  and  driving  the  hated  Anglo  Saxons  from 
Texas  and  dividing  their  land  and  property  among  his  soldiers 
and  generals.  At  the  head  of  8,000  veterans,  1,000  of  whom 
were  Gautemalian  Indians,  he  came  hungry  for  his  prey. 
Their  leader  vi<jtorious  in  more  than  thirty  battles,  expected 
to  see  the  Texans  flee  like  doves  or  swans  before  the  king  of 
birds.  He  confidently  expected  to  return  to  the  halls  of 
Montezuma  flushed  Avith  victory  in  less  than  two  months.  But 
how  true  it  is  that  "a  haughty  spirit  goeth  before  destruction." 
The  Texas  patriots  assembled  at  Washington  on  the  Brazos 
in  the  store  house  of  Rev.  ISToah  T.  Byars,  and  declared  Texas 


736  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

forever  free  from  Mexico,  and  re-appointed  General  Sam 
Houston  commander-in-chief,  and  summoned  every  Texan 
able  to  shoulder  a  gun  to  rush  to  the  front. 

General  Houston  having  learned  war  under  General 
Andrew  Jackson,  at  the  battles  of  the  Horse  Shoe  and  New 
Orleans,  saw  at  once  with  his  eagle  eye  that  Goliad  and  San 
Antonio  were  too  far  away  from  his  base  of  supplies  to  be  held 
against  such  a  general  as  Santa  Anna.  Therefore  he  ordered 
Fannin  and  Travis  to  blow  up  the  fortification  and  fall  back 
to  Gonzales  or  La  Grange,  but  those  heroic  men,  Fannin, 
Travis,  Bonham,  Bowie,  Crockett,  Dickenson,  and  others, 
regarding  retreat  worse  than  death,  virtually  disobeyed  the 
c]  ders  of  the  commanding  general. 

Travis  and  his  150,  recruited  soon  after  by  thirty-two 
from  Gonzales,  retired  within  the  strongly  fortified  walls  of 
the  Alamo,  and  had  emblazoned  on  their  banner,  "God  and 
Liberty,  Victory  or  Death." 

On  the  22nd  of  February,  just  two  and  one-half  months 
after  the  disgraceful  surrender  of  General  Cos,  Santa  Anna 
with  the  van  guard  of  8,000  veterans  encamped  around  the 
Alamo  and  demanded  an  immediate  and  unconditional  sur- 
render. That  insolent  summons  was  answered  with  cannon 
shot  and  defiant  shouts.  Santa  Anna  immediately  raised  the 
blood  red  flag  of  death.  Then  commenced  that  fearful  siege 
of  thirteen  days  and  nights,  that,  if  it  were  possible,  atoned  for 
disobeying  orders.  During  these  thirteen  days  and  nights  our 
Heroine  of  the  Alamo  displayed  a  courage  that  eclipsed  the 
heroism  of  the  Spartan  mothers.  For  though  her  little 
daughter  was  only  six  weeks  old,  she  cooked  the  food,  pre- 
pared the  bandages,  washed  and  bound  up  the  wounds,  and, 
by  her  words  and  heroic  bearing  cheered  on  the  soldiers.  What 
mother  on  earth  ever  was  called  to  listen  alternately  to  the 
roar  of  the  cannon  and  the  groans  of  the  dying  and  the  pitiful 
■cry  of  her  innocent  babe  ?  She  saw  the  gashed  bosom  of  her 
husband  pouring  out  his  life  blood.  She  caught  his  dying 
accent : 

"God  bless  you,  wife,  I  am  dying;  take  care  of  our  babe." 
She  has  often  told  me  of  that  solemn  hour  when  the  heroic 
Travis  drew  a  long  line  with  his  sword  and  said,  "E"ow  soldiers, 
every  man  that  is  resolved  never  to  surrender,  but  if  need  be 


Dr.  Eufus  C.  Bukleson.  Y37 

to  die  fighting,  let  liiin  cross  over  this  line,"  and  the  182 
heroes  leaped  over  the  line  at  once.  But  the  heroic  Bowie, 
lying  on  his  pallet  of  straw  emaciated  with  consumption, 
could  not  stand  up,  but  cried  aloud,  "Boys,  do  take  me  over 
that  line,  for  I  intend  to  die  fighting,"  and  his  companions 
carried  him  over  amid  the  wildest  shouts  of  applause. 

But  on  that  fatal  Sabbath  morning,  March  6,  1836,  just 
as  the  church  and  convent  bells  were  calling  the  devout  to 
prayer  by  the  command  of  the  infuriated  Santa  Anna,  5,000 
men,  with  booming  cannon,  muskets  and  with  crow-bars,  and 
scaling  ladders,  rushed  with  fiendish  yells  from  all  directions 
on  the  emblackened  walls  of  the  Alamo. 

The  heroic  band,  worn  out  with  thirteen  days  and  nights 
of  watching  and  fighting,  and  now  reduced  to  about  100,  with 
god-like  courage  met  and  with  deadly  fire  held  back  their  as- 
sailants for  the  first  and  second  time,  but  the  common  soldiers, 
goaded  on  by  the  shouts  of  their  commanders  and  the  spurs  of 
the  cavalry  drawn  up  behind  them,  climbed  up  the  scaling 
ladders  and  General  Filisola  says  "tumbled  like  sheep  over  the 
walls,"  while  others  battered  down  the  doors  and  broke 
through  the  walls. 

Our  Heroine,  with  a  mother's  instinct  pressed  her  inno- 
cent babe  to  her  bosom  and  silently  gazed  upon  a  scene  of  hor- 
ror that  no  tongue,  pen  or  pencil  can  ever  describe.  The  holy 
place  which  had  echoed  with  songs  and  praises  for  more  than 
100  years  now  resounds  with  the  deadly  shot  of  guns  and 
pistols,  and  the  groans  of  the  wounded  and  dying,  while  every 
spot  is  swimming  in  human  gore.  Oh,  what  a  scene  for  a 
mother  and  innocent  babe  to  look  upon !  Methinks  the 
guardian  angels  of  that  innocent  babe  as  they  looked  upon  that 
sea  of  blood  and  smoke,  and  those  groaning  dying  men,  were 
almost  constrained  to  fly  away,  shouting,  "These  are  not  men 
but  devils,  this  is  not  earth,  but  hell,  and  the  leader  is  not 
Santa  Anna,  but  Satan."  Yet  men  call  war  glorious  and  call 
such  butchers  as  Alexander,  Caesar,  ISTapoleon  and  Santa 
Anna,  heroes. 

It  is  high  time  for  every  Christian  to  send  up  one  united 
prayer  to  the  Father  of  mercies:  "Oh  God,  scatter  thou  the 
nation  that  delighteth  in  war.     Hasten  the  time  when  men 

47 


73 8  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

shall  beat  their  swords  into  plow-shares  and  learn  war  nO' 
more." 

At  12  o'clock  of  that  beautiful  Sabbath  day  the  bright 
sun  looked  dovm.  upon  the  dead  bodies  of  the  182  heroes  of  the 
Alamo  who  had  eclipsed  the  glory  of  Leonidas  and  his  im- 
mortal 300  at  Thermopylae. 

At  twilight's  solemn  hour  our  Heroine  with  a  woman's 
instinct  took  her  babe  in  her  arms  and  a  pitcher  of  water,  and 
visited  the  bleeding  soldiers  to  see  if  any  dying  hero  needed  a 
cup  of  cold  water  or  wished  to  send  some  message  of  love  to 
mother  or  wife  or  sister,  far  away.  She  found  the  dead  bodies 
of  Travis,  Bonham  and  Bowie,  all  weltering  in  blood.  She 
found  Crockett  lying  dead  in  a  little  confessional  room  in  the 
l^ortheast  corner  of  the  Alamo,  with  a  huge  pile  of  dead  Mexi- 
cans lying  around  him. 

The  horrors  and  outrages  of  that  night  exceeded  in  black- 
ness the  horrors  of  the  day.  But  let  them  not  blacken  the 
pages  of  history  but  remain  hid  till  the  Judgment  Day,  when 
God  will  have  them  and  all  the  dark  deeds  of  earth  painted 
and  hung  up  in  the  Judgment  halls  to  rebuke  the  folly  of  those 
men  who  say  there  ought  to  be  no  hell. 

On  Monday  morning,  March  7th,  mounted  spies  who  had 
lingered  on  the  outskirts  of  San  Antonio  to  give  aid  to  any 
flying  fugitive,  sped  away  to  bear  the  dreadful  news  to  the 
Texan  army  at  Gonzales.  General  Houston  had  not  arrived 
and  the  wildest  confusion  prevailed.  General  Burleson,  seeing 
that  a  fearful  panic  might  folloAV  and,  though  a  plain  unedu- 
cated man,  made  a  speech  that  fired  every  patriot's  bosom. 
In  that  memorable  speech  he  used  for  the  first  time  those  burn- 
ing words  so  often  quoted : 

"Thermopylae  had  her  messenger  of  defeat,  the  Alamo 
has  none  and  if  Santa  Anna  conquers  let  no  Texan  soldier  ever 
cross  the  Sabine  as  the  messenger  of  our  defeat." 

The  dastard,  Santa  Anna  had  sent  Mrs.  Dickenson 
mounted  on  a  mule  with  a  baby  in  her  arms,  both  sprinkled 
mth  blood  as  a  messenger  of  the  defeat  and  bloody  butchery 
of  the  Alamo.  He  hoped  thereby  to  strike  terror  to  all 
Texans. 

As  she  rode,  into  the  Texan  encampment  hundreds  of 
eager  men  gathered  around  her.     The  first  word  she  uttered 


Dk.  Rufus  C,  Burleson.  739 

was  "They  all  died  fighting  for  liberty  as  every  true  Texan 
should  die."  As  strong,  rough  men  looked  upon  that  mother 
and  her  little  babe  all  sprinkled  with  blood,  and  heard  her 
brave  words,  they  sobbed  aloud  and  cried  ''Revenge  or  death." 
And  "Remember  the  Alamo"  became  the  battle  cry.  And 
how  certain  is  the  vengeance  of  God. 

Just  forty-six  days  from  the  bloody  butchery  of  the 
Alamo  we  see  the  dastard,  Santa  Anna  fleeing  terror  stricken 
from  the  plain  of  San  Jacinto  while  the  shout  "Remember 
the  Alamo,  remember  Goliad"  strikes  terror  to  his  heart.  He 
arrives  at  Vince's  bridge  but  Deaf  Smith  has  cut  it  down.  He 
plunges  his  foaming  war  horse  into  the  muddy  Bayou.  He 
abandons  his  noble  animal  to  die  in  the  bog.  That  night  he 
climbs  up  a  live  oak  covered  with  long  moss,  to  evade  his 
pursuers  and  the  howling  wolves.  Oh  what  horrors  the  night 
brings  to  his  guilty  soul !  As  if  to  complete  his  humiliation 
the  next  day  he  is  captured  and  carried  into  the  Texas  camp 
riding  behind  the  heroic  boy,  Sylvester,  mounted  on  just  such 
a  mule  as  the  one  on  which  he  sent  Mrs.  Dickenson  into  the 
Texan  camp  just  forty-six  days  before.  But  oh  how  different 
his  reception.  For  no  sooner  than  the  captured  Mexicans 
shout  "El  Presidente,  El  Presidente,  de  Santa  Anna,"  500 
Texans  raised  the  shout  "Kill  him  !  hang  him  !  He  murdered 
my  son!  my  father!  my  brother!  at  the  Alamo!  at  Goliad! 
Remember  the  Alamo,  remember  Goliad ! 

I  first  met  the  Heroine  of  the  Alamo  under  very  remark- 
able circumstances.  I  had  been  preaching  in  Houston  about 
a  year  when  some  of  my  flock  became  displeased  with  my 
efforts  to  save  the  fallen,  and  crowd  the  church  with  plebians. 
It  was  whispered  in  my  ear  that  we  then  had  the  largest  con- 
gregation in  the  city,  and  could  have  the  most  fashionable  if 
I  would  not  bring  in  the  rabble.  I  advertised  that  I  would 
preach  a  sermon  on  the  mission  of  the  church  from  this  text : 
"I  came  not  to  call  the  righteous,  but  sinners  to  repentance.  I 
came  to  save  that  which  is  lost."  The  whole  house  and  aisles 
and  gallery  were  all  crowded  with  eager  listeners.  After  the 
sermon  I  came  down  and  standing  in  front  of  the  pulpit  I 
asked  the  whole  church  to  join  me  in  prayer  that  God  would 
save  the  worst  sinners  in  Houston  to  demonstrate  the  wisdom 
and  power  of  Christ  to  save. 


T40  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

The  vast  congregation  silently  retired,  deeply  impressed 
with  the  great  theme  and  glorious  mission  of  the  church.  The 
next  Wednesday  night  at  prayer  meeting  I  saw  five  or  six  per- 
sons weeping  under  deep  conviction;  and  then,  according  to  my 
custom,  I  invited  all  who  wanted  to  be  saved  to  come  forward 
for  special  prayer. 

Among  those  who  came  forward  with  tears  and  peniten- 
tial sobs,  was  Mrs.  Dickenson,  who  had  become  Mrs.  Bells. 
She  was  nominally  a  member  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  but 
with  many  tears  she  said  she  never  knew  anything  about  her 
lost  condition  or  the  true  mission  of  the  church,  till  she  heard 
that  sermon  on  Sunday  night.  I  visited  her  at  her  home,  and 
wept  and  prayed  with  her.  I  found  her  a  great  bundle  of  un- 
tamed passions,  devoted  in  her  love  and  bitter  in  her  hate. 
After  many  tears  and  prayers  and  religious  instruction,  she 
was  joyfully  converted.  In  less  than  two  months  her  change 
was  so  complete  as  to  be  observed  by  all  her  neighbors.  At 
least  1,500  people  crowded  the  Banks  of  Buffalo  Bayou  on 
Sabbath  evening  to  see  her  baptized.  During  all  my  pastorate 
in  Houston,  and  especially  during  the  cholera  epidemic,  she 
was  a  zealous  co-laborer  of  mine  in  every  good  work.  When- 
ever she  did  wrong,  especially  in  giving  way  to  passion,  she 
would  confess  and  weep  over  it. 

Their  daughter,  the  babe  of  the  Alamo,  whose  infant  eyes 
looked  upon  the  horrors  of  the  x\lamo,  grew  up  to  womanhood 
full  of  life,  and  fun  and  frolic.  Under  the  well-meant,  pious 
persuasions  of  her  mother,  she  married  a  good,  honest,  hard- 
working Baptist  man  from  the  country.  When  I  performed 
the  marriage  ceremony,  I  shuddered  to  see  two  such  uncon- 
genial spirits  united  in  marriage.  Marriages  for  money,  for 
position,  for  convenience,  or  from  parental  persuasion,  are 
often  fearful  mistakes.  Marriage  should  never  be  from  any- 
thing but  real  love,  springing  from  the  heart,  guided  by  the 
head  and  limited  by  conscience.  When  people  marry  where 
they  do  not  love,  they  are  apt  to  love  where  they  have  not 
married.  Soon  the  vivacious  city  girl  got  tired  of  her  country 
home  and  her  amiable,  plodding  husband.  Alienations,  re- 
pinings  and  divorce  followed.  The  mother's  heart  bled  over 
the  ruin  of  her  child's  happiness.  The  unhappy  daughter 
drifted  off  to  .N'ew  Orleans.     The  mo  her,  with  her  undying 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Buklesojst.  741 

love,  followed  the  daughter,  who  soon  after  died  with  .yellow 
fever.  Years  rolled  away.  I  heard  the  mother,  too,  had  died 
in  ISTew  Orleans.  But  one  night  during  a  great  revival  in 
Austin,  in  1862,  conducted  by  W.  W.  Harris  and  myself,  I 
saw  much  weeping  in  the  rear  of  the  church.  When  I  asked 
all  to  come  forward  who  had  been  converted,  and  who  had 
once  been  members  of  the  church,  and  had  grown  cold  and 
wandered  away,  and  now  wanted  to  return  to  the  path  of  duty, 
to  my  astonishment  I  saw  the  stalwart  form  moving  up  the 
aisle  that  I  saw  moving  up  the  aisle  in  Houston,  in  1849. 
Grasping  my  hand,  she  said :  ''Erring  and  wayward,  but  still 
struggling  to  do  right  and  serve  my  Redeemer."  I  called  on 
her  next  day,  and  learned  that  in  New  Orleans  she  had  married 
a  most  worthy  and  industrious  man,  a  Mr.  Hanni^,  and  he  had 
been  sent  by  Jeff  Davis  to  establish  a  work  shop  for  manufac- 
turing munitions  of  war.  I  saw  but  little  of  her  for  many 
years,  but  learn  that  in  her  worldly  prosperity  she  never  for- 
got her  baptismal  voavs. 

I  had  promised  to  call  and  spend  a  day  with  her  on  my 
return  from  the  Baptist  State  Convention,  in  1883,  but  on 
my  way  I  learned  she  was  dead.  Oh !  how  sadly  I  was  disap- 
pointed !  There  were  many  things  I  wanted  to  talk  over  and 
write  up.  I  am  rejoiced  to  know  she  died  happy  in  Jesus  and 
respected  and  beloved  by  all  who  knew  her.  Thus  lived  and 
died  the  Heroine  of  the  Alamo,  whose  tragic  history  and 
wonderful  conversion  are  so  full  of  marvelous  events  and  so 
rich  in  material  for  reflection. 


REV.  MARTIX  V.  SMITH. 

Brother  Martin  Van  Buren  Smith  was  born  in  Lawrence 
district.  South  Carolina,  June  16,  1837.  His  father,  Jno. 
Smith,  was  a  devoted  Baptist  and  patriot  and  his  mother  was 
an  active  member  of  the  Church.  They  moved  to  Mississippi 
and  settled  near  Pontotoc  where  their  son,  Martin,  spent  three 
years  in  school  under  that  noble  teacher.  Prof.  B.  R.  Webb. 

•  Like  most  of  the  boys  and  girls,  with  bright  intellect, 
he  was  allowed  to  give  his  whole  time  and  energy  to  study  to 
the  entire  neglect  of  health.    The  result  was  in  three  years  his 


742  The  Life  and  Wkitings  of 

constitution  was  injured  for  life.  The  loving  father  saw  the 
mistake  and  kept  him  on  the  farm  for  five  years. 

In  1850  the  family  moved  to  Texas,  and  settled  near 
Palestine.  In  1852  young  Martin,  who  had  long  felt  the 
importance  of  religion,  was  converted,  and  was  baptized  by 
Rev.  John  H.  Rowland.  Immediately  after  his  conversion 
and  baptism  he  began  to  feel  "woe  is  me  if  I  preach  not  the 
gospel."  He  was  so  exceedingly  modest  and  timid  he  shrank 
from  the  fearful  responsibility  of  preaching  the  gospel  to  lost 
souls:  But  the  conviction  became  so  intense  that  he  was 
called  of  God  to  preach.  He  determined  to  prepare  for  the 
great  work,  and  entered  school  in  September  after  his  conver- 
sion in  July.  He  was  two  years  a  beloved  student  of  the  Rev. 
J.  E.  V.  Covey  and  his  noble,  brilliant  wife,  who  have  edu- 
cated so  many  young  ladies  and  gentlemen,  especially  in  West- 
ern Texas.  It  was  while  he  was  in  school  with  Bro.  Covey  I 
first  saw  him  in  Texas. 

In  1855  the  church  at  Palestine  licensed  him  to  preach, 
when  he  was  eighteen  years  old.  I  immediately  wrote  him 
an  affectionate  letter,  telling  him  how  rejoiced  I  was  to  hear 
that  he  had  entered  the  ministry,  and  urged  him  to  press  on 
in  his  preparation;  that  Texas  and  the  world  needed  great 
preachers  to  combat  sin  and  Satan.  I  invited  him  to  enter 
Baylor  University,  but  he  answered,  thanking  me  for  my 
encouragement  and  generous  offer,  and  said  he  had  made 
favorable  arrangements  with  Rev.  J,  R.  Malone  to  enter  his 
school  at  Mound  Prairie,  and  pay  his  board  and  tuition  by 
teaching  part  of  the  time.  He  continued  this  arrangement 
for  two  years,  teaching  and  studying  during  the  week,  and 
preaching  oh  Sunda,y  to  destitute  churches.  In  1858,  after 
much  hesitancy  and  shrinking  from  the  great  responsibility, 
he  submitted  to  ordination  by  the  urgent  request  of  churches 
that  desired  him  as  pastor.  The  ordaining  presbytery  con- 
sisted of  Elders  G.  W.  Bains,  J.  R.  Malone,  D.  B.  Morrill  and 
ISTewell  Grain.  In  1859  he  settled  at  Bellvue,  and  preached 
to  churches  in  Rusk  and  Smith  counties.  In  1861  the  raging 
storms  of  secession  and  the  Confederate  war  swept  over  the 
South,  and  her  most  heroic  sons  rushed  into  the  army.  Brother 
Smith  Avas  induced  to  become  Captain  of  a  company  of  young 
men,  hoping  thereby  to  exert  a  saving  influence  over  the  sons 


Dr.  Eufus  C.  Burleson.  743 

of  his  devoted  friends  and  brethren.  He  did  gallant  service 
for  two  years,  preaching  every  Sunday  and  discharging  the 
onerous  duties  of  his  office.  He  found  his  health  was  sinking 
under  these  arduous  duties.  And  finding  a  noble  young  man 
who  would  take  his  place,  he  resigned,  and  accepted  the  more 
congenial  appointment  of  army  missionary  under  East  Texas 
Baptist  Convention.  Scores  of  soldiers  were  converted  under 
his  preaching,  and  he  organized  the  first  church  in  the  Con- 
federate army,  and  continued  the  glorious  work  until  the  war 
closed.  In  1863,  on  a  visit  to  his  parents,  he  found  a  lovely 
young  lady.  Miss  Cornelia  Camp,  daughter  of  John  Camp,  of 
Grimes  County,  who  was  brave  enough  to  marry  a  chaplain  in 
the  army.  And  in  1863  they  became  loving  partners  for  life, 
Rev.  Z.  ]^.  Morrell  sealing  the  holy  marriage  vows.  When 
the  war  closed  in  1865  he  settled  in  ISTavasota,  and  preached 
to  the  neighboring  churches  and  taught  school  for  one  year. 

But  the  horrid  reign  of  radical  reconstruction  robbed  the 
people  of  their  money,  and  they  were  not  able  to  pay  tuition. 
Our  heroic  brother,  like  Paul,  "labored  with  his  own  hands" 
at  the  carpenter's  trade  for  one  year  to  support  his  family, 
but  as  soon  as  reason  and  justice  returned  he  became  pastor  of 
the  churches  of  Brenham  and  Chappell  Hill  for  one  year.  He 
then  gave  his  whole  time  to  Brenham  for  six  years,  and 
restored  that  beloved  church  to  its  former  prosperity  and  glory. 
But  feeling  profoundly  the  importance  of  the  Sabbath-school 
and  colportage  work,  he  resigned,  and  gave  one  year  to  get- 
ting this  work  in  good  shape.  In  1875  he  became  pastor  of 
Belton  Church,  and  as  the  glorious  work  begun  by  Elder  "W. 
W.  (Spurgeon)  Harris  had  never  been  fully  organized,  it 
Avas  becoming  a  total  wreck.  Brother  Smith,  with  his  noble 
heart  and  power  of  harmonizing  and  organization,  soon  got  all 
in  splendid  shape,  and  Bell  County  soon  became  a  great  Bap- 
tist county,  and  Salado  Association  became  one  of  the  greatest 
associations  in  Texas.  Brother  Smith  was  greatly  aided  in 
this  glorious  work  by  our  beloved  brother,  W.  E.  Penn,  the 
great  evangelist. 

One  of  the  greatest  excellences  of  Brother  Smith  was  as 
a  peacemaker.  His  soul  was  profoundly  impressed  with  these 
words  of  our  Savior,  "Blessed  are  the  peacemakers,  for  they 
shall  be  called  the  sons  of  God." 


744 


The  Life  axd  Wkitings  of 


But  the  most  arduous,  and,  perchance,  the  most  impor- 
tant work  of  his  life  was  raising  $31,000  to  secure  Baylor 
Female  College  for  Belton,  and  then  raising  twice  that  amount 
for  a  grand  outfit,  for  buildings,  for  apparatus  and  teachers. 
]Sro  human  being  can  ever  tell  the  toil,  the  wear  and  tear  of 
muscle  and  brain  he  sufferd  in  accomplishing  this  great  work, 
I  have  no  doubt  it  impaired  his  health  and  caused  his  prema- 
ture death,  I  pray  that  his  toils  and  sacrifices  may  speak 
from  the  grave  in  trumpet  tones  to  the  people  of  Belton  and 
the  Baptists  of  Texas  to  pay  off  the  debts  of  Baylor  Female 
College  and  make  it  all  our  beloved  and  sainted  brother  desired 
it  should  be. 

Brother  Smith's  health  began  to  fail  materially  in  1892, 
and  he  continued  to  grow  more  feeble  until  on  February  1, 
1893,  our  Heavenly  Father  said,  ''Well  done,  good  and  faith- 
ful servant;  enter  into  the  joys  of  thy  Lord,"  And  he  heard 
with  joy  the  loving  welcome,  and  white- winged  angels  bore 
him  to  his  glorious  home  in  paradise.  He  left  a  lovely  and 
devoted  wife  to  mourn  his  loss  in  their  happy  family,  and  317,- 
000  Baptists  to  mourn  his  loss  in  Texas, 


PART  VI!. 


ARTICLES  ON  TEXAS  HISTORY. 


BY  DR.  BURLESON. 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  749 


ARTICLES  ON  TEXAS  HISTORY 


BY  DR.  BURLESON. 


INTRODUCTORY. 

TEXAS,  ITS  NAME,  SIZE,  CLIMATE  AND  HISTORY. 

I  am  agreeably  astonished  at  the  interest  manifested  in 
my  articles  on  Texas  History.  Expressions  of  interest  and 
-commendation  come  from  ocean  to  ocean,  and  from  lakes  to 
'Gulf. 

It  has  occurred  to  me  that  a  condensed  history  of  Texas 
would  interest  many  abroad,  and  perchance  instruct  many  at 
iome,  who  know  more  of  Greece  and  Rome,  of  Lapland  and 
China,  than  of  Texas;  who  know  more  of  Caesar,  Alexander 
.and  Bonaparte  and  the  infamous  Cleopatra  and  the  Queen  of 
Madagascar  than  of  our  own  heroes  and  heroines. 

We  will  discuss  briefly  three  general  divisions. 

I.  What  does  "Texas"  mean? 

II.  What  is  the  size  and  climate  of  Texas? 

III.  What  is  the  history  of  Texas  ? 
First.     What  does  '^Texas'"  mean  ? 

Tradition  and  legend  give  three  meanings  to  "Tehas,"  or 
"Texas." 

1.  The  name  "Texas"  is  derived  from  the  Latin  verb 
terio,  I  weave,  and  was  so  called  from  the  number  of  spider 
w^ebs  found  woven  over  the  forests  in  the  bottoms  of  Lower 
Sabine,  Neches  and  Trinity  Rivers. 

2.  That  "Texas"  means  friends,  or  friendly,  and  was  so 
•called  from  the  fact  that  when  La  Salle  and  his  men  first 


750 


The  Life  and  Wettings  of 


landed  in  Matagorda  Bay,  seeking  the  mouth  of  the  ]\Iissis- 
sippi  River,  and  the  Indians  crowded  the  shore  and  were  asked 
what  tribe  they  belonged  to,  answered,  "Tehas,"  or  "Texas,'' 
or  friendly;  hence,  it  has  been  claimed  that  Texas  means 
friends,  or  friendly. 

The  third  and  most  probable  and  beautiful  meaning  is 
that  recorded  by  John  Quincy  Adams,  in  his  celebrated  diplo- 
matic correspondence  with  Don  Pedro  Cerallos  and  Don  Louis 
de  Orris  about  Texas  affairs. 

That  tradition  says  Texas  means  Paradise. 


I    4  Of 


i 


I 


4    i 


^*^    / 


C'^JMWlS^ 


*• 


LANDING  OF  LA  SALLE. 

And  that  when  the  roaming  bands  of  prairie  Indians, 
seeking  a  better  hunting  ground,  came  to  the  range  of  moun- 
tains north  of  San  Antonio,  ISTew  Braunfels  and  San  Marcos, 
and  saw  the  beautiful,  transparent  rivers  of  San  Antonio, 
San  Geronimo  and  San  Marcos  gurgling  from  the  mountain 
sides  and  meandering  over  the  vast  prairies,  carpeted  mth 
unending  green  and  variegated  with  fragrant  flowers,  inter- 
spersed here  and  there  with  live  oak  groves,  as  the  weary, 
delighted  hunters  saw  these  boundless  prairies,  covered  with 
vast  herds  of  deer  and  buffalo,  and  the  streams  filled  with  fish, 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Bueleson.  751 

all  refreslied  with  cool,  delightful  Gulf  breezes,  and  covered 
by  a  sky  of  more  than  Italian  beauty,  all  at  once  shouted 
"Tehas  !"  ''Tehas ! !"  ^'Taradise  !"  "Paradise ! !"  for  in  the 
ancient  Aztec  language  Tehas,  or  Texas,  means  paradise. 

I  record  these  three  traditions,  and  leave  every  man  to 
decide  for  himself.     I  prefer  the  last. 

I  prefer  to  believe  that  Texas  means  paradise.  And  I 
consecrated  my  life  to  make  it  a  paradise  of  purity,  love  and 
light  and  the  joy  of  the  whole  earth. 

Second.     The  Size  and  Climate  of  Texas. 

Texas  has  over  274,000  square  miles,  and  is  over  219 
times  larger  than  Rhode  Island,  is  just  thirty-five  times  larger 
than  'New  Jersey,  is  five  times  larger  that  the  little  Empire 
State  of  IsTew  York,  is  just  six  times  larger  than  Virginia,  is 
just  four  times  larger  than  Georgia  and  is  just  15,000  square 
miles  larger  than  Maine,  JSTew  Hampshire,  Vermont,  Massa- 
chusetts, Connecticut,  Rhode  Island,  ISTew  York,  Pennsylva- 
nia, Ohio,  Virginia,  Maryland  and  Delaware  all  combined. 

If  this  vast  territory  were  a  desert,  a  Sahara  or  a  Dismal 
Swamp,  abounding  in  aligators  and  gallinippers,  it  w^ould  be 
unworthy  of  the  undying  devotion  of  her  early  pioneers.  But 
Texas  has  scenery,  climate  and  skies  rivaling  Italian  beauty, 
a  soil  in  her  Brazos,  Trinity  and  Colorado  bottoms  surpassing 
the  Mle  in  fertility. 

Texas  has  a  soil  and  climate  adapted  to  sugar,  cotton, 
wheat,  apples,  peaches,  pears,  grapes ;  in  short,  to  all  that  nour- 
ishes the  vigor  and  pleases  the  taste  of  man. 

Texas  has  750  miles  of  seashore  on  the  Mediterranean 
of  the  E'ew  World. 

The  saint,  the  philosopher  and  the  statesman  mil  feel  a 
profounder  interest  in  Texas  when  he  remembers  that  every 
great  thinker  and  every  great  actor  of  the  ancient  world  lived 
within  100  miles  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  And  that  all  the 
great  thinkers,  actors  and  discoverers  of  the  planet  have  l^ved 
between  the  25th  and  the  58th  degrees  of  latitude.  And  that 
Texas  is  located  within  these  lines  of  light  and  civilization. 

Then  the  soil,  climate,  latitude,  location,  production  and 
scenerv  all  combine  to  make  Texas — a  real  Tehas  or  paradise, 


752  The  Life  and  "Writings  of 

when  sin  and  ignorance  are  driven  away.  Jesse  Mercer  and 
George  Peabody  comprehended  these  great  truths;  hence  they 
gave  their  thousands  to  Christianize  and  educate  Texas, 

Let  no  one  suppose  that  Texas  is  a  drouth-stricken  land. 
The  drouths  of  Texas,  as  that  immortal  scientist,  Gen.  M.  F. 
Maury,  demonstrated  forty-five  years  ago,  were  confined  to 
that  part  of  Texas  lying  west  of  98  degrees  of  longitute,  and 
the  drouths  of  that  section  would  only  be  occasional,  while  all 
Central  and  Eastern  Texas  are  eminent  for  good  seasons, 
genial  climate  and  good  health. 

Third,     The  history  of  Texas. 

The  history  of  Texas  is  thrilling,  romantic  and  heroic 
beyond  conception. 

Texas  has  all  the  materials  in  heroism  and  exalted 
patriotism  to  make  a  grander  poem  than  the  Iliad  of  Homer 
or  the  ^neid  of  Virgil,  and  a  grander  history  than  the  Pelo- 
ponesian  war  of  Thucydides  or  the  Anabasis  of  Xenophon. 
We  earnestly  pray  that  Texas  may  produce  a  Homer,  a  Virgil, 
a  Thucydides,  a  Xenophon,  a  Macaulay,  D'Aubigue  or  a 
Milton. 

But  to  give  a  clearer  conception  of  Texas  history  we 
classify  it  into  seven  distinct  eras. 

First — Era  of  Discovery,  from  1532  to  1687, 

Second — Era  of  Catholic  Missions,  from  1687  to  1800, 

Third — Era  of  Fredonians  or  Filibusters  from  1800  to 
1820, 

Fourth — Era  of  Colonization,  from  1820  to  1830. 
Fifth — Era  of  Eevolution,  from  1830  to  1836, 
Sixth — Era  of  the  Republic,  from  1836  to  1845, 
Seventh — Era  of  the  State,  from  1845  to  1901, 

FIRST— Era  of  Discovery. 

It  is  a  singular  fact  that  Texas,  our  Paradise,  was  dis- 
covered by  three  mistakes  of  her  three  real  discoverers,  De 
Soto,  1542;  Espejo,  1620;  La  Salle,  1635, 

First,  that  chivalrous  and  peerless  Ferdando  De  Soto, 
after  aiding  Pizarro  in  the  conquest  of  Peru,  longing  to  rival 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  758 

Cortez  and  Pizarro  in  their  conquests  and  accumulation  of 
wealth,  and  after  marrying  a  beautiful  princess,  Isabella  Boab- 
dilla,  he  accepted  the  tradition  that  somewhere  near  the  center 
of  this  continent  were  gold  mines  richer  than  Ophir  or  Gol- 
conda.  He  left  Spain  with  seven  large  ships  April  15,  1538, 
accompanied  by  his  queenly  bride  Isabella  Boabdilla,  mth 
hundreds  of  young  men,  the  flower  of  Spanish  chivalry,  with 
elegantly  dressed  wives  and  sisters  and  pages.  The  whole 
voyage  was  a  grand  scene  of  feasting,  music,  dancing  and 
revelry  by  day  and  night,  in  which  elegant  ladies  and  young 
Spanish  cavaliers  participated  with  certain  expectation  of  soon 
entering  an  earthly  paradise  of  gold  and  beauty.  Charles  V. 
had  made  De  Soto  governor  of  Cuba,  and  all  the  vast  region 
he  might  discover.  De  Soto  left  his  beautiful  wife  Isabella, 
and  a  lieutenant-governor  and  the  elegant  ladies  of  the  expe- 
dition in  Cuba,  and  he,  with  1,000  brave  followers,  with 
priests  and  blood-hounds,  with  images  of  the  virgin,  many 
handcuffs  and  chains  with  which  to  make  Catholics  of  the  sav- 
ages, plunged  into  the  impenetrable  forests  of  Florida 
May  25,  1539.  He  inaugurated  and  practiced  fearful  cruel- 
ties on  the  Indians.  Among  other  outrages  he  captured  and 
took  along  with  him  a  large  number  of  the  beautiful  Alabama 
Indian  girls.  The  brave  Seminole,  Cherokee,  Mobile,  Chick- 
asaw and  Choctaw  Indians,  contested  every  step  of  the  progress 
of  these  civilized  Catholic  savages.  With  a  heroism  worthy 
of  a  better  cause  De  Soto  pressed  his  way  on  and  crossed  the 
Mississippi  in  June,  1541,  near  Helena,  and  on  through  the 
mighty  forests  of  Arkansas  to  near  where  Fort  Smith  now 
stands.  He  turned  his  course  south  to  Ked  River  near  Tex- 
arkana  in  June,  1542.  He  and  his  followers  were  the  first, 
invincible  Caucasians  that  ever  trod  upon  Texas  soil.  Erect- 
ing the  holy  cross  and  singing  Te  Deum,  he  said : 

"I  declare  this  land,  which  I  have  discovered,  ^\'ith  all  its 
territory,  rivers  and  bays,  to  belong  to  his  Catholic  Majesty, 
Charles  V.  of  Spain,  forever."  But  finding  no  gold  and 
broken  hearted  and  dispirited,  and  pining  for  the  beautiful 
wives  they  had  left  in  Cuba,  they  began  to  retrace  their  steps 
and  reached  the  Mississippi.  There  De  Soto,  the  hero  per- 
■chance  of  a  thousand  battles,  died  of  fever.     A  rude  coffin 

48 


754  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

was  hewn  out  of  a  live  oak  and  with  heavy  weights  he  wa? 
buried  under  the  mighty  turbid  waves  of  the  Mississippi  in  the 
deadness  of  midnight,  lest  the  enraged  savages  should  dese- 
crate his  dead  body.  The  sad  news  of  De  Soto's  death  cast  a 
gloom  over  Cuba.  Poor  Isabella  died  of  a  broken  heart,  and 
scores  of  the  beautiful  women  who  went  dancing  to  seek  a 
Paradise,  returned  to  Spain  as  homeless  widows.  A  sad  com- 
ment, that  frolicking,  dancing,  pleasure-seeking  people  are 
always  in  the  end  failures.  Too  much  pleasure  is  death  to 
success. 

The  second  discoverer  of  Texas  was  the  Spanish  explorer, 
Espejo.  He,  like  De  Soto,  was  fascinated  with  a  vague 
legend  that  near  the  center  of  the  continent  there  were  vast 
mines  of  gold  and  silver,  and  in  search  of  that  El  Dorado  he 
set  out  from  Mexico  and  reached  the  Rio  Grande  at  El  Paso 
in  1620,  the  very  year  and  month  that  the  Pilgrim  Fathers 
landed  at  Plymouth  Rock.  Don  Espejo  was  seeking  gold; 
the  Pilgrims  were  seeking  where  to  worship  God.  Don 
Espejo  also  took  possession  of  Texas  for  the  King  of  Spain, 
800  miles  from  the  spot  on  which  De  Soto  landed. 

The  third  discoverer  was  the  sainted  and  heroic  cavalier, 
Robert  La  Salle,  next  to  the  sainted  Columbus,  the  purest  of 
all  the  discoverers  and  explorers  of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth 
centuries.  On  the  19th  of  April,  1682,  he  discovers  for  the 
first  time  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi. 

He  believed  on  the  banks  of  the  Father  of  Waters  ought 
to  be  the  grandest  city  on  this  continent,  which  prediction  has 
been  spoiled  by  a  set  of  dancing,  theater-going.  Sabbath- 
desecrating  Frenchmen  and  their  cousins,  the  American  dudes 
of  New  Orleans.  The  heroic  La  Salle,  after  taking  posses- 
sion of  all  that  vast  territory  in  the  name  of  his  Emperor, 
Louis  XIV.,  in  honor  of  whom  he  called  it  Louisiana,  returned 
to  France  to  procure  immigrants  and  means  to  found  this 
future  grand  city. 

His  grateful  and  delighted  monarch  furnished  him  large 
sums  of  money,, four  ships  and  280  settlers.  But,  alas!  little- 
ness and  jealousy,  that  bane  of  all  great  enterprises,  mani- 
fested itself  in  the  person  of  Beaujean,  the  ship  master,  whom 
La  Salle,  in  mistaken  kindness,  failed  to  have  hung  to  the 


Dk.  E.UFUS    C.  BuRLESOlSr. 


755 


masthead  for  mutiny,  and  allowed  the  infamous  wretch  to 
wreck  the  whole  expedition,  and  murder  280  men,  women  and 
children.  A  fearful  demonstration  that  mercy  to  bad  men 
is  cruelty  to  good  men. 

The  infamous  Beaujean  caused  the  mistake  of  sailing  too 
far  west,  and  instead  of  landing  at  the  mouth  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, landed  in  Matagorda  Bay,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Lavaca 
E-iver,  January  3,  1685.  After  many  days  spent  in  coasting 
up  and  down  the  Gulf  from  Corpus  Christi  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Colorado,  and  wrecking  one  of  the  vessels,  the  dastard 
Beaujean  took  the  best  ship  and  all  the  sailors  and  all  the  guns 
he  could  seize,  and  sneaked  away  in  the  darkness  of  the  night, 


MURDER  OF  LA  SALLE. 

and  left  the  gallant,  saintly  La  Salle  with  280  men,  women 
and  children  on  an  unknown  shore,  with  only  one  small  ves- 
sel. One  of  the  ships  was  lost  on  the  shore  of  San  Domingo, 
and  one  in  Matagorda  Bay. 

La  Salle  went  ashore  and  took  possession  by  process 
verbal,  of  all  that  territory  in  the  name  of  the  grand  monarch, 
Louis  XIV.  La  Salle,  leaving  his  little  company  and  fort 
under  the  command  of  a  captain,  hurried  on  to  the  Mississippi, 
to  meet  his  faithful  ally,  De  Tonto,  who  was  to  go  via  Canada, 
on  the  Upper  Mississippi,  and  collect  a  large  company  of  im- 


756  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

jnigrants  for  their  city,  that  was  one  day  to  rival  Rome,  Alex- 
andria, Paris  and  London. 

But  alas !  after  struggling  in  vain  with  swollen  streams 
and  hostile  Indians,  he  was  murdered  March  19,  168T,  by 
Dahaut  and  Tevtot,  partizans  of  the  infamous  Beaujean,  and 
was  buried  near  Bowles  Springs,  five  miles  from  Bush.  His 
native  city,  Rouen,  has  just  erected  a  beautiful  marble  statue 
to  his  memory.  But  his  body  sleeps  in  an  unknown  spot  in 
Texas,  as  De  Soto's  does  in  the  bottom  of  the  Mississippi.  I 
trust  Texas  will  yet  erect  a  monument  to  his  heroic  virtues. 
For  his  tragic  death  in  Texas,  and  his  glowing  description  of 
Texas  soil,  climate  and  scenery,  published  by  his  pious  father 
confessor,  Douay,  struck  the  first  keynote  in  the  progress  of 
Texas.  These  three  discoveries,  made  by  three  mistakes,  viz, 
■on  the  Red  River,  near  Clarksville,  by  De  Soto,  1542;  by  Don 
Espejo,  at  El  Paso,  in  1620,  and  LaSalle,  on  Matagorda  Bay, 
in  1685,  laid  the  foundation  for  bitter  controversies  about  the 
discovery  and  ownership  of  Texas,  that  raged  for  about  thirty 
years,  and  was  finally  settled  by  what  is  known  as  the  family 
treaty  of  San  Idelfonso,  1762. 

SECOND— Era  of  Catlolic  Missions. 

The  Spaniards,  in  order  to  make  sure  their  claim  to  Texas, 
began  in  1690  to  establish  missions,  to  extend  from  the  Rio 
Grande  to  the  Sabine  River, 

These  missions  Avere  not  only  merely  to  convert  the  In- 
dians, but  were  at  the  same  time  fortified  settlements.  The 
Alamo  is  a  sample  of  all  Texas  Catholic  missions.  They  were 
usually  located  on  some  stream  where  irrigation  and  rich  bot- 
tom lands  could  be  combined.  There  was  first  a  large  house 
"built  for  a  church  in  time  of  peace  and  a  fort  in  time  of  danger. 
Smaller  stone  houses  were  built  around  this  fortified  church 
for  the  priest,  the  mechanics  and  farmers,  and  huts  for  the 
converted  Indians. 

Some  of  these  fortified  churches  would  contain  600  or 
700  persons.  They  were  surmounted  with  enormous  belb 
■and  statues  and  filled  with  paintings  and  richly  decorated 
altars,  with  burning  candles,  and  every  agency  to  impress  the 
superstitious  minds  of  the  Indians,  many  of  whom  by  persua- 
•sion  or  force  were  induced  to  profess  the  Catholic  religion  and 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  YST 

accept  baptism  without  the  faintest  idea  of  genuine  Christian 
conversion. 

The  first  of  the  missions  was  founded  by  De  Leon,  ar. 
Presidio,  on  the  Eio  Grande,  in  1690.  Two  years  later  the 
mission  of  San  Antonio,  first  called  San  Fernando,  was  es- 
tablished. This  mission  was  increased  by  the  removal  of  the 
San  Antonio  mission  from  the  Rio  Grande,  in  1715.  The 
Mission  Conception  and  San  Jose  were  added  in  1730.  Th& 
foundation  of  the  Alamo,  covering  nearly  an  acre,  was  laid 
in  1744.  San  Saba,  near  a  rock  silver  mine,  was  established 
in  1739,  but  the  Comanclies,  disgusted  with  the  exactions  of 
their  spiritual  fathers,  murdered  the  whole  of  them,  and  blot- 
tel  out  the  mission  in  1758.  The  Mission  Valley  was  founded 
in  1719.     The  Mission  El  Paso  probably  1727. 

The  IMissions  of  Goliad  and  Adroes  east  of  Sabine  and 
Il^acogdoches,  on  Azish  Bayou,  were  all  founded  in  1715.  The 
old  stone  house,  still  standing  in  E"acogdoches  was  built  in 
1758.  The  last  mission  at  Refugio  was  founded  in  1790. 
The  zeal  of  the  Spanish  government,  in  sustaining  these  semi- 
political-military  missions  may  be  seen  in  the  fact  that  the 
government  spent  in  1731  $72,000  to  transport  16  families 
containing  57  persons  from  the  Canary  Islands  to  San 
Antonio. 

Thus  in  one  hundred  years  a  chain  of  fortified  missions 
was  established  from  the  Rio  Grande  to  Sabine  river.  These 
missionaries  gave  the  pious  names  to  our  rivers,  Brazos  de  Dios, 
the  Arm  of  God,  Trinity,  San  Jacinto,  San  Antonio,  etc. 

THIRD— Era  of  Fredonians  or  Filibusters. 

'No  era  of  Texas  history  is  less  understood  than  the  era 
of  filibustering,  from  about  1796  to  1819.  Philip  ISTolan,  A. 
W.  Magee,  Samuel  Kemper,  Ellis  P.  Bean,  James  Long  and 
Ben  R.  Milan  figured  so  conspicuously,  and  performed  deeds  of 
desperate  personal  valor  that  rival  that  of  Hector,  Agamem- 
non, Ulysses  and  Achilles. 

These  brave  but  misguided  men  were  not,  as  some  sup- 
pose, freebooters  and  robbers,  seeking  plunder,  but  were  carry^ 
ing  out  the  Monroe  doctrine  to  its  fullest  extreme,  that 
crowned  heads  in  Europe  should  not  be  allowed  to  hold  pos- 
session on  American  soil. 


758  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

And  their  object  was  to  wrest  Mexico,  or  at  least  a  part 
of  it,  from  the  King  of  Spain  and  extend  the  era  of  republican 
institutions. 

La  Fitte  and  Aaron  Burr  both  belonged  to  this  era,  but 
La  Fitte  was  a  pirate,  while  Aaron  Burr  was  seeking  revenge 
on  the  United  States  for  his  own  crimes,  and  wished  to  disin- 
tegrate the  Mississippi  valley  from  the  United  States  and 
Texas  from  Mexico,  and  form  a  government  of  which  he 
should  be  chief. 

All  four  of  these  filibustering  expeditions,  notwithstand-* 
ing  prodigies,  and  streams  of  blood,  utterly  failed.  Of  l^o- 
lan's,  only  one  man,  Ellis  P.  Bean,  escaped.  When  Perry 
saw  the  last  man  of  his  command  perish,  he  shot  out  his  own 
brains  rather  than  be  captured,  at  Goliad. 

Of  Magee's,  the  most  formidable  of  all,  and  composed 
of  2500  men,  who  captured  and  held  San  Antonio  so  long, 
every  officer  perished,  and  only  92  men  ever  recrossed  the 
Sabine.  Let  these  facts  and  the  terrible  fate  of  my  dear  old 
college-mate.  Gen.  Walker,  of  liicaragua,  and  the  late  ill- 
fated  Maximilian  be  an  everlasting  warning  to  those  short- 
sighted men  who  think  it  will  be  an  easy  matter  to  conquer 
and  hold  Mexico  as  a  province  of  the  United  States. 

These  five  filibustering  expeditions  and  the  inroads  of 
the  Comanches  and  Pipans,  well-nigh  destroyed  all  the  set- 
tlements that  100  years  of  the  era  of  missions  had  established. 
It  was  these  filibusters  that  caused  Don  Salcedo  to  say  that  if 
he  had  the  power,  he  would  prevent  the  very  birds  from  flying 
over  the  boundary  line  between  Texas  and  the  United  States. 
But  the  beautiful  land,  Texas,  or  Paradise,  was  lapsing 
into  barbarism,  and  hence  began  the  fourth  era,  the  era  of 
colonization,  extending  from  1820  to  1830. 

FOURTH— Era  op  Colonization. 
The  Mexican  colonization  grant  was  to  Gen.  Grimer- 
serest,  who  was  to  colonize  3000  Europeans  in  the  fertile  val- 
ley of  San  Marcos,  but  this  failed  utterly.  A  second  grant 
was  made  to  Edward  Keene,  which  failed  also.  Then  the 
notorious  infidel,  Kobert  Owen,  asked  to  be  allowed  to  bring 
a  large  colony  of  infidel  communists  to  Texas  and  to  show 
the  superior  excellency  of  a  government  where  there  was  no 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Bukleson.  759 

Ood,  no  Bible,  no  preacher,  no  Sunday  and  no  personal  prop- 
erty. Tradition  says  he  offered  $4,000,000  for  all  the  land 
between  the  Brazos  and  Colorado  rivers,  and  from  the  cross- 
ing of  the  San  Antonio  road  in  Burleson  and  Bastrop  counties 
to  the  Gulf,  but  the  pious  Alcalde  spurned  his  gold,  and  the 
great  infidel  was  forced  to  invest  his  millions  and  behold  the 
shameful  failure  of  his  infidel  vagaries  at  iN'ew  Harmony, 
Indiana. 

Our  great  Moses  Austin,  having  given  up  his  tempor- 
ary home  at  Austin,  Ark.,  was  living  in  ISTew  Orleans,  and 
hearing  of  these  failures  and  the  great  desire  of  Mexico  to  col- 
onize Texas  applied  to  the  Alcalde  at  San  Antonio  for  per- 
mission to  bring  a  colony  of  300  families.  The  Alcalde,  hav- 
ing a  vivid,  painful  recollection  of  the  filibusters,  ordered 
Austin  to  leave  Texas  at  once  and  never  return,  on  pain  of  im- 
.  prisonment. 

As  Austin,  in  bitter  disappointment,  was  crossing  the 
plaza,  he  met  his  old  friend.  Baron  De  Bastrop.  The  Baron 
was  a  courtly  man,  with  a  holy  horror  of  republicanism — 3^ 
Prussian  by  birth  and  learned  in  all  the  arts  of  war,  under 
Frederick  the  Great.  He  afterwards  offered  his  services  to 
the  King  of  Spain,  and  for  distinguished  services  he  received 
an  empressario  grant  to  settle  30  miles  square  between  the 
Mississippi  and  Red  River,  400,000  acres  of  which  he  con- 
tracted to  Aaron  Burr  before  his  treasonable  purposes  were 
understood.  He  founded  Bastrop,  La.,  but  as  soon  as  Louis- 
iana was  ceded  to  France  in  honor  of  the  republican  tendenciea 
of  France,  he  immigrated  to  Texas  and  settled  at  Bastrop. 
This  gallant  soldier  and  noble-hearted  but  ardent  Royalist 
knew  and  admired  Moses  Austin  in  Louisiana,  and  invited 
him  to  his  room  in  San  Antonio.  Baron  de  Bastrop  assured 
Governor  Don  Martinez  that  Moses  Austin  was  no  filibuster, 
but  an  elegant  gentleman  and  scholar  and  the  soul  of  honor, 
and  would  bring  none  but  peaceable  farmers  and  stockmen 
such  as  Mexico  desired.  The  governor  relented,  invited 
Austin  to  his  home,  and  aided  him  in  securing  a  grant 
to  introduce  300  families.  When  Moses  Austin  died,  the 
gallant  Bastrop  assured  the  Mexican  authorities  that  his  son, 
Stephen  Fuller  Austin,  inherited  all  the  noble  qualities  of  the 


760  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

father,  and  the  son  was  authorized  to  fill  the  contract  of  the 
father.  Then  began  the  splendid  era  of  colonization.  On 
the  1st  day  of  January,  1822,  the  first  of  the  300  families 
crossed  the  Brazos,  and  camped  on  a  small  stream  between 
Washington  and  Chappell  Hill,  which,  in  honor  of  the  day, 
they  named  ISTew  Year's  Creek.  So  faithfully  did  Austin 
comply  with  the  contract,  that  in  1825  he  got  a  second  grant 
to  colonize  500  families  more,  in  1827  a  third  grant  for  100, 
and  in  1828  a  fourth  to  colonize  300  families. 

In  all  1200  families.  Each  family  was  to  receive  a  Mex- 
ican league,  4428  acres  of  land,  for  pasture,  and  a  labor,  177 
acres,  for  cultivation.  Austin  had  taken  a  solemn  oath  on  the 
Holy  Bible,  signed  with  the  cross,  to  bring  none  but  moral, 
peaceable,  law-abiding  and  industrious  men.  He  complied 
with  this  oath  most  rigidly,  as  well  for  the  good  of  his  colony 
as  for  the  sancity  of  his  oath.  Austin's  colony  for  morality, 
for  industry,  for  high  social  excellency,  was  never  excelled. 
Crime  was  almost  unknown,  and  the  prosperity  of  the  colony 
in  wealth  was  without  a  parallel.  So  great  was  the  suc- 
cess of  Austin'^  colony  that  by  the  year  1830  Hayden 
Edwards,  Joseph  Vehelin,  David  G.  Burnet,  Martin  De 
Leon,  Green  Devsdtt,  McMullen  and  McGloin,  Sterling 
Robertson  of  the  ISTashville  Company,  Ben  E.  Milam  and 
General  Eilisola  all  obtained  grants  to  plant  colonies  in  Texas. 
All  the  colonies  were  from  the  United  States,  except  those  of 
McMullen  and  McGloin's,  who  were  to  introduce  Irish- 
Catholics  in  San  Patricio,  and  Yehelin  was  to  introduce 
French  and  Swiss.  With  Vehelin  the  Pierrots  and  other 
members  of  ISTapoleon's  Old  Guard  returned  to  Libertad  (now 
Liberty),  the  home  of  their  exile  in  1817,  on  the  downfall  of 
ISTapoleon. 

To  supply  the  growing  want  of  labor  induced  a  few  to 
introduce  the  African  slave  trade,  and  a  ship  was  fitted  out 
for  that  trade  and  quite  a  number  of  Africans — among  them 
a  Zong  prince — ^were  brought  into  Texas.  Some  of  them  I 
baptized  in  1848.  This  unholy  traffic  was  severely  denounced 
by  David  G.  Burnet  and  the  council  of  San  Felipe  in  1830, 
but  was  not  entirely  broken  up  till  the  English  commodore 
arrested  the  captain  and  hung  him  to  the  mast  of  his  ship  in 


Dr.  Eufus  C.  Burleson.  761 

Cuba,  though  the  captain's  brothers  offered  $50,000  for  hia 
release. 

But  this  splendid  era  of  prosperous  colonization  was  soon 
to  cease  and  be  succeeded  by  the  bloody  era  of  the  Revolution. 

FIFTH — Era  of  Revolution. 

Though  Steven  F,  Austin,  Baron  de  Bastrop,  Almonte, 
Seguin,  l^avarro  and  other  great  and  good  men  did  all  in  their 
power  to  promote  harmony  and  good  feeling,  oil  and  water 
cannot  mix.  Hayden  Edwards  in  his  Fredonian  war,  falsely  so- 
called,  struck  the  first  discordant  note  at  Xacogdoches,  then 
jealous  for  the  financial  prosperity  and  rapid  increase  of  power. 
The  innate  desire  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  for  free  schools  and 
freedom  to  worship  God,  aroused  the  jealousy  of  the  Latin  or 
Spanish  race.  But  worst  of  all  and  greatest  of  all,  Santa 
Anna  finding  Mexico  utterly  unfitted  for  a  republic,  subverted 
the  constitution  of  1824,  and  substituted  in  its  place  a  strong 
central  government,  or  military  despotism,  repugnant  to 
Anglo-Saxons  in  all  ages.  He  and  Bostanula  also  reopened 
the  colonization  law  of  1817. 

Mexico  after  a  feeble  resistance,  submitted  to  the  yoke. 
But  the  Anglo-Saxons,  inheriting  the  same  spirit  of  hatred 
displayed  at  Runnymede,  rose  in  their  manhood,  vanquished 
and  captured  Riedras,  at  ISTacogdoches,  Bradlum,  at  Rassac, 
and  Ugartechea,  at  Pelasco,  and  drove  them  out  of  Texas 
in  the  fall  of  1833.  The  freemen  proclaimed  themselves  loyal 
to  Mexico  under  the  Constitution  of  1824,  and  the  constitu- 
tion granted  to  them  on  their  emigrating  to  Texas,  but  in  eter- 
nal hostility  to  a  central  military  despotism. 

Steven  F.  Austin  was  sent  to  Mexico  to  bear  these  as- 
surances of  loyalty  but  was  rudely  thrown  into  prison.  As 
soon  as  Santa  Anna  could  spare  what  he  deemed  a  sufficient 
force  to  subdue  Texas,  he  sent  his  brother.  Gen.  Cos  with 
Ugartechea  and  Castanado,  to  disarm  Texas,  abolish  her  civil 
officers  and  establish  the  military.  The  Texans,  under  Col- 
onel John  Moore,  routed  Castanado  at  Gonzales,  October  2, 
1835,  and  chased  him  back  to  San  Antonio,  where  the  whole 
army  under  Gen.  Cos,  after  six  weeks  siege,  sun-endered  to 
General  Burleson,  December  9,  1835. 


762 


The  Life  and  "Writings  of 


The  Mexican  loss  was  estimated  at  150  killed,  1,200  pris- 
oners. The  Texans  captured  21  pieces  of  artillery,  five 
hundred  muskets  and  a  large  amount  of  army  supplies.  Santa 
Anna,  infuriated  at  this  first  serious  check  to  his  ambition, 
raised  8,000  picked  soldiers  and  resolved  to  blot  out  the 
Texans.  With  his  usual  activity,  he  swooped  down  upon  the 
Alamo,  and  butchered  her  182  heroic  defenders,  Sunday, 
March  6,  1836,  and  executed  Fannin  and  his  brave  men  at 
Goliad,  Sunday,  March  27th.  Santa  Anna  pursued  the  re- 
treating Texans  to  San  Jacinto,  and  deeming  the  subjugation 


SANTA  ANNA  BEHIND  LIEUT.  SYLVESTER. 

of  Texas  completed,  he  was  making  his  arrangements  to  return 
to  Mexico  flushed  with  victory  and  crowned  with  fresh  laurels. 
After  banqueting  on  dainty  meats  and  wine,  he  lay  down 
to  take  his  usual  siesta  at  3  o'clock  p.  m.  "He  lay  dreaming 
of  the  hour  when  Texas,  her  knee  in  suppliance  bent,  should 
tremble  at  his  power."  That  bright  dream;  that  fatal  nap  was 
his  last.  He  woke  to  hear  his  sentry  shriek,  "They  come, 
they  come."  He  woke  to  hear  the  Texas  battle  shout,  "Re- 
member the  Alamo;  Remember  Goliad."  He  saw  his  chosen 
veterans  of  so  many  glorious  victories  falling  like  the  autumn 


Dk.  Eufus  C.  Burleson.  763 

leaves  before  the  deadly  fire  of  the  Texans  or  flying  like  chafi 
before  a  storm.  ISText  day  he  found  himself  hiding  in  grass, 
bare-headed,  bare-footed  and  in  his  shirt  sleeves;  then  mounted 
on  a  mule  behind  the  boy  Sylvester. 

As  he  rode  into  the  Texan  camp  his  soul  was  horrified 
by  the  wail  of  his  captured  army:  "El  Presidente,  Santa 
Anna !  El  Presidente  Santa  Anna !"  and  louder  curses  of  the 
enraged  Texans :  "Kill  him !"  Shoot  him !"  Hang  him  !" 
'^Remember  Goliad!"  Sic  transit  gloria  mundi,  thus  the 
glory  of  the  world  vanisheth. 

The  era  of  revolution  and  blood  and  military  despotism 
passed  away  and  then  began  the  era  of  the  Lone  Star  Eepublic. 

SIXTH— Era  of  the  Republic. 

This  Lone  Star  rose  in  splendor  and  shed  its  tranquil 
beams  over  the  smoking,  bloody  plains  of  San  Jacinto,  over 
the  unburied  brave  of  Goliad,  over  the  emblazoned  walls  of 
the  Alamo  and  over  the  routed,  fleeing  hordes  of  Santa  Anna. 

But,  as  that  grand  old  hero,  General  Houston,  said,  stand- 
ing on  the  wharf  at  New  Orleans,  whither  he  had  gone  for 
surgical  treatment  of  his  bleeding  wounds :  "Texas  has  con- 
quered the  Mexicans,  but  she  now  has  a  grander  battle  to 
fight — she  must  conquer  herself,  her  passions,  and  lay  a  deep, 
"broad  foundation  in  virtue  and  intelligence,  and  in  this  great 
battle  men  must  have  the  aid  of  the  ladies  and  the  gospel. 
How  grandly  they  fought  that  battle  against  8,000,000  Mexi- 
cans and  60,000  Indians  defending  750  miles  of  frontier,  our 
space  forbids  us  now  to  relate,  but  after  shining  in  lonely,  but 
resplendent  glory  for  nine  years,  by  the  free  choice  of  her 
sons,  on  the  5th  day  of  July,  the  4th  being  Sunday,  she  closed 
her  bright  career  as  a  republic  and  began  her  era  as  the  Lone 
Star  State. 

SEVENTH -Era  of  State. 

Eorty-two  years  ago  she  was  the  poorest  State  in  the 
TTnion.  I^ow  she  is  the  richest  in  the  South  and  in  1900  will 
be  the  richest  in  the  Union.  She  is  the  only  State  in  the 
Union  that  doubled  her  number  of  Congressmen  in  the  last 
ten  years.  She  has  the  largest  State  University  fund  and 
largest  permanent  free  school  fund  of  any  State  in  the  Union, 


764 


The  Life  aivd  Writings  of 


and  after  blundering  a  few  years  more  will  have  the  grandett 
University  and  free  school  system  between  the  two  oceans. 

She  will  have  the  largest  delegation  in  the  next  Southern 
Baptist  Convention,  and  has  more  Baptist  missionaries  in  the- 
foreign  field  than  any  other  State  in  the  Union.  And  let 
every  patriot  pray  that  soon  Texas  may  be  the  wisest,  the 
holiest,  the  richest  and  the  greatest  Prohibition  State  the  sun 
in  his  long  journey  around  this  planet  shines  -upon.  Then 
Texas  will  be  what  the  name  imports — a  Paradise. 

Written  April  6th,  1S87. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION  IN  1836. 


EXECUTIVE  MANSION  IN  1901. 


ADDKESS  TO  TEXAS  VETERANS. 


Honorable  President,  TexQ,s  Veterans  and  Daughters  of  the 
Eepuhlic : 

I  joyfully  comply  Avith  the  request  of  our  honorable 
mayor  and  of  Pat  Cleburne  Camp,  and  of  all  Waco  to  bid  yore 
welcome.  You  are  thrice  welcome  to  our  hearts,  our  home* 
and  our  beautiful  city.  We  regard  it  a  great  honor  to  welcome 
you  as  dutiful  children  would  venerable  fathers.  We  regard 
you  not  only  as  Texas  Veterans  but  as  Veteran  Fathers  of  the 
greatness  and  glory  of  Texas.  To  welcome  you  is  ten-fold  dear 
to  my  heart  for  you  are  the  heroic  companions  of  my  kinsmen^ 
the  Burlesons,  the  Hardemans,  the  Crawfords,  the  Shipmans^ 
the  Kuykendalls,  the  Gages  and  the  Joneses,  who  poured  out 
their  blood  on  everv  great  battlefield  of  Texas. 


Dr.  Eufus  C.  BuRLESO]sr. 


765 


Venerable  fathers,  we  wish  to  gladden  your  aged  hearts, 
and  fire  the  souls  of  the  young,  especially  the  great  army  of 
students  by  relating  briefly  the  history  of  Texas  and  your 
glorious  deeds  in  redeeming  this  fair  land  from  wild  beasts, 
bloody  Indians  and  Mexican  misrule. 

Tradition  says  that  200  years  before  Columbus  discov- 
•ered  America  a  bloody  feud  arose  among  the  ancient  Aztecs 
and  the  jSJ'asonite  tribe  was  driven  from  the  halls  of  the  Mon- 
tezumas  and  forbidden  ever  to  return  on  pain  of  extermina- 
tion.   These  half -clad  sons  of  the  Tropics  with  their  wives  and 


AZTEC  INDIANS  DISCOVERING  TEXAS. 

children  wandered  far  to  the  IsTorth  hunting  a  secure  refuge 
from  their  persecutors,  but  when  they  reached  the  land  of  the 
Dacotahs  a  "Blizzard"  or  Texas  jS^orther,  struck  them  and  they 
l)eat  a  hasty  retreat  to  a  more  genial  clime.  After  wandering 
TQany  days  they  reached  the  beautiful  mountain  summits  north 
■of  San  Marcos  and  San  Geronimo.  They  gazed  with  rapture 
on  the  beautiful,  clear  streams  gushing  from  the  mountain 
side  and  rippling  over  vast  flowery  plains  carpeted  with  unend- 
ing green,  dotted  with  beautiful  live  oak  groves  and  filled  with 


T66  The  Life  and  "Writings  of 

vast  herds  of  buffalo,  deer  and  wild  turkeys.  The  weary, 
starving  wanderers  thought  they  had  reached  that  beautiful 
hunting  ground  promised  good  Indians  beyond  the  river  of 
death  called  in  the  Aztec  language  "Texas"  or  Paradise,  and 
they  shouted  aloud  "Texas,"  "Texas,"  "Paradise,"  "Paradise." 
And  they  called  all  this  beautiful  land  "Texas"  or  "Paradise." 

In  1685  the  saintly  LaSalle  having  discovered  the  mouth 
of  the  Mississippi  Eiver  desired  to  found. a  great  city  on  the 
Father  of  Waters.  He  sailed  from  France  with  five  ships  and 
182  settlers,  but  the  jealousy  and  meanness  of  his  ship-master, 
Beaujean,  misled  him  and  he  landed  in  Matagorda  Bay  at 
Dimitts  point  on  the  La  Vacca  river.  Vast  throngs  of  Indians 
crowded  the  shore  and  when  asked  what  tribe  of  Indians  they 
were  of,  and  if  they  were  friendly,  replied  "Texas,  Texas, 
meaning  "this  is  Paradise."  But  LaSalle  more  anxious  to 
know  whether  they  were  friendly  than  to  know  their  names, 
thought  Texas  meant  "friendly."  LaSalle,  not  knowing  that 
it  was  the  same  land  discovered  by  Espejo  in  1532  and  DeSoto, 
1542,  and  dedicated  to  Spain  and  the  Catholic  church,  erected 
the  cross  and  dedicated  it  to  the  King  of  France  and  the  Holy 
Catholic  church.  But  he  and  all  of  his  company  perished  by 
the  Indians,  by  traitors,  and  by  Spaniards.  Only  his  priest, 
Father  Anastase,  and  eleven  others,  reached  home.  Anastase 
wrote  a  glowing  description  of  this  beautiful  land  and  of  the 
mournful  death  of  La  Salle.  His  description  of  the  perpetual 
summers,  the  flowery  plains,  fertile  valleys,  and  skies  of  more 
than  Italian  beauty,  filled  Europe  with  a  desire  to  occupy  thi^ 
Paradise  of  the  new  world.  Spain,  to  make  good  her  claim, 
stretched  a  chain  of  forts  and  mission  stations  from  the  Rio 
Grande  to  the  Sabine.  She  imported  colonists  at  immense 
expense.  She  paid  $72,000  to  bring  one  company  of  eighty- 
two  colonists  to  San  Antonio.  But  after  one  hundred  and  ten 
years  of  Spanish  misrule  there  was  only  six  thousand  thriftless, 
improvident  Mexicans  in  Texas.  Thousands  of  noble  men  felt 
it  was  a  crime  against  God  and  humanity  to  allow  this  beauti- 
ful land  to  remain  the  home  of  Indians,  buffaloes  and  wolves. 

A  Kentuckian  wrote  a  poem  called  "The  Fredonians" 
and  dedicated  it  to  Gen.  LaFayette.  In  that  poem  of  burning 
eloquence  he  described  armies  of  "Fredonians"  pouring  down 


Dr.  Kufus  C.  Bukleson.  T67 

from  the  north,  not  for  pillage  but  to  rescue  this  beautiful 
land  from  the  tyrants  of  Spain  and  the  bloody  savage.     For 
twenty  years  Fredonian  armies  continued  to  pour  into  Texas. 
First  came  Nolan  and  Bean;   second  Magee  and  Kemper; 
third  Aury  and  Mina  and  Perry,  and  last  the  gallant  James 
Long  and  his  heroic  wife.     Though  these  sons  of  freedom 
performed  deeds  of  valor  that  rival  the  grandest  ages  of  chiv- 
alry, yet  they  all  perished  on  the  field  of  glory  or  in  lonesome 
dungeons.    But  the  blood  of  heroes  always  produces  a  crop  of 
heroes.     And  after  the  utter  failure  of  the  heroic  Fredonians 
that  grand  and  God-sent  man,  Moses  Austin,  grasped  the  idea 
that  the  only  way  to  rescue  this  beautiful  land  from  barba- 
rism was  to  colonize  it  with  industrious,  upright  farmers  and 
stockmen.        He  fully  realized  that  to  found  a  city  was  a 
grander  achievement  than  to  win  a  great  battle.    Moses  Austin 
was  as  pre-eminently  qualified  to  plant  a  great  colony  in  Texas 
as  the  God-sent  Moses  was  to  lead  the  children  of  Israel  from 
Egyptian  bondage  to  their  promised  land.    In  1820  he  made 
a  long  perilous  journey  through  the  wilderness  from  Missouri 
to  San  Antonio  to  petition  the  Spanish  governor  to  allow  him 
to  plant  a  colony  of  three  hundred  farmers  and  stockmen  in 
Texas. 

The  astonished  Governor  Martinez,  still  smarting  under 
the  recollection  of  the  Fredonian  war  that  had  spread  terror 
over  all  Mexico  exclaimed  "Tres  Centos  Americanos,"  "Ties 
Centos  Diaboles,"  I  would  rather  have  three  hundred  devils 
than  three  hundred  Americans  in  Texas.  "If  I  had  the  power 
I  would  kill  every  bird  that  flies  over  the  boundary  line  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  Mexico."  He  ordered  Austin 
to  leave  Texas  immediately  ^r  he  would  have  him  shot. 
As  the  astonished  Austin  was  crossing  the  public  square  of 
San  Antonio,  by  the  good  providence  of  God,  he  met  his  dear 
old  friend  Baron  DeBastrop  whom  he  knew  intimately  at 
Bastrop,  Louisiana.  The  grand  old  Bastrop  was  astonished  and 
delighted  to  see  his  dear  friend  and  more  so  to  hear  of  his  desire 
to  plant  a  colony  of  farmers  and  stock  kings  in  Texas.  He  im- 
mediately visited  the  enraged  Alcalde  Martinez,  and  assured 
him  that  Austin  was  no  Fredonian,  but  a  pure  grand  man 
who  wanted  to  plant  a  great  colony  of  industrious  farmers  and 


768  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

stock  men  who  would  add  immensely  to  the  wealth  of  Texas 
and  be  a  bulwark  of  protection  against  the  dreaded  Comanche. 
Governor  Martinez,  having  profound  confidence  in  Bastrop, 
sent  for  Austin  to  come  back,  and  after  a  full  discussion  of  all 
the  great  points  he  accepted  Austin's  proposition  to  bring  a 
colony  first  of  three  hundred  and  then  of  one  thousand  f  amiliea 
if  the  plan  succeeded.  But  to  fully  consummate  this  grant, 
Austin  had  to  make  a  journey  to  the  City  of  Mexico.  Some- 
times on  foot,  sometimes  on  a  mustang  pony.  Yet  his  in- 
domitable courage  surmounted  all  difiiculties  and  he  secured 
most  liberal  terms  for  his  colony.  Each  head  of  a  family  was 
to  receive  free  of  charge  "a  league  and  a  labor  of  land,"  or  four 
thousand  four  hundred  and  twenty-eight  acres  for  pasture  land 
and  one  hundred  and  seventy-seven  acres  for  cultivation. 
Every  colonist  was  to  be  of  high  moral  character  and  to  bf 
fully  protected  in  life,  liberty  and  property.  Austin  was  re- 
turning with  the  full  and  joyous  assurance  of  a  glorious  suc- 
cess but  was  robbed  and  deserted  by  his  travelling  companioiis 
and  left  sick  and  alone  to  die  in  the  wilderness.  But  ho 
reached  his  home  in  Missouri,  though  utterly  prostrate  from 
long  travel  and  mental  anxiety.  Soon  after  he  died  peacefully 
and  calmly  as  heroes  die.  But  he  was  blest  with  that  noblest 
of  all  blessings,  a  heroic  son,  worthy  of  a  heroic  father.  His 
6on,  Stephen  F.  Austin,  inherited  not  only  his  father's  colo- 
nial grant  but  his  exalted  courage  his  clear  penetrating  intel- 
lect combined  with  great  common  sense,  infiexible  justice  and 
spotless  purity.  This  world  has  never  produced  a  purer,  truer, 
grander  man  than  Stephen  E.  Austin.  I  am  often  asked  by 
my  students  which  should  Texas  love  and  reverence  more, 
■Stephen  F.  Austin  or  Houston.  I  always  answer,  "there  is 
another  question  to  settle  first,  which  should  children  love 
more,  their  mother  or  father?  Each  forms  an  inseparable 
link  in  the  happiness  of  the  child  and  each  is  entitled  to 
■supreme  love  and  gratitude.  Without  Austin  there  would 
have  been  no  Texas  to  defend,  and  without  Houston,  Texas 
could  never  have  been  defended  and  guided  through  her  dark 
and  stormy  revolution."  And  Mr.  President  no  tongue,  no 
pen  can  ever  tell  how  much  love  and  gratitude  Texas  owes  to 
your  illustrious  Uncle  Stephen  F.  Austin.     But  the  success 


De.  Eufus  C.  Burleson.  769 

of  Austin  is  his  grandest  eulogy.  Eeceiving  the  dying  request 
of  his  father  to  carry  out  his  contract  in  founding  a  colony 
between  the  ISTavedad  and  San  Jacinto  rivers  he  immediately 
commenced  this  great  work  and  so  great  was  his  success  that 
Texas  under  Anglo  Saxon  rule  in  ten  years  made  greater  pro- 
gress than  under  Spanish  rule  for  two  hundred  and  eighty 
years.  In  ten  years  of  Anglo  Saxon  rule  the  population  in- 
creased to  thirty  thousand  while  under  Spanish  rule  in  two 
hundred  and  eighty  years  there  were  only  six  thousand  in- 
habitants. 

This  wonderful  growth  in  numbers  and  wealth  alarmed 
the  fears  and  excited  the  jealousy  of  the  imbecile  Mexicans. 
And  the  military  despots  knew  the  thirty  thousand  Anglo 
Saxons  would  never  surrender  life,  liberty  and  property  to 
military  tyrants,  hence  they  began  a  system  of  oppression  un- 
paralleled in  any  civilized  nation.  Indeed  it  meant  bloody 
extermination.  First  the  military  despots  abolished  the  Con- 
stitution of  1824  and  abolished  all  civil  courts  and  placed 
every  man's  life,  liberty  and  property  at  the  mercy  of  a  mili- 
tary dictator.  Second.  Texas  ports  were  all  blockaded  ex- 
cept two.  Third.  All  Texans  were  to  be  disarmed,  and  left 
to  the  mercy  of  the  bloody  Comanches.  Fourth.  The  homes 
and  property  of  all  patriots  that  resisted  tyrants  were  to  be 
confiscated.  Fifth.  Santa  Anna  sent  five  military  despot? 
with  armed  soldiers  to  enforce  these  outrages  on  the  Texans. 
Heroic,  venerable  fathers,  you,  like  the  heroes  of  1776  sent  an 
earnest  petition,  by  Stephen  F.  Austin,  imploring  Santa  Anna 
and  the  Mexicans  not  to  trample  on  the  constitution  of  1821 
nor  blockade  your  ports  and  above  all  not  to  disarm  Texans 
and  leave  them  and  their  wives  and  children  to  the  scalping 
knife  of  the  savage.  But  your  petition  was  spurned,  and  the 
pure  and  exalted  Stephen  F.  Austin  confined  in  a  loathsome 
dungeon  for  two  years.  Then  like  all  your  Anglo-Saxon  an- 
cestors from  Runnymede  to  Yorktown  you  girded  on  your 
swords  and  in  the  name  of  the  God  of  Liberty  marched  forth 
to  battle.  You  at  once  captured  and  expelled  from  Texas  the 
military  despots;  Piedras,  Bradburn,  Unleos.  General  Cos  sent 
General  Castenado  to  Gonzales  to  sieze  the  guns  and  cannons 
of  the  Texans.     But  a  band  of  heroic  Texans  under  Colonel 

49 


770  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

John  H.  Moore,  repulsed  and  chased  him  back  to  San  An- 
tonio. Here  General  Cos  marshalled  one  thousand  two  hun- 
dred and  -fifty  soldiers  in  a  strongly  fortified  city  of  four 
thousand  Mexicans  and  deemed  himself  invincible  against  a 
little  band  of  six  hundred  half-armed  Texans.  But  after 
strategy  and  heroism  unsurpassed  for  seven  days,  General 
Cos  hung  out  the  white  flag  and  surrendered  the  whole  city 
and  all  his  munitions  of  war  to  General  Burleson.  When 
General  Santa  Anna  heard  of  the  inglorious  defeat  of  his 
generals  he  raved  like  a  mad  man.  He  had  just  crushed  the 
last  vestige  of  opposition  to  his  authority  in  Mexico,  and  left 
two  thousand  dead  patriots  on  the  bloody  field  of  Zacatecas. 
He  swore  he  would  bring  his  eight  thousand  veteran  troops, 
who  had  followed  him  in  thirty-two  victories,  also  his  one 
thousand  Guatemalian  Indians,  called  "Black  Angels  of 
Death,"  and  sweep  the  Texans  from  the  face  of  the  eartli  and 
divide  their  land  and  property  among  his  soldiers,  and  reign 
supreme  in  the  hall  of  the  Montezumas  as  "the  Napoleon  of 
the  West."  Like  a  bloody  hyena  he  came  bounding  over 
the  prairies  of  Texas  forgetting  that  "pride  goeth  before  a 
fall  and  a  haughty  spirit  before  destruction."  On  the  23rd 
of  February,  1836,  he  marshalled  his  invading  army  around 
the  emblackened  walls  of  the  Alamo,  and  summoned  Travis 
to  surrender  unconditionally.  Travis  answered  this  insult 
with  a  cannon  shot.  Travis  assembled  his  one  hundred  and 
eighty-two  heroes  in  the  court  of  the  Alamo  and  drawing  a 
line  with  a  sword,  said,  "Every  soldier  that  is  resolved  to  die 
fighting  and  never  surrender  will  cross  over  this  line,"  All, 
with  wild  shouts,  rushed  over  the  line,  except  the  gallant 
Bowie,  who  lay  dying  with  consumption  and  grief  at  the  loss 
of  his  beautiful  Senora  Veremandis,  and  could  not  rise,  but 
cried  aloud  "Boys,  carry  me  over  that  line,  for  I  am  resolved 
to  die  fighting  for  liberty."  With  a  still  louder  yell  they  took 
up  the  dying  hero  on  his  couch  and  carried  him  over  the  line. 
On  Sunday  morning,  March  6th,  the  eleventh  day  of  the  siege 
while  the  church  bells  were  ringing  and  calling  the  worship- 
pers to  early  prayers  bloody  Santa  Anna  marshalled  his  whole 
army  and  stormed  and  captured  the  Texas  Thermopylae,  but 
not  till  the  last  hero  perished.     On  that  holy  Sabbath  even- 


Db.  Rufus  C.  Burleson. 


771 


ing  the  monster  of  cruelty  had  the  bleeding  bodies  of  the  dead 
heroes  gathered  in  a  pile  and  burned.  He  was  outraged  that 
an  insignificant  band  of  one  hundred  and  eighty-two  Texans 
should  delay  his  grand  army  eleven  days  and  kill  and  wound 
one  thousand  of  his  veteran  troops.  The  Texas  videtes  before 
San  Antonio  fled  away  to  bear  the  news  that  the  last  hero  per- 
ished. When  they  rushed  into  the  Texas  camp  near  Gonzales 
bearing  the  dreadful  news,  the  soldiers  were  greatly  excited. 
General  Houston  had  not  yet  arrived  to  take  command  and 
the  soldiers  instinctively  rallied  around  the  tent  of  General 
Burleson.    Who  had  commanded  at  the  capture  of  the  Alamo. 


SEIGE  OF  THE  ALAMO-MARCH  6,  1836. 

He  made  them  a  speech  in  plain,  rough  English  that  fired 
every  heart.  In  conclusion  he  used  these  immortal  words, 
"Thermopylse  had  her  messenger  of  defeat,  the  Alamo  had 
none,  so  let  it  be  with  every  Texan,  if  Texas  goes  down  in  this 
unequal  defeat,  let  every  Texan  die  fighting  like  Travis,  Bon- 
ham,  Bowie  and  Crockett."  The  wildest  shouts  rent  the  air, 
''We  will  die  fighting,  we  will  all  die  fighting."  Santa  Anna^ 
in  order  to  spread  consternation  among  the  Texans,  mounted 
Mrs.  Dickinson  on  a  mule  ^vith  her  babe  just  eight  weeks  old 
in  her  arms,  both  sprinkled  in  blood,  and  sent  with  her  Travis' 
body  servant,  hoping  that  her  horrid  recitals  of  the  bloody 


Y72  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

scenes  of  the  Alamo  would  strike  terror  to  the  Texan  hearts. 
Little  did  the  cowardly  monster  know  of  Anglo-Saxon  hero- 
ism. When  the  heroine  of  the  Alamo  rode  into  the  Texan 
camp  the  soldiers  gathered  around  her  to  see  the  mournful 
sight,  she  lifting  her  hand  on  high,  shouted  with  a  clarion 
voice,  "They  all  died  fighting  for  liberty  as  every  Texan 
should."  The  thrilling  voice  of  that  blood-sprinkled  woman 
fired  anew  the  soul  of  every  Texan."  And  the  wildest  shouts 
rent  the  air  "We  will  all  die  fighting  for  liberty."  When 
Houston  arrived  he  found  the  little  army  all  on  fire  to  attack 
Santa  Anna  and  avenge  the  death  of  the  heroes  of  the  Alamo. 
But  as  Santa  Anna  with  his  black  angels  of  death  would 
sweep  over  Texas  burning  houses  and  murdering  as  they  went 
all  heads  of  families  were  compelled  to  return  home  and  re- 
move their  families  to  places  of  safety.  A  few  days  later  the 
terrible  news  of  the  butchery  of  Fannin  and  his  one  thousand 
three  hundred  and  eighty-five  soldiers  at  Goliad  and  of  Grant 
and  King  and  one  hundred  and  twenty  men  at  Victoria.  Gen. 
Houston  who  combined  the  cool  patience  of  Fabius  and  the 
courage  of  Caesar  said  "Texas  cannot  afford  another  Alamo 
or  Goliad."  We  must  retreat  before  Santa  Anna  and  his 
veteran  hosts  till  they  become  careless  and  we  see  the  golden 
opportunity  to  strike  the  fatal  blow."  Besides  it  was  a  pro- 
found state  secret  that  there  was  an  understanding  between 
Gen.  Gaines  of  the  United  States  army,  and  Gen.  Houston 
that  if  necessary  the  Texans  should  retreat  near  the  Sabine, 
when  four  thousand  United  States  soldiers  with  guns  should 
desert,  and  annihilate  Santa  Anna  at  a  blow.  And  with  the 
president  and  generals  and  munitions  of  war  all  captured 
march  to  the  banks  of  the  Bio  Grande  and  demand  the  recog- 
nition of  Texas  independence  or  invade  Mexico  and  make 
her  pay  the  expenses  of  the  war.  The  Texans  therefore  against 
many  bitter  protests  retreated  to  the  banks  of  the  San  Jacinto. 
The  stream  was  overflowing  and  the  boats  washed  away. 
Gen.  Houston  ordered  Gen,  Burleson  to  cut  down  Vince's 
house  and  build  rafts  on  which  the  Texans  could  cross  the 
San  Jacinto  river  if  necessary.  Gen.  Burleson  replied,  "I  will 
give  the  order,  but  it  vnll  not  be  obeyed,  the  boys  did  not  come 
here  to  build  bridges,  but  to  fight.    Besides  they  have  no  saws, 


Dr.  Kufus  C  Burleson. 


773 


axes  or  materials  to  build  bridges."  Gen.  Houston  said  "Are 
they  all  ready  to  die  fighting?"  Gen.  Burleson  replied, 
"Every  man  is  ready." 

At  that  auspicious  moment  Deaf  Smith  the  great  spy,  hav-^- 
ing  captured  Santa  Anna's  courier  and  dispatches  rode  into 
camp.  Santa  Anna  \vrote,  "I  am  disgusted  chasing  these 
Texans  like  mule-eared  rabbits  over  the  prairie,  I  will  leave 
to  my  generals  the  chase  and  will  return  to  Mexico."  The 
eagle-eyed  Houston  saw  the  auspicious  moment  had  come.  He 
immediately  called  a  council  of  war  and  agreed  to  make  the 


SANTA  ANNA  TRYING  TO  MARSHAL  HIS  TROOPS  AT  SAN  JACINTO. 

attack  at  3 :30  o'clock  April  21st,  when  they  knew  every 
Mexican  would  be  taking  his  evening  nap  or  Siesta,  preparing 
for  a  night  of  gambling.  Deaf  Smith  was  ordered  to  cut  down 
the  bridge  over  Vince's  Bayou — a  deep  boggy  stream,  empty- 
ing into  the  San  Jacinto,  and  cut  off  all  hope  of  escape  or 
recruits  for  Santa  Anna.  Precisely  at  3  : 30  o'clock  seven  hun- 
dred and  eighty-four  Texas  heroes  with  glad  hearts  heard  the 
command  "Forward  march."  "Reserve  your  fire  till  in  point 
blank  shot  and  take  deadly  aim  then  rush  to  the  charge  with 


774  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

the  terrible  battle  cry,  "Kemember  tbe  Alamo,  Remember 
Goliad." 

All  of  which,  was  done  with  such  deadly  aim  that  over 
three  hundred  and  fifty  Mexicans  fell  dead  or  wounded.  Santa 
Anna  aroused  from  his  fatal  nap,  hun'iedly  put  on  his  magnifi- 
cent uniform,  mounted  his  fiery  charger  and  rushed  to  the 
front.  But  was  horrified  to  see  the  veterans  that  had  followed 
him  in  thirty-two  "victories,  falling  like  wheat  before  the 
mower's  scythe  or  throwing  down  their  guns  and  fleeing  in 
wild  confusion  crying,  "Me  no  Alamo,  me  no  Goliad."  Hor- 
ror stricken  he  wheeled  his  fiery  war  horse  and  fled  from  the 
field  of  battle. 

Dashing  up  to  Vince's  bridge  he  saw  it  was  burned  down 
and  all  hope  of  escape  gone.  He  plunged  his  fiery  steed  into 
the  boggy  stream  and  immediately  sank  to  the  bottom. 
Scrambling  from  the  boggy  stream  drenched  in  water  and  cov- 
ered with  mud  "the  l^apoleon  of  the  West  said  these  Texas 
devils  will  know  me  by  my  uniform  and  murder  me."  So 
hastily  throwing  of  his  military  coat,  hat,  pants  and  boots 
he  fled  like  "a  mule-eared  rabbit  across  the  prairie."  Thus  in 
eighteen  minutes  the  glorious  Battle  of  San  Jacinto  was  won 
by  you  and  Santa  Anna  fleeing  across  the  prairie  about  dark 
reached  a  live  oak  grove  and  utterly  exhausted  and  heart- 
broken he  sat  down  at  the  root  of  a  tree  and  bewailed  his  utter 
ruin.  Very  soon  amid  thick  darkness,  innumerable  wolves 
smelling  the  blood  of  the  battle  fleld  gathered  in  the  groT3 
and  howled  fearfully.  "The  Napoleon  of  the  West  climbed 
a  tree  and  all  night  long  listened  to  the  fierce  howling  of  the 
wolves  and  the  fiercer  clamors  of  his  own  guilty  conscience. 
As  he  reflected  on  his  bloody  career  in  Mexico  and  at  the 
Alamo  and  Goliad,  methinks  he  saw  the  avenging  ghosts  of 
Travis,  Bonham,  Bowie  and  thousands  of  heroes  that  he  had 
butchered.  Next  morning  at  daylight,  with  bleeding  feet  and 
a  heavy  heart,  he  bent  his  steps  westward,  but  soon  he  saw 
three  of  Gen.  Burleson's  men  on  his  track.  Concealing  him- 
self in  the  high  grass  he  pretended  to  be  dead.  But  young 
Lieutenant  Sylvester  said,  "Come  out  of  there  old  coon  or  I 
will  put  another  bullet  hole  through  you."  Trembling  and 
astonished  he  said,  "I  will  give  you  this  gold  watch  and  chain 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson. 


771 


if  you  will  let  me  go."  The  heroic  youth  said,  "I  care  noth- 
ing for  your  watch,  you  are  my  prisoner."  Santa  Anna  then 
said,  "I  have  a  gold  mine  in  Mexico  worth  millions  which  I 
will  give  you  if  you  will  let  me  have  your  mule  and  escape." 
The  young  hero  said,  "I  care  nothing  for  your  gold- mine,  you 
must  go  to  Gen.  Houston.  In  the  meantime  two  other  soldiers 
joined  him  and  driving  Santa  Anna  before  them  with 
limping  and  bleeding  feet,  till  young  Sylvester  said,  "Get 
up  behind  me  on  my  mule  and  ride."  Thus  the  inso- 
lent hero,  who  forty-five  days  before,  mounted  the  broken- 


SANTA  ANNA  BEFORE  GENERAL  HOUSTON. 

hearted  heroine  of  the  Alamo  on  a  mule  and  sent  her 
to  the  Texas  camp,  now  takes  "his  mule  ride  across  the 
prairies."  His  only  hope  was  that,  without  pants,  boots  or 
hat,  and  covered  with  mud  he  would  not  be  recognized.  But 
as  he  rode  into  the  Texas  camp  the  Mexican  prisoners  shouted 
in  horror  "El  Presidente,  Antonio  Lopez  De  Santa  Anna," 
Entering  Gen.  Houston's  tent  he  fell  at  his  feet,  crying,  "Oh, 
spare  a  ruined  man,  you  are  born  to  no  common  destiny,  you 
have  conquered  the  ISTapoleon  of  the  West."  While  scores  of 
infuriated   Texans   crowded   around   the   tent   and  shouted. 


776  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

"Shoot  him,  hang  him,  burn  him/'  Gen.  Houston  with  the 
magnanimity  of  a  hero  and  a  statesman  requested  Gen.  Rusk 
and  Gen.  Burleson  to  go  among  the  soldiers  and  request  them 
to  be  quiet,  that  it  would  be  a  disgrace  to  the  civilization  of 
Texas  to  murder  a  prisoner  of  war,  however  guilty.  Soon  all 
was  quiet,  save  the  throbbing  of  the  guilty  heart  and  the  groan- 
ing of  Santa  Anna. 

Santa  Anna  piteously  begged  for  morphine  or  opium  or 
anything  that  would  quiet  his  nerves  and  drown  the  horrid 
memories  of  the  past,  and  the  more  dreadful  present.  The 
physician  fearing  that  he  intended  suicide  allowed  him  only 
enough  to  put  him  to  sleep.  When  he  awoke  from  that  horrid 
stupor  he  issued  orders  to  Filosola  and  all  his  other  officers  to 
evacuate  Texas  at  once,  and  to  commit  no  depredations  on 
property  or  persons.  Santa  Anna  also  entered  into  a  treaty 
with  Houston  that  war  should  cease  and  the  Independence  of 
Texas  should  be  recognized.  Swift  couriers  were  sent  all  over 
Texas  with  the  joyful  tidings  of  victory,  and  requesting  all 
those  fleeing  from  Santa  Anna  and  his  "black  angels"  to  re- 
turn home  in  safety. 

Veteran  Fathers :  The  world  never  witnessed  a  grander 
victory.  Seven  hundred  and  eighty-three  half-armed  militia 
conquering  in  open  field  two  thousand  four  hundred  veterans 
thoroughly  equipped  with  cannon  and  all  the  munitions  of 
war.  But  your  victory  over  Santa  Anna  and  his  hordes  only 
called  you  to  a  grander  battle  and  a  grander  victory.  For 
as  Gen.  Houston  said  to  the  ten  thousand  people  that  crowded 
the  wharves  at  'New  Orleans  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  wounded 
hero  of  San  Jacinto,  Texas  has  conquered  the  Mexicans  by 
her  own  bare  arm,  but  she  has  a  grander  battle  to  fight  before 
she  can  be  truly  free  and  truly  great.  She  must  conquer  her 
passions,  her  sins  and  herself,  and  in  this  second  greater  battle, 
we  must  invoke  the  aid  of  the  ministers  of  the  gospel,  the 
ladies  and  of  the  God  of  Battle."  The  greatest  danger  of  any 
great  struggle  either  in  states,  in  churches  or  colleges  is  after 
the  battle  is  fought.  A  few  "smart  Alecks"  and  "thunder- 
stealers"  who  stood  aloof  in  the  hour  of  danger  come  clamor- 
ously to  the  front,  claiming  all  the  honors  and  demanding 
supreme  control.    And  scarcely  had  the  din  and  smoke  of  bat- 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Buklesois^. 


7TY 


tie  died  away  from  the  plains  of  San  Jacinto  than  these  "smart 
Alecks,"  came  flocking  like  vultures  to  the  carcass.  They 
stirred  up  the  evil  passions  of  the  army  and  of  the  mob.  They 
declared  that  "Houston  and  Burnet  and  their  allies  were  old 
fogies  or  traitors  because  they  did  not  execute  Santa  Anna." 
They  demanded  that  Santa  Anna  be  brought  back  from  the 
ship  and  turned  over  to  them.  And  because  President  Bm*- 
net  and  his  cabinet  refused,  these  "smart  Alecks"  sent  a  body 
of  soldiers  to  arrest  the  venerable  President  and  his  cabinet. 
But  in  this  second  and  more  dreadful  invasion  of  the  mob  and 
anarchy,  venerable  fathers  you  come  boldly  to  the  front  and 


BATTLE  OF  SAX  JACINTO. 

demonstrated  to  the  world  that  you  were  as  wise  in  council  as 
heroic  on  the  battle  field.  Gen.  Jackson  declared  "That  your 
treatment  of  Santa  Anna  and  crushing  the  anarchists  showed 
greater  heroism  and  wisdom  than  the  battle  of  San  Jacinto." 
The  world  was  surprised  to  learn  that  there  were  more  states- 
men, graduates  of  great  colleges  in  the  Convention  of 
1836  than  any  Constitutional  Convention  that  ever  assembled 
on  this  continent.  There  were  also  great  men  who  had  gradu- 
ated in  the  great  University  of  "Common  sense  and  Neces- 
sity."   Tliese  grand  statesmen,  while  invaded  and  threatened 


Y78  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

by  eight  million  Mexicans  and  thirty  thousand  Indians  and 
a  fearful  army  of  reckless  men  who  never  smelt  gunpowder, 
laid  the  deep  and  broad  foundation  of  the  Republic  of  Texas 
in  morality,  religion  and  education.  Your  provision  for  free 
schools,  a  university,  railroads  and  commerce  attracted  the 
admiration  of  the  world.  Thoughtful  men  everywhere  saw 
that  Houston,  Rusii  and  Austin  were  not  giants  among  pig- 
mies, but  Titans  among  Titans.  Venerable  fathers  you  are 
not  only  entitled  to  our  love  and  gratitude  for  your  heroism 
on  the  field  of  battle  and  your  profound  statesmanship,  but 
you  have  added  another  star,  the  "Lone  Star"  and  the  brigJir- 
est  that  glitters  in  the  galaxy  of  freedom. 

You  have  given  the  Paradise  of  the  New  World  to  God 
and  liberty. 

The  world  is  just  beginning  to  realize  the  vast  resources 
of  Texas.  But  all  great  and  far-seeing  men  have  long  under- 
stood the  greatness  of  Texas.  Fifty-six  years  ago  the  great 
and  venerable  Jesse  Mercer,  of  Georgia,  gave  $2,500  to  send 
two  great  missionaries.  Dr.  Tryonr  and  Dr.  Huckins,  to  Texas. 
He  said  the  soil  and  climate  of  Texas  are  the  finest  in  the 
world.  It  is  located  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  the  Mediterranean 
of  the  'New  World,  and  must  become  the  home  of  teeming 
millions,  and  I  want  to  send  great  and  good  men  to  write  "'Holi- 
ness to  the  Lord"  on  the  foundation  stones.  Thirty  years  ago 
George  Peabody,  the  millionaire  and  philanthropist  of  Lon- 
don, gave  $3,500,000  to  enable  the  impoverished  South  to 
establish  a  system  of  Free  Schools.  He  repeatedly  said  to  his 
distinguished  agent.  Dr.  Barnas  Sears,  "Look  well  to  Texas, 
and  use  my  money  freely  in  establishing  schools  of  learning 
there,  for  Texas  must  become  the  empire  state  of  America." 
But  lest  some  may  think  these  glomng  statements  are  the 
coloring  of  the  imagination,  let  us  look  at  the  facts  and  the 
figures.  Texas  has  two  hundred  and  seventy-four  thousand 
square  miles  and  is  twenty-six  times  larger  than  Rhode  Island. 
Texas  is  larger  by  ten  thousand  square  nailes  than  Maine,  ITew 
Hampshire,  Vermont,  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Connecti- 
cut, Pennsylvania,  l^ew  York,  Ohio  and  West  Virginia.  And 
this  vast  dominion  is  no  desert  of  Sahara  or  "Dismal  Swamp." 
It  has  less  waste  land  than  any  territory  of  equal  size  on  the 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Bukleson.  770 

globe.  Its  mountain  ranges  above  San  Marcos  and  San  An- 
tonio equal  the  Alps,  the  Appennines  and  Blue  Ridge  in  purity 
of  air  and  health.  Her  valleys,  by  actual  measurement,  equal 
the  Nile  in  fertility.  Texas  has  an  area  of  sugar  and  orange 
land  equal  to  Louisiana,  an  area  of  cotton  land  equal  to  Mis- 
sissippi, an  area  of  wheat  and  small  grain  equal  to  Tennessee, 
and  an  area  of  pasture  land  for  horses,  cows  and  sheep  equal 
to  Kentucky,  an  area  for  iron  ore,  coal  and  granite  equal  to 
Pennsylvania,  and  an  area  of  pine,  juniper,  Bois  d'Arc,  and 
live  oak  equal  to  Maine.  So  that  Texas  has,  in  her  broad 
bosom  all  the  productions,  all  the  timbers,  and  minerals  for 
manufacturing  and  supplying  all  the  wants  and  the  markets 
of  the  world.  In  addition  to  all  these  glorious  blessings  God 
has  bestowed  upon  Texas,  He  has  given  a  cHmate  just  adapted 
to  the  highest  talents  and  development  of  civilization.  The 
climate  of  Texas  is  similar  to  Greece,  Rome  and  Palestine. 
And  it  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  all  the  great  nations  and  think- 
ers of  antiquity  have  lived  within  one  hundred  miles  of  the 
Mediterranean  Sea.  Cold  freezing  climates  freeze  up  the 
bodies  and  dwarf  the  minds  of  men,  while  the  torrid  zone 
relaxes  the  body  and  enervates  the  mind.  Hence  the  grand 
thinkers  and  the  highest  civilizations  of  the  world  have  ever 
been  in  a  similar  latitude  and  climate  to  this  Paradise  which 
you,  venerable  fathers,  rescued  from  barbarism  and  gave  to 
religion  and  civilization.  For  this  priceless  boon  which  you, 
aided  and  encouraged  by  the  Daughters  of  the  Republic,  gave 
to  us,  all  "Waco  welcomes  and  greets  you  with  three-fold  cheers. 
And  the  world  will  inscribe  your  deeds  and  heroism  high  up 
on  the  tablets  of  fame,  among  the  names  of  Romulus,  Alfred 
the  Great  and  Peter  the  Great,  the  few,  the  immortal  names 
that  were  not  born  to  die. 


ERA  OF  MISSIONS. 

The  second  great  era  of  Texas  history  is  justly  called  the 
Era  of  Missions.  This  era  began  in  1687,  and  ended  about 
1800,  a  period  of  one  hundred  and  thirteen  years.  These 
Missions  were  established  by  the  Franciscan  Monks.  The 
zeal,  the  sacrifice  and  the  martyrdoms  of  these  Monks  have 


780 


The  Life  and  Writings  of 


excited  the  admiration  of  the  world  and  were  worthy  of  a 
purer  faith.  These  missions  when  fully  equipped,  had  a  large 
church,  a  strong  military  fortification,  with  smaller  houses  for 
the  monks  and  barracks  for  soldiers,  all  of  solia  rock.  To  these 
were  added  gardens,  orchards  and  fields.  The  historic  and  well 
known  mission  of  the  Alamo  is  a  model  of  all  Catholic  mis- 
sions. The  object  of  the  mission  stations  was  two-fold.  1.  To 
convert  the  savages  to  the  Roman  Catholic  religion.  2.  To 
hold  the  territory  for  the  sovereigns.  How  largely  this  latter 
element  entered  into  the  glowing  zeal  of  the  Catholics  may  be 
inferred  from  two  facts.     1.     The  Spanish  Catholics  allowed 


THE  ALAMO. 

the  two  hundred  thousand  Indians  in  Texas  to  grope  in  utter 
darkness  from  the  discovery  of  Don  Espejo,  in  1620,  to  the 
landing  of  La  Salle,  the  Frenchman,  without  sending  a  single 
priest,  monk  or  nun.  But  as  soon  as  the  French  colony  under 
La  Salle,  located  in  Matagorda  bay,  and  erected  Fort  St.  Louis, 
the  whole  Catholic  Spanish  world  was  on  fire.  The  gallant 
Count  Monclova  sent  Captain  Alonzo  DeLeon  to  drive  out  the 
French  and  established  missionary  forts  from  the  Rio  Grande 
to  the  Sabine.  He  at  once  founded  the  mission  of  San  Juan 
Baptista  (St.  John  the  Baptist),  on  the  Rio  Grande  and  pro- 
jected another  armed  mission  at  the  deserted  fort  of  La  Salle 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  781 

at  St.  Louis.  2.  A  second  fact  illustrates  the  strong  material 
element  in  these  Catholic  missions.  Marquis  Casa  Fuesta 
visited  Texas  and  seeing  its  vast  fertility,  induced  the  King  of 
Spain  to  spend  $72,000  to  introduce  sixteen  Catholic  families 
to  strengthen  the  mission  on  the  San  Antonio,  among  whom 
were  the  jSTavarros,  Veremandis,  Delgados,  and  others  whose 
names  have  become  a  glory  to  Texas.  The  difficulties  of  con- 
verting the  Indians  was  great.  One  pious  priest  laments  they 
first  had  to  convert  them  from  beasts  to  men,  and  then  convert 
them  into  Catholics.  And  as  they  regarded  them  as  beasts, 
they  did  not  regard  the  Indians  as  possessing  the  rights  of 
human  beings.  This  doleful  fact  was  painfully  exhibited  by 
that  zealous  Catholic  saint,  De  Soto,  and  his  associate  knights, 
who,  in  his  work  of  converting  the  Indians,  carried  along 
fourteen  priests,  a  vast  number  of  blood-hounds  and  handcuffs, 
and  who,  having  left  their  wives  on  San  Domingo,  captured 
twenty-five  beautiful  Alabama  Indian  girls  and  carried  them 
in  all  their  wanderings,  as  cooks  and  concubines.  Such 
harsh  treatment  often  enraged  the  sons  of  the  forest,  who 
murdered  the  missionaries  and  burned  down  their  mission 
forts  as  at  San  Saba.  The  result  was,  Catholic  missions  for 
one  hundred  and  thirteen  years  were  an  utter  failure  so 
tar  as  converting  Indians.  ISTo  vestige  of  Christianity  is  found 
among  any  tribe  in  Texas.  All  that  is  left  of  the  toils  of  one 
hundred  and  thirteen  years  are  vast  stone  buildings,  fast 
crumbling  into  ruin,  as  San  Jose,  and  others.  Fit  emblems  of 
the  creed  of  the  founders.  But  in  a  material  point,  as  military 
fortifications,  they  did  succeed  finally  in  holding  Texas  secure 
against  all  the  invasions  of  the  Louisiana  French  and  the 
Fredonians  under  Nolan,  Magee,  Long  and  their  brave  but 
misguided  allies. 

The  various  missions  in  Texas  were  established  by  Fran- 
ciscan monks,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Spanish  government, 
and  were  called  Presidios.  These  missions  consisted  of  the 
chapel  for  worship,  the  cells  for  the  monks,  the  dwellings  for 
the  inhabitants,  and  a  fort  for  defense.  The  mission  was  under 
an  officer  of  the  army,  who,  in  most  matters,  was  under  the 
control  of  the  priest.  In  1690  the  Mission  of  San  Francisco 
was  established  on  the  Lavaca  river,  at  Fort  St.  Louis,  by 


T82  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

the  Spanish  under  Captain  Alonzo  De  Leon.  In  the  same  year 
that  of  San  Juan  Baptista  was  founded  on  the  Rio  Grande 
river.  In  1Y14  Captain  Ramon  established  the  Mission  of  San 
Bernard,  also  Mission  of  Adaes,  among  the  Indians  of  that 
name,  fifteen  miles  west  of  Natchitoches.  In  1715  was  estab- 
lished the  Mission  of  Dolores,  west  of  Sabine,  among  the 
Orquisaco  Indians.  In  the  same  year  a  mission  was  founded 
among  the  ISTacogdoches  Indians,  near  the  site  of  the  present 
town  of  that  name;  also  another  among  the  Adaes  Indians, 
near  the  site  of  the  present  town  of  San  Augustine.  The  mis- 
sion fortress  of  San  Antonio  de  Talero  was  soon  after  this  es- 


PRIESTS  AND  ATTENDANTS  LEAVING  THE  ALAMO. 

tablished  on  the  San  Pedro  river,  near  the  site  of  the  present 
city  of  San  Antonio.  Captain  Don  Ramon,  who  was  the  most 
efficient  and  active  in  building  up  these  missions,  was  a  great 
favorite  among  the  Indians,  who  adopted  him  as  a  son,  and  as- 
sisted him  in  his  labors.  In  the  year  1721,  a  post  and  mission 
was  located  at  the  crossing  of  the  JSTaches,  and  another  on  the 
Bay  of  San  Bernard,  called  "Our  Lady  of  Loretto."  In  the 
same  year,  the  Mission  of  La  Bahia  (the  bay),  was  established 
at  the  lower  crossing  of  the  San  Antonio  river.  In  1730,  the 
church  of  San  Frando,  in  the  present  city  of  San  Antonio,  was 
founded.     In  1731  was  established  not  far  from  the  same 


Dk.  Eufus  C.  Burleson.  783 

place,  the  Mission  of  La  Purissimaa  Conception  de  Acuna. 
The  Mission  of  San  Jose  alluded  to  above  under  another  name 
deserves  a  more  extended  notice.  It  was  first  founded  on  the 
Rio  Grande  in  1703.  Five  years  afterward  it  was  moved  to 
a  place  called  Ildephonso.  In  1710  it  was  taken  back  to  the 
Rio  Grande,  where  it  continued  under  the  charge  of  good 
Father  Jose  de  Soto  until  1713,  when  it  was  removed  to  the 
west  bank  of  the  San  Pedro  about  a  mile  from  the  main  plaza 
of  the  present  city  of  San  Antonio.-  From  this  time  it  was 
called  San  Antonio  de  Velero.  Here  it  continued  until  1722, 
when,  for  better  protection  against  the  Indians,  it  was  removed 
with  the  post  to  San  Antonio  river.  It  remained  here,  and  in 
1744,  the  walls  of  the  Church  of  the  Alamo,  which  was  never 
finished,  were  erected. 

The  chapel  was  used  in  connection  with  the  Mission  of 
San  Antonio  de  Valero,  called  by  some,  San  Jose  del  Alamo, 
until  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  when  all  the 
missions  in  Texas  were  secularized,  or  subordinated  to  the 
Spanish  civil  authorities. 

The  missions  of  Texas  yet  stand,  and  will  for  many 
centuries  continue  to  speak  from  their  crumbling  ruins,  in 
trumpet  tongues,  of  the  self-sacrificing  labors  and  devotions  of 
the  Franciscan  missionaries,  whose  eflorts  to  convert  the  native 
Indians  to  Christianity  challenges  the  highest  admiration. 


THE  ERA  OF  FREDOOTANS  OR  FILIBUSTERS. 

The  third  era  of  Texas  History  has  been  called  the  era 
of  Fredonians  or  Filibusters.  And  no  part  of  Texas  history  is 
so  little  understood  as  to  its  origin  and  intention.  The 
great  leaders  in  the  expeditions  against  Spanish  rule  were 
Philip  Nolan,  Magee,  the  gallant  Kemper  and  Perry,  Aaron 
Burr,  Aury  and  Mina  and  the  heroic  Gen.  James  Long.  These 
men  have  generally  been  regarded  as  armed  banditti,  seeking 
by  violence  and  sword  to  wrest  from  a  peaceable  nation  their 
territory  and  property  merely  for  plunder  and  power.  ISTo 
doubt  a  love  for  excitement  and  heroic  deeds  had  a  powerful 


'7'84  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

influence  on  the  Fredonian  leaders  and  their  dauntless  follow- 
ers. But  underlying  these  there  were  noble  principles  that 
atone  in  part  for  their  mistake. 

These  Fredonian  expeditions  originated  in  the  spirit  of 
the  times  which  grew  out  of  the  mighty  commotions  and  that 
ultimately  culminated  in  the  "Monroe  Doctrine." 

The  crowned  heads  of  Europe,  alarmed  at  the  powerful 
spirit  of  Republicanism,  as  seen  in  the  Republic  of  the  United 
States  and  the  Republic  of  France,  formed  the  Holy  (unholy) 
Alliance  to  crush  the  republican  spirit  in  every  part  of  the 
world.  As  this  was  really  a  declaration  of  war  against  our 
young  republic,  and  as  a  means  of  self-preservation,  there  was 
a  burning  desire  to  wipe  from  existence  the  last  vestige  of  royal 
authority  over  the  American  continent. 

These  sentiments  were  embodied  in  a  heroic  poem  written 
by  a  Kentuckian,  called  "The  Fredonians."  The  heroic  ro- 
mance was  dedicated  to  LaFayette,  and  represented  the  armies 
of  the  Fredonians  as  pouring  down  from  the  United  States  a*ad 
sweeping  away  the  last  vestige  of  kingly  rule,  and  establishing 
republics  over  this  whole  continent,  north  and  south. 

The  first  leader  that  caught  the  Fredonian  spirit  was 
Philip  Nolan,  an  Irishman  by  birth,  but  many  years  a  citizen 
of  Kentucky,  and  then  a  successful  trader  at  Natchez. 

Nolan's  plan  was,  under  pretext  of  buying  and  catching 
wild  horses,  to  travel  over  all  Texas,  becoming  acquainted  with 
the  people,  and  draw  up  a  map  of  the  whole  country  and  learn 
the  best  points  of  attack. 

He  had  secretly  arranged,  as  soon  as  the  horses  could  be 
procured,  for  twelve  hundred  mounted  Fredonians  to  sweep 
over  the  prairies  of  Texas  and  wipe  out  the  last  vestige  of 
Mexican  authority.  But  Gayoso,  the  French  governor  of 
Louisiana,  and  one  of  Nolan's  men,  betrayed  his  plans,  and  the 
Spanish  governor,  DeNavra,  ordered  Musquis,  of  Nacog- 
doches, to  arrest  Nolan  and  his  baud. 

Musquis  with  one  hundred  mounted  soldiers  was  piloted 
by  Indians  to  Nolan's  fort,  near  Richland  creek,  five  miles 
from  Tehuacana  Hills.  A  desperate  battle  followed.  Nolai* 
was  killed  by  a  cannon  ball  at  the  first  fire.  The  heroic  Ellis 
P.  Bean,  a  Tennesseean  and  boyhood  friend  of  Gen.  Sam 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burlesox.  785 

Houston,  succeeded  in  command  and  kept  up  the  figlit  for 
several  hours.  Overwhehned  by  numbers  and  death-dealing 
cannon  balls,  Bean  and  his  men  surrendered  as  prisoners  of  war 
and  were  marched  over  the  vast  prairies  to  the  City  of  Mexico. 
The  King  of  Spain  ordered  every  fifth  man  to  be  hung  and  the 
remainder  were  sentenced  to  ten  years  hard  labor,  during 
which  time  they  all  perished  except  the  gallant  Bean,  who  was 
in  courage,  a  Hector,  and  in  shrewdness  a  Ulysses.  He  by 
turns  was  a  hatter,  a  manufacturer  of  powder  and  shot.  He 
charmed  a  white  lizard  in  his  lonely  cell,  and  on  the  streets 
u'on  the  heart  and  hand  of  a  beautiful  Mexican  heiress.  He 
became  an  adopted  citizen  of  Mexico  and  a  great  leader  of  the 
sons  of  freedom  against  Spanish  tyrants.  When  Mexico  be- 
came a  republic  he  was  sent  back  to  Texas  as  Mexican  minis- 
ter, especially  to  control  the  Indians  in  East  Texas.  He  es- 
tablished his  headquarters  at  Mound  Prairie,  forty  miles  from 
the  spot  where  he  was  captured.  Bean  was  afterwards  sent  as 
Mexican  minister  to  the  United  States.  He  crossed  the  gulf 
on  one  of  LaFitte's  ships.  Landing  on  the  east  coast  of  Louis- 
iana, he  and  LaFitte  hearing  a  great  battle  was  pending  against 
the  British,  wended  their  way  through  the  swamps  to  General 
Jackson's  army  at  Xew  Orleans.  Bean  was  well  known  to 
General  Jackson,  who  at  once  put  him  in  charge  of  a  battery. 
He  visited  his  old  home  in  Tennessee,  but  returned  to  his 
beautiful  home  and  devoted  wife  in  Mexico  and  became  a  great 
leader  in  the  wars  of  Mexico  for  her  liberty.  He  spent  the 
last  days  of  liis  heroic  and  wonderful  life  on  his  splendid 
hacienda  near  Jalapa  and  died  in  1845  at  the  age  of  61. 

His  forty-five  years  of  heroic  deeds  for  liberty  would 
make  a  volume  surpassing  all  the  dreams  of  fiction. 

The  celebrated  but  ill-fated  Aaron  Burr  planned  the 
second  Fredonian  expedition.  As  the  base  of  his  operations 
he  bought  from  the  pure  and  loiightly  Baron  de  Bastrop, 
four  hundred  thousand  acres  of  land  near  Bastrop,  La.,  and 
was  collecting  men  and  means  for  invading  Mexico.  While 
Burr  was  contemplating  the  invasion  Gen.  Wilkinson  and 
Governor  Claiborne  and  even  Gen.  Adair,  of  Kentucky,  and 
(Jen.  Jackson  looked  encouragingly  on  his  plans.  But  he  had 
murdered  in  a  duel  the  high-souled  Alexander  Hamilton,  and 

50 


786  The  Life  axd  AYritixgs  of 

his  mighty  intellect  was  steeped  in  hate  and  wild  ambition^ 
and  it  was  soon  found  that  he  had  conceived  the  treasonable 
plan  of  disintegrating  all  the  Mississippi  valley  from  the 
United  States  and  uniting  it  to  his  Mexican  territory  as  far 
as  the  Sierra  Madre  mountains. 

"When  it  was  hinted  to  Burr  that  the  United  States  con- 
gress might  interfere  with  his  plans,  he  said  with  the  malignity 
of  a  Catiline  or  Benedict  Arnold,  "If  congress  attempts  to  in- 
terfere with  my  plans  I  will  turn  congress  neck  and  heels  out 
of  doors,  assassinate  the  president,  seize  upon  the  treasury  and 
navy  and  declare  myself  the  protector  of  an  energetic  govern- 
ment." As  soon  as  Burr's  dark  and  treasonable  designs  were 
known  he  was  abandoned  by  all  good  men,  was  arrested  for 
treason  and  tried  before  Chief  Justice  Marshall  at  Richmond, 
and  the  gifted  but  depraved  man  ended  his  old  age  in  dark- 
ness, poverty  and  gloom. 

The  third  and  most  formidable  Fredonian  expedition  was 
inaugurated  by  Col.  A.  W.  Magee,  a  distinguished  graduate  of 
West  Point,  and  an  officer  of  the  United  States  army,  sent  to 
guard  the  interests  of  good  citizens  against  a  band  of  outlaws 
who  infested  the  neutral  territory  between  Sabiner  and  Arroyo 
Hondo.  These  outlaws  were  refugees  from  justice  in  the 
United  States  and  exiled  republicans  and  criminals  from  Mex- 
ico. The  gallant  Magee  resolved  to  form  an  army  of  this  reck-  • 
less  and  daring  element  and  rescue  Texas  from  the  imbecile 
tyrants  of  Spain.  Don  Bernardo  Gutierez,  a  Mexican  repub- 
lican leader  who  had  been  driven  out  of  Mexico  by  the  Royal- 
ist forces,  was  made  the  nominal  leader  of  the  expedition, 
called  the  Republican  Army  of  the  ISTorth," 

A  proclamation  was  issued  inviting  all  lovers  of  liberty 
and  enemies  of  tyranny  to  join  them.  Many  noble,  chivalrous 
young  men  from  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Alabama  and  Louis- 
iana flocked  to  the  republican  banner.  An  army  variously  es- 
timated from  eight  hundred  and  fifty  to  thirteen  hundred  and 
eighty-two  crossed  the  Sabine  in  June,  1812.  The  small  Roy- 
alist army  stationed  at  IvTacogdoches  fled  on  their  approach. 

The  Fredonians  captured  Goliad  without  resistance  ISTo- 
vember  1,  1812,  but  on  the  Vth  an  army  of  two  thousand  Span- 
iards under  Salcedo   and  Herrera  attacked   the   Fredonians 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  78T 

with  infantry,  cavalry  and  artillery,  but  were  driven  back  with 
great  loss.  The  Royalists  then  resolved  to  cut  off  all  supplies 
by  a  regular  siege  which  lasted  three  months,  from  November 
9,  1812,  to  February  9,  1813,  during  which  time  the  gallant 
Magee  died  of  consumption  and  the  military  stores  were  en- 
tirely exhausted.  The  heroic  Kemper  was  elected  to  succeed 
Magee.  The  Fredonians,  though  outnumbered  five  to  one, 
resolved  to  sally  forth  and  meet  the  besiegers  in  the  open  field. 
The  Royalists  after  a  bloody  battle  of  four  hours  fled  in  utter 
confusion,  leaving  nearly  four  hundred  dead  and  as  many 
wounded.  The  Fredonians  lost  two  killed  and  thirty  wounded. 
■In  utter  shame  to  be  thus  vanquished,  the  leaders  rallied  their 
flying  forces  and  returned  to  their  former  position,  but  after 
ten  days  they  secretly  decamped  by  night  and  fled  to  San 
Antonio.  The  Fredonians  pressed  them  and  captured  immense 
army  stores  and  guns  and  wagons  and  fifteen  hundred  head  of 
horses  and  mules. 

The  retreating  foe  made  another  stand  at  Salado  creek,, 
near  San  Antonio,  but  were  speedily  driven  from  their  ambus- 
cade and  fled  in  utter  route  to  San  Antonio,  leaving  vast  army 
stores  and  three  thousand  horses  and  mules.  On  April  5  the 
victors  entered  San  Antonio.  Generals  Herrea  and  Salcedo 
and  the  whole  Royalist  army  now  reduced  to  eight  hundred, 
surrendered  as  prisoners  of  war.  On  April  6,  a  local  govern- 
ment was  formed  and  Gutierez,  who  had  acted  as  subordi- 
nate, now  came  to  the  front  and  was  elected  governor  with  a 
council  of  eleven  Mexicans  and  two  Americans. 

Intense  dissensions  arose  as  to  the  disposition  to  be  made 
of  the  prisoners,  the  Americans  insisting  they  should  be  treated 
humanely  as  prisoners  of  war,  while  the  Mexicans  clamored 
for  their  immediate  execution.  It  so  happened  that  the  Roy- 
alist leader,  Salcedo,  while  governor  of  Texas  at  San  Antonio, 
had  inhumanely  cut  off  the  head  of  the  father  of  Antonio  Del- 
gado  and  fastened  it  to  the  end  of  a  pole  at  the  lower  crossing 
of  San  Antonio  river,  to  be  picked  and  devoured  by  the 
vultures. 

Young  Delgado  now  clamored  for  the  revenge  of  his 
father's  murder.  Under  pretext  of  carrying  Salcedo  and  the 
fourteen  leading  Royalists  to  Matagorda  to  be  sent  to  Spain 


tSS  The  Life  and  Wkitings  of 

they  were  carried  down  into  the  San  Antonio  river  bottom  and 
stripped  and  beheaded,  and  the  head  of  Governor  Salcedo  was 
raised  on  the  top  of  a  pole  at  the  same  spot  where  he  had 
formerly  suspended  the  head  of  the  elder  Delgado. 

While  all  the  Americans  readily  admitted  a  son  could 
desire  to  revenge  the  death  of  a  father,  yet  they  were  so  dis- 
gusted with  this  inhuman  murder  of  prisoners  that  Kemper, 
Ross  and  Hall  and  many  others  retired  to  the  United  States. 
Those  remaining  elected  Col.  Perry. 

While  Governor  Gutierez  and  the  younger  Delgado  were 
reveling  in  wine  and  the  blood  and  plunder  of  their  enemies, 
suddenly  Don  Y.  Elisonda  ^\ath  a  large  army  appeared  on  the 
heights  of  Alazan  overlooking  San  Antonio  on  the  west. 

For  a  short  time  the  Fredonians  were  in  confusion  and 
dismay,  but  they  soon  rallied  and  rushed  forth  at  daybreak 
and  defeated,  after  a  long  and  tierce  battle,  and  chased  the 
flying  Royalists  to  the  Medina  ri^-er. 

The  Fredonians  did  not  wait  to  be  attacked  in  San  An- 
tonio, but  rushed  forth  to  attack  the  Royalists  on  the  banks  of 
the  Medina. 

After  a  long  and  bloody  battle  and  a  reckless  display  of 
courage  and  the  dastardly  desertion  to  the  enemy  of  Captain 
Musquiz  with  a  large  number  of  Mexicans,  the  Fredonians 
were  utterly  routed.  The  Royalist  cavalry  chased  them  back 
to  the  Sabine  river.  Only  ninety-two  of  the  thirteen  hundred 
and  eighty-two  recrossed  the  Sabine  river.  Among  the  cap- 
tured was  young  Antonio  Delgado.  He  was  carried  to  that 
same  bloody  spot  where  he  murdered  Salcedo  for  the  murder 
of  his  father,  and  butchered.  The  brutal  Arredonda  impris- 
oned seven  hundred  peaceable  citizens.  Three  hundred  were 
coniined  in  one  house  on  the  12  th  of  August  and  eighteen  of 
them  died  from  suffocation.  He  imprisoned  five  hundred  of 
the  wives  and  daughters  of  tlie  patriots  and  made  them  con- 
vert twenty-four  bushels  of  corn  into  tortillas  for  his  brutal 
soldiers. 

From  day  to  day  patriots  were  shot  without  trial  and  their 
property  wholly  confiscated.  These  scenes  of  savage  brutality 
continued  for  three  weeks  till  Elisonda  returned  from  pursu- 
ing the  routed  Fredonians  out  of  Texas.     He  returned  driving 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burlesox.  7S9 

before  him  on  foot  the  wives  and  daughters  of  those  whom 
he  had  murdered. 

Thus  ended  the  third  Fredonian  expedition. 

The  fourth  expedition  was  organized  and  led  by  Commo- 
dore DeAury.  As  the  former  expeditions  by  Land  had  been 
so  unfortunate,  Aury  determined  to  attack  Mexico  by  water. 
Galveston  was  selected  as  the  place  of  rendezvous  and  the  port 
from  which  they  would  sail.  The  terrible  delusion  of  the 
Fredonians  was  that  if  they  could  but  get  into  Mexico  thou- 
sands of  down-trodden  patriots  would  rally  around  the  banner 
of  liberty. 

Commodore  Aury  was  joined  b}'  Commodore  Xavier 
Mina  with  two  hundred  men  and  several  ships  and  also  the 
gallant  Col.  Perry  who  had  so  marvelously  escaped  from  the 
fatal  rout  at  Medina,  and  had  rallied  one  hundred  heroic  young 
men,  and  lastly  several  of  the  Old  Guard  of  ]Srapoleon  who  had 
settled  under  Gen.  L'Allemand  at  Liberty  (Libertad),  with 
their  undying  hatred  for  tyrants,  left  their  vineyards  on  the 
Trinity  and  joined  Aury  to  blot  out  royalty  from  this  con- 
tinent. 

Thus  equijjped  Connnodore  Aury  set  sail  from  Galveston 
April  6,  1817,  to  attack  the  city  of  Sota  la  Maria  on  Santander 
river,  sixty  miles  from  the  coast. 

After  the  easy  conquest  of  the  city  the  three  leaders, 
Aury,  Mina  and  Perry,  quarreled  about  that  ancient,  foolish^ 
little  question  that  has  ruined  so  many  good  men  and  causes : 
"Who  of  us  shall  be  the  greatest?"  Aury  took  his  men  and 
ships  and  sailed  away  to  Texas,  but  finding  the  pirate,  LaFitte, 
had  been  expelled  from  his  Barataria  home  by  Commodore 
Patterson  of  the  United  States  navy  he  landed  at  Matagorda, 
and  soon  afterward  abandoned  Texas  forever. 

Gen.  Mina  gained  some  splendid  victories,  but  to  his 
great  disappointment  the  Pepublican  forces  in  Mexico  did  not 
rally  to  his  support.  His  army  wasted  away  by  continual 
fighting  till  he  was  captured  and  shot  N^ovember  19,  1817. 
The  gallant  Col.  Perry,  finding  the  army  too  small  to  main- 
tain their  position  in  Santa  Marina,  and  the  expected  recruits 
not  coming  to  their  aid,  fought  his  way  back  to  Goliad,  a  dis- 
tance of  five  hundred  miles.     "With  a  reckless  desire  for  blot- 


790  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

ting  out  the  Royalist  forces  he  resolved  to  capture  the  small 
garrison  at  Goliad.  But  after  terms  of  surrender  were  agreed 
upon  the  great  Royalist,  Gen.  Arrodondo,  arrived  with  a  large 
cavalry  force.  The  Fredonians  were  fiercely  assailed  in  front 
and  rear  and  when  his  last  man  fell  the  brave  but  misguided 
Perry  exclaimed :  "I  will  never  die  by  the  hands  of  cowards," 
and  blew  out  his  own  brains.  Thus  ended  the  fourth  Fredon- 
ian  or  Don  Quixotic  scheme  for  expelling  the  Royalists  from 
this  continent. 

Gen.  James  Long,  a  surgeon  in  Jackson's  army  at  ISTew 
Orleans,  organized  the  fifth  and  last  Fredonian  expedition. 
He  was  the  son-in-law  of  Gen.  Wilkinson  and  a  wealthy 
Mississippi  planter.  He  and  his  heroic  bride,  nee  Miss  Jane 
Wilkinson,  pined  for  heroic  deeds  in  banishing  kingcraft 
from  this  continent.  And  in  .despite  of  all  the  sad  failures  of 
the  past  he  collected  an  army  of  three  hundred  men  at  xTacog- 
doches  and  proclaimed  the  independence  of  Texas,  and  formed 
a  legislature  and  council,  among  whom  was  the  unfortunate 
Gutierez.  He  scattered  his  small  force  along  the  Brazos  and 
Trinity  from  Red  River  to  Galveston. 

He  established  his  headquarters  at  Bolivar  Point.  He 
sent  General  Gains  to  Galveston  to  enlist,  by  all  means,  that 
brave  and  wily  pirate,  LaFitte,  in  his  expedition.  But  that 
wily  chief  knew  too  much  of  the  Spanish  character  and  their 
hatred  against  foreign  invaders  to  engage  in  such  an  imprac- 
ticable scheme. 

The  Spanish  General,  Perez,  annihilated  all  Long's 
scattered  forces  along  the  Brazos  and  Trinity  rivers  and  killed 
his  brother,  David  Long.  Yet,  nothing  daunted,  he  gathered 
up  what  remained  of  his  scattered  forces  and  pushed  onward 
and  captured  Goliad.  In  the  meantime  Mexico  had  expelled 
her  royal  tyrants  and  become  a  republic.  The  Spanish  com- 
mander at  San  Antonio  claiming  to  be  a  Republican,  assured 
Long  and  his  men  they  should  be  protected  if  they  would  join 
him  and  submit  to  his  authority.  They  were  entrapped  by 
this  false  representation,  disarmed  and  marched  to  the  city  of 
Mexico  where  Long  was  basely  assassinated  and  his  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty  men  were  given  the  alternative  of  entering 
the  Mexican  army  or  toiling  on  the  public  works.     But  the 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Buelesox. 


791 


noblest  heroine  of  all  the  misguided  Fredonians  was  Mrs.  Jane 
Wilkinson  Long, 

Gen.  Long  had  left  lier  and  her  two  children  with  her 
sister,  Mrs.  Carit,  in  Louisiana,  but  when  she  heard  of  the 
perils  of  her  husband  she  mounted  a  war-horse,  traveled  five 
hundred  miles  with  Col.  Handle  Jones  to  join  her  husband  at 
Bolivar  Point.  When  Gen.  Long  set  out  for  Goliad,  he  left 
his  heroic  wife  to  hold  the  fort  till  he  returned. 

After  long  delaj  and  hearing  nothing  of  the  fate  of  Gen. 
Long,  the  soldiers  began  to  desert.     But  she  bravely  said,  "I 


MRS.  LONG  FIRING  THE  CANNON. 

vnll  never  go  hence  till  my.  husband  returns.  You  may  all 
leave  me,  and  I  may  die,  but  when  he  comes  back  my  bones 
will  tell  him  I  was  faithful  to  him."  When  left  alone  with 
her  nurse  and  little  babe  she  fired  the  morning  and  evening 
artillery  salute  and  kindled  up  a  number  of  fires  inside  of  the 
fortification  to  make  the  Indians  and  Mexicans  believe  the 
fort  was  strongly  fortified.  As  indeed  it  was,  for  when,  after 
two  years  the  Xew  Orleans  merchants  sent  out  a  boat  to  bring 
home  the  lone  heroine,  they  found  the  fort  strongly  manned 
by  one  brave  praying  woman. 


792  The  Life  akd  Wkitings  of 

Thus  ended  the  fifth  and  last  Fredonian  expedition,  ex- 
tending over  an  era  of  more  than  twenty  years. 

These  invasions  had  so  embittered  the  Mexicans  against 
the  people  of  the  United  States,  or  "Los* Americanos  Diabolos," 
that  Salcedo  and  Martinez  said  if  possible  they  would  kill 
every  bird  that  flew  over  the  dividing  line  between  the  United 
States  and  Mexico. 

The  whole  Fredonian  blunder  was : 

1.  In  not  remembering  the  eternal  hatred  that  has 
burned  in  every  Spanish  bosom  against  foreign  invaders.  The 
fire  nursed  by  the  songs  of  the  Gids  burns  as  fiercely  to-day 
as  it  did  in  1609,  when  they. expelled  the  last  of  the  Moorish 
invaders  from  Spain. 

2.  The  only  true  way  to  extend  our  republican  institu- 
tions is  not  by  the  sword,  but  by  showing  by  our  examples  that 
we  have  the  best  form  of  government  in  tlie  world.  And  in 
all  commercial,  railroad  and  social  relations  with  all  nations 
powerful  or  Aveak,  show  our  profound,  honest  regard  for  their 
rights. 

These  are  the  only  methods  for  dethroning  kings  and 
girdling  this  planet  with  light,  liberty  and  Christian  civiliza- 
tion. 

The  reader  will  note  the  true  Fredonians  must  never  be 
confounded  with  the  lawless  followers  of  Hayden  Edwards 
who  unjustly  and  for  bad  purposes  assumed  the  name  Fre- 
donians, in  1826.  The  true  Fredonians  were  struggling  for 
liberty,  Ilavden  Edwards  was  for  seizins;  land  not  his  OAvn, 


ERA  OF  COLOI^IZATIO^^. 

We  now  propose  to  discuss  the  fourth  and  grandest  step 
in  Texas'  greatness — the  Era  of  Colonization  by  our  heroic 
pioneers,  Moses  Austin  and  Stephen  F.  Austin,  S.  C.  Robert- 
son, Ben  R.  Milan,  Green  DeWitt,  and  their  noble  co-laborers, 
the  real  founders  of  Christian  civilization  in  Texas.  To  un- 
derstand fully  the  liberal  yet  changeable  and  contradictory 
colonization  laws  and  policy  of  Mexico,  four  great  underlying 


Dr.  Eufus  C.  Bukleson.  793 

facts  must  be  remembered.  1st.  Mexico  wanted  -a.  barrier 
between  her  northern  states  and  the  dreaded  Comanches,  who 
often  rode  into  San  Antonio  and  other  towns  and  plundered 
and  murdered  the  inhabitants.  They  wanted  brave  Anglo- 
American  colonists  to  hold  in  check  and  chastise  these  dreaded 
Arabs  of  our  prairies.  2nd.  They  wanted  to  imitate  the 
example  of  the  United  States,  not  only  in  her  republican  con- 
stitution and  government,  but  in  her  encouragement  of  foreign 
immigration  by  which  the  United  States  had  grown  so 
powerful. 

But  these  two  powerful  motives  in  favor  of  colonization 
were  modified  by  two  other  powerfully  opposing  principles, 
first,  an  inherent  dread  and  hatred  of  foreigners,  which  all 
Spaniards  have  cherished  since  their  conflicts  in  expelling 
their  terrible  enemies,  the  Moors,  from  Spain  in  1350,  and 
second,  their  special  dread  of  Americans  from  their  twenty 
years'  conflict  with  the  Fredonians  led  on  by  the  dauntless 
ISTolan,  Magee,  Kemper  and  Long.  Influenced  by  the  two 
first  motives,  Mexico  gave  every  colonist  with  a  family,  one 
league,  or  four  thousand  four  hundred  and  forty-eight  acres, 
and  one  labor  or  one  hundred  and  seventy-seven  acres  of  land ' 
and  freedom  from  all  taxes  for  six  years,  and  granted  them  all 
the  rights  of  freemen,  and  by  the  constitution  of  the  republic 
forbade  any  change  in  regard  to  colonization  prior  to  1840. 

But  under  the  strong  influence  of  the  last  principles  of 
hate  and  prejudice  the  Mexicans  violated  their  plighted  faith, 
violated  their  constitution  and  forbade  all  future  immigration 
and  sought  to  disarm  the  colonists  to  be  massacred  by  the 
bloody  savages,  and  also  made  the  fair  land  of  Texas  a  penal 
colony  for  Mexican  convicts  and  outlaws.  We  must  ever  re- 
member these  great  and  contradictory  principles  influencing 
the  Mexican  people  if  we  desire  to  understand  fully  the  era 
of  colonization  and  the  God-like  courage,  wisdom  and  hero- 
ism that  enabled  the  Austins  and  their  noble  co-laborers  to 
overcome  great  difficulties  and  to  prepare  Texas  to  become 
the  home  of  millions,  and  the  grandest  state  between  the 
oceans.  Every  thoughtful  person  must  be  led  to  adore  that 
all-wise  Providence  that  ]3repared  men  so  perfectly  qualified 
to  be  the  pathfinders  and  the  foundation  l)uilders  of  liberty 


794  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

and  civilization  in  this  vast  territory — the  Paradise  of  the 
West — which,  in  1820,  was  filled  with  savage  beasts  and  still 
more  savage  men.  Sixty  thousand  bloody  savages  roamed 
over  our  vast  prairies  and  six  thousand  bigoted  Catholic  Mexi- 
cans skirted  along  the  coast  country  from  Matamoras  and  San 
Antonio  to  N'acogdoches  and  San  Augustine.  Stephen  F. 
Austin,  led  by  his  noble  father,  Moses,  was  the  forerunner 
or  the  John  the  Baptist  of  the  Gospel  of  American  civilization 
in  Texas.  The  Austins,  father  and  son,  were  men  of  great 
natural  refinement,  finished  education,  fine  address,  daunt- 
less courage,  great  common  sense  and  integrity  unsurpassed 
by  Fabricius  himself.  Of  them  Pyrrhus  would  have  said 
that  it  is  easier  to  turn  the  noon  day  sun  from  his  course  than 
to  turn  them  from  honor  and  justice.  When  the  elder  Austin 
approached  the  Mexican  Alcalde,  Martinez  in  San  Antonio, 
and  proposed  to  introduce  three  hundred  American  families, 
the  indign.ant  governor,  filled  with  the  dread  and  hatred  of 
twenty  years'  war  with  the  Fredonians,  ordered  him  to  leave 
Texas  immediately  under  penalty  of  being  arrested  and  shot. 
As  Austin  was  hastening  across  the  public  square,  or  plaza, 
from  the  furious  governor  he  providentially  met  that  remark- 
able man.  Baron  De  Bastrop,  the  embodiment  of  all  that 
is  noble  in  manhood,  and  in  devotion  to  royalty  and  dread  of 
Republicanism,  which  he  regarded  as  synonymous  with  an- 
archy and  social  ruin.  The  courtly  and  princely  Baron  De 
Bastrop  had  known  the  immaculately  honest  Austin  at  Bas- 
trop, La.,  and  gTeeted  him  warmly  and  offered  to  return  with 
him  to  the  infuriated  Alcalde,  and  to  assure  him  that  Austin 
was  no  bloody  Fredonian,  but  a  quiet  and  peaceable  man  who 
would  bring  a  great  colony  of  farmers  and  stockmen  who 
would  help  to  fill  up  Texas  and  whip  out  the  dreaded  Co- 
manches  and  be  loyal  to  Mexico. 

The  noble  old  Baron  De  Bastrop  hurried  away  to  the 
timid  and  furious  Alcalde  and  soon  allayed  his  fears  and  anger, 
and  overtook  Austin  and  presented  him  to  the  Governor  as  a 
peaceable  man,  abhorring  war  and  bloodshed,  but  ready  to 
plant  a  colony  of  farmers  and  stockmen,  who  would  be  a  wall 
of  protection  against  the  dreaded  Comanches,  Lipans  and 
Apaches.    Just  as  the  whole  arrangement  was  consummated, 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  795 

making  Moses  Austin  an  Empressario  with  authority  to  intro- 
duce 300  families,  granting  each  family  a  league  and  a  labor 
of  land  and  exemption  from  taxes  for  six  years,  a  revolution 
occurred  in  Mexico,  and  the  combined  forces  of  Morales  and 
Iturbide  swept  away  the  last  vestige  of  Spanish  royalty,  and 
established  a  republic.  The  wise  and  prudent  Austin  deemed 
it  better  to  make  a  long  and  tedious  overland  journey  to  the 
City  of  Mexico  to  get  a  confirmation  of  his  authority  as  Em- 
pressario to  introduce  300  families,  from  the  new  dynasty. 
After  many  and  terious  delays,  which  nothing  could  over- 
come but  his  consummate  skill  and  "wisdom,  the  new 
-dynasty  confirmed  his  authority,  and  he  was  ready  to 
return  to  Texas.  Iturbide  was  aspiring  to  make  himself 
Emperor  on  the  ruins  of  the  infant  Republic  of  Mexico. 
The  republican  forces,  under  the  leadership  of  Santa 
Anna,  hurled  him  from  power  and  drove  him  into  ex- 
ile and  restored  a  republic.  The  indomitable  Austin, 
after  long  and  tedious  delays  and  great  expense,  got  his  author- 
ity confirmed  by  the  reigning  dynasty.  But  the  toilsome  and 
perilous  journey  of  thousands  of  miles  from  Missouri  to  the 
City  of  Mexico,  on  which  he  was  robbed  and  left  to  live  on  . 
acorns,  and  all  this  incessant  worry  of  mind  and  body,  brought 
on  disease  of  the  lungs,  from  wdiich  he  died  at  Mr,  James 
Bryan's,  in  Missouri,  June  10,  1821.  His  dying  request 
was  that  his  heroic  son,  Stephen  F.  Austin,  should  carry  out 
in  good  faith  and  without  delay  his  colonization  scheme.  The 
son  entered  upon  the  great  and  onerous  duties  and  honors 
bequeathed  him  by  his  father.  Stephen  F.  Austin,  like  his 
father,  took  a  solemn  oath  not  to  introduce  none  but  honest, 
peaceable  men  and  reject  all  outlaws  and  maintain  true  alle- 
giance to  the  constitutional  authorities  of  Mexico.  "VVe  call 
special  attention  to  these  two  points.  First,  to  show  that  the 
first  and  earliest  Texan s  were  the  purest  and  most  select  and 
honorable  men  that  ever  settled  a  new  country.  And,  sec- 
ondly, several  writers  have  recently  censured  Stephen  F.  Aus- 
tin for  clinging  to  the  Mexican  Government  and  opposing 
Texas'  independence  so  long.  But  his  high  sense  of  honor 
and  regard  to  his  solemn  oath  compelled  him  to  exhaust  every 
remedy  to  secure  the  rights  of  Texas  before  he  was  released 


796  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

from  that  oath.  And  nothing  gives  so  exalted  a  conception 
of  Stephen  F.  Austin  as  his  profound  regard  for  the  sanctity  of 
his  ofBcial  oath.  And  especially  when  his  whole  life,  public 
and  private  demonstrated  that  his  honor  was  dearer  to  him  than 
life.  Oh  that  his  undying  love  of  truth  and  justice  iii  public 
and  private,  could  live  and  grow  in  the  heart  and  life  of  every 
Texan.  Filled  with  all  these  noble  principles,  Stephen  F. 
Austin  and  fourteen  select  friends  came  to  Texas  to  select  the 
most  favorable  location  for  his  colony.After  a  thorough  sur- 
vey of  the  whole  territory  in  regard  to  soil,  climate  and  acces- 
sibility to  the  Gulf,  they  selected  the  surpassingly  beautiful 
land  between  the  Colorado  and  Brazos  Rivers  and  the  old  San 
Antonio  road  in  Burleson  and  Bastrop  Counties  and  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico. 

Austin  hurried  back  to  meet  the  coming  tide  of  emi- 
grants and  to  see  that  none  but  good  and  true  men  entered 
his  new  colony.  He  met  ten  companies,  in  one  of  which  was 
the  well-known  Ran  Foster,  so  long  a  leading  citizen  of  Fori: 
Bend  County.  Deer,  buffalo,  wild  turkey  and  wild  honey 
were  so  abundant  that  no  commissary  department  was  needed. 
He  found  the  courtly  Baron  De  Bastrop  as  devoted  to  the  son 
as  he  had  lieen  to  the  father,  and  who  consented  to  become 
land  commissioner  for  Austin's  colony.  San  Felipe  De  Aus- 
tion  was  selected  as  the  capital  of  the  colony.  Austin,  as  the 
father  of  the  colony,  prepared  a  plain  and  simple  code  of  laws. 
And  in  no  part  of  Texas,  or  at  any  time,  was  there  so  little 
crime  and  so  much  good  order.  In  San  Felipe  the  sainted 
Thomas  J.  Pilgrim,  a  Baptist,  established  the  hrst  Sunday- 
school  in  182 7,  and  Gail  Borden,  of  condensed  milk  fame^ 
established  the  newspaper  called  the  '"Star  and  Telegraph."' 
'Near  San  Felipe,  in  the  house  of  Moses  Shipman,  cousin  of 
Gen.  Fd  Burleson,  the  first  gospel  sermon  was  preached  by 
Elder  Joseph  Bayes,  a  Baptist  preacher,  in  1827.  There,  also, 
Mrs.  James  Allcorn,  still  living  near  Brenham,  was  the  first 
person  converted  in  Texas.  The  prosperity  of  Austin's  30O 
families  was  so  great  that  in  1825  he  took  a  second  contract 
for  introducing  500  families.  In  1827  he  took  a  third  con- 
tract for  100  families,  and  in  1S2S.  300  families  more,  all  of 
the  highest  character  and  noted  for  being  industrious,  good,, 
moral  and  law-abiding  citizens. 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  797 

The  prosperity  of  these  twelve  hundred  families  and  the 
glowing  accounts  of  the  soil,  climate  and  vast  herds  of  deer 
and  buffalo  and  wild  turkey  and  honey  and  free  grass  so 
excited  the  people  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  that  in  teri 
years  sixteen  men  applied  for  grants  to  colonize  in  different 
parts  of  Texas,  extending  from  Red  River  to  the  Rio  Grande. 
Among  them  were : 

Hayden  Edw'ards,  800  families. 

Frost  Thorn,  400  families. 

R.  Leftwich  and  S.  C.  Robertson,  400  families. 

Stephen  J.  Wilson,  200  families. 

Vehlin  &  Co.  (French),  400  families. 

David  G.  Burnet,  300  families. 

John  L.  Woodbury,  200  families. 

John  Cameron  (Scotch),  399  families. 

John  Dorminguez,  200  families. 

Lorenzo  De  Zavelle  (Mexican),  500  families. 

Martin  De  Leon,  191  families. 

Chambers  and  Padilla,  800  families. 

McMullen  and  McCloin  (L-ish),  300  families. 

But  Stephen  F.  Austin  was  the  only  Empresario  that 
introduced  his  full  number  of  families  contracted  for.  The 
eminent  success  of  Austin  showed  his  admirable  combination 
of  wisdom,  justice,  energy  and  common  sense,  and  justly  enti- 
tles him  to  the  noble  appellation,  "The  Father  of  Texas." 
And  he  should  live  in  every  Texas  heart.  Parents  and  teach- 
ers should  hold  him  up  as  a  model  to  all  the  rising  generation. 

The  progress  of  Texas  colonization  is  a  striking  illustra- 
tion of  the  vast  superiority  of  an  Anglo-Saxon  Protestant 
nation  over  a  Spanish  Catholic  nation.  Spain  had  spent  133 
years  and  millions  of  public  money  trying  to  colonize  Texas, 
and  in  1820  had  only  6,000  people  there. 

While  the  above  is  true,  the  Protestant  Anglo-Saxons,  in 
ten  years,  and  without  a  dollar  from  the  public  treasury,  filled 
Texas  with  30,000  brave  and  resolute  colonists,  and  not  only 
checked  and  chastised  the  dreaded  Lidians,  but  conquered  at 
San  Jacinto  the  picked  army  of  8,000,000  of  Mexico's  popula- 
tion, and  forced  them  to  acknowledge  their  independence. 


798 


The  Life  ain^d  Writings  of 


Time  and  space  do  not  allow  us  here  to  note  the  failure 
of  the  celebrated  English  capitalist,  Edward  Keene,  or  the 
sadder  failure  of  the  celebrated  French  Lallemand,  who- 
attempted  to  plant  a  French  colony,  made  up  chiefly  of  Napol- 
eon's Old  Guard  and  other  veterans  of  his  grand  army.  They 
settled  at  Libertad,  now  Liberty,  and  attempted  to  make  wine 
out  of  mustang  grapes.  But  they  scattered,  and  left  only  a 
few  families,  whose  descendants  still  reside  on  the  Trinity. 
ISTor,  again,  the  failure  of  the  celebrated  infidel,  Robert  Owen, 
who  endeavored  to  secure  a  vast  territory  between  the  Brazos 
and  the  Colorado,  to  test  the  folly  of  trying  to  found  a  colony 
on  Infidelity  and  Communism.  Failing  to  secure  a  grant  in 
Texas,  he  and  his  followers  invested  $5,000,000  on  the 
Wabash,  in  Indiana,  and  founded  there  I^ew  Harmony  col- 
ony^ that  in  thirty  years  proved  the  most  inharmonious  col- 
ony ever  founded  in  America.  But  all  these  failures  only 
demonstrate  the  greatness  of  the  colonizers  of  Texas  and 
crown  Stephen  F.  Austin  and  his  co-laborers  with  undying 
glory.  ___^ 

STEPHEN  F.  AUSTIN. 


STEPHEN  F.  AUSTIN. 


The  goodness  and  wisdom  of  God  are  eminently  displayed 
in  the  grand  pathfinders  and  foundation  builders  he  gave 


13k.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  799 

Texas.  Eminent  among  these  will  ever  stand  Stepen  F. 
Austin.  His  father,  Moses  Austin,  in  dying  from  long  jour- 
neys and  exposure  and  desertion  of  his  traveling  companions, 
had  a  glorious  assurance  that  his  son  Stephen  would  carry  out 
fully  his  cherished  plans  of  colonizing  Texas.  Stephen  F. 
Austin  was  born  in  Austinville,  Va.,  ISTovember  3,  1793,  the 
same  year  Sam  Houston  was  born  in  the  same  grand  state. 

His  father  moved  to  Missouri  when  Stephen  was  six 
years  old.  He  spent  four  years  in  ISTew  London  Academy, 
Missouri,  and  graduated  in  Transylvania  University,  Ken- 
tucky, then  one  of  the  most  eminent  in  the  United  States. 
When  Missouri  was  organized  into  a  territory  in  1818,  Stephen 
F.  Austin  was  elected  Territorial  Legislator,  and  rendered 
good  service  in  laying  the  foundation  of  Missouri.  The  next 
year  he  removed  to  the  Territory  of  Arkansas,  and  was  imme- 
diately appointed  Circuit  Judge.  Which  office  he  filled  with 
great  distinction  till  the  death  of  his  noble  father,  when  he 
was  called  to  take  his  place  in  laying  the  foundation  of  the 
grandest  State  in  the  Union. 

He  assumed  the  grand  work  in  1821,  when  twenty-eight 
years  old. 

After  surveying  the  vast  territory  of  Texas,  he  wisely 
selected  the  rich  bottom  lands  of  the  Brazos  and  Colorado 
Rivers,  extending  from  Trinity  to  Colorado  River  and  from 
what  is  now  known  as  Bastrop  and  Burleson  Counties  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico.  Austin,  father  and  son,  agreed  to  bring  to 
Texas  300  families,  all  to  be  farmers  and  stock  raisers  of  high 
moral  character.  Each  married  man  was  to  receive  as  a  bonus 
a  league  of  4,428  acres  for  pasturage,  and  a  labor,  or  177  acres, 
for  cultivation.  The  whole  expense  of  surveying  and  per- 
fecting titles  was  $16.60  in  silver.  At  ITatchitoches,  Mr. 
Austin  was  joined  by  ten  companions,  one  of  whom  was  the 
celebrated  Ran  Foster,  the  pioneer  of  Fort  Bend  County. 
This  company  of  colonizers  crossed  the  Brazos  River  where 
Washington  now  stands,  and  camped  the  first  night  on  the 
fertile  little  stream  which  they  called  'New  Year's  Creek,  as 
it  was  the  first  day  of  January,  1822,  This  stream  is  midway 
between  Independence  and  Brenham.  Austin  was  pre-emi- 
nently fitted  for  his  great  and  delicate  work.     He  was  finely 


800  The  Life  and  AVeithngs  of 

educated,  especially  in  the  history  of  founding  States  and 
empires.  He  was  immaculately  honest  and  just  to  all  and  firm 
as  the  rock  of  Gibraltar.  He  succeeded  so  well  in  locating  300 
families  that  he  took  a  contract  for  bringing  500  more.  And 
later  200  more,  and  finally  200  more.  The  brilliant  success 
of  Stephen  F.  Austin  induced  twelve  other  men  to  get  grants 
to  bring  colonists  to  Texas,  but  seven  out  of  the  twelve  proved 
failures.  But  in  a  few  years  Texas  increased  to  wonderfully 
and  the  Texans  were  so  skillful  wdth  guns  that  the  Mexicans 
became  alarmed  and  jealous,  and  violated  every  pledge  made 
to  the  colonists.  Bustamente,  the  President  of  Mexico,  abol- 
ished the  Constitution  of  1824.  His  successor,  Santa  Anna, 
abolished  all  courts  and  put  Texas  under  military  rule,  and 
sent  five  military  tyrants  to  disarm  the  Texans,  so  the  Indians 
could  coine  and  murder  them.  Stephen  F.  Austin  advised  the 
Texans  to  do  nothing  rash,  but  to  send  messengers  to  plead 
with  Mexico  to  redeem  her  solemn  pledge  to  Texas,  and  that 
Texas  would  be  true  to  Mexico.  Three  commissioners  were 
appointed  to  bear  this  earnest  plea  to  Mexico,  but  Austin 
alone  went  on  that  long  and  perilous  journey.  He  was  rudely 
thrust  into  prison  and  kept  there  two  years.  When  he  re- 
turned home,  he  assured  the  Texans  that  war  or  extermination 
was  their  only  alternative.  He  at  once  became  a  leader  of  the 
revolution,  and  exerted  his  A^ast  influence  to  save  Texas  and 
make  her  a  grand  State. 

The  question  is  often  discussed  in  debating  societies, 
"Which  was  the  greater  man,  "Austin  or  Houston,  and  which 
should  Texas  reverence  more?"  Before  discussing  this  ques- 
tion, we  advise  them  to  settle  another  question,  "Which  should 
sons  and  daughters  reverence  more,  father  or  mother?" 
^very  true  heart  instinctively  responds,  love  and  honor  both 
jallke.  So  all,  Texans  5n  all  ages  should  honor  and  love 
Austin  and  Houston  alike.  Both  were  God-sent  men  and 
'essential  to  the  greatness  of  Texas.  The  illustrious  patriot, 
Austin,  while  profoundly  engaged  in  his  office  as  Secretary  of 
■State,  especially  in  preparing  instructions  for  Ministers  to  be 
sent  to  England,  United  States  and  France,  was  compelled  to 
toil  a  gi'eater  part  of  three  days  and  three  nights  in  December 
in  a  room  without 'fire,  from  which  he  contracted  a  severe 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  801 

attack  of  pneumonia,  of  which  he  died  at  Columbia,  December 
27,  1836.  His  remains  were  accompanied  by  President 
Houston  and  Cabinet  and  both  houses  of  Congress  to  the 
family  burial  ground  at  Peach  Point,  Brazoria  County,  where 
his  remains  still  sleep  in  glory.  He  was  never  married,  but 
made  his  home  chiefly  with  his  sister,  the  mother  of  our  illus- 
trious fellow-citizen,  Guy  M.  Bryan,  who  inherits  many  of 
the  excellencies  of  his  illustrious  uncle. 


ERA  OF  REVOLUTION 

!N"o  era  of  Texas',  history  has  been  so  little  understood  and 
so  often  misrepresented,  especially  the  causes  of  the  revolu- 
tion. Some  writers  have  described  the  Mexicans  as  blood- 
thirsty tyrants,  delighting  in  the  blood  of  patriots  and  f reed- 
men.  While  others,  particularly  those  living  north  of  a  once 
celebrated  line,  have  slanderously  said  the  early  Texans  were 
reckless,  slave-holding  adventurers  and  outlaws,  who  came  to 
Texas  with  a  secret  yet  fixed  purpose,  as  soon  as  they  were 
able,  to  secede  from  "the  best  Government  in  the  world"  and 
wickedly  wras^t  this  beautiful  Texas  province  of  274,000 
square  miles  from  Mexico. 

But  the  facts  will  demonstrate  that  both  of  these  are  false. 

The  real  origin  and  keynote  of  our  Texas  Revolution  was 
"The  Race  Problem,"  always  so  little  understood  by  super- 
ficial minds. 

God  has  said,  "How  can  two  walk  together  except  they 
be  agreed?"  And  in  Daniel's  Golden  Image — that  grand 
picture  of  universal  history — Divine  Wisdom  declared  that 
"the  ten  toes,  part  of  iron  and  part  of  clay,"  represented  the 
weakness  and  degradation  of  nations  where  the  races  are 
mixed. 

This  mixing  of  races  or  conglomerating  antagonistic  ele- 
ments, so  fitly  portrayed  by  Divine  Widom  as  toes  of  clay, 
has  always  been  a  cause  of  strife,  division  and  weakness. 

I  repeat,  this  race  problem  was  the  keynote  of  the  Texas 
Revolution  of  1830-36. 

51 


802  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

We  have  shown  in  a  previous  number  of  this  series  that 
the  imbecile  Spaniards  were  so  amazed  at  the  push  and  cour- 
age and  love  of  liberty  of  the  Fredonians  that  Governors  Mar- 
tinez and  Salcedo  declared  that,  if  possible,  they  "would  kill 
every  bird  that  flew  across  the  line  between  the  United  States 
and  Mexico." 

This  terrible  race  antagonism  was  allayed  by  the  assur-. 
ances  of  courtly  Baron  De  Bastrop  that  the  Austins  were  the 
soul  of  honor  and  lovers  of  peace,  and  wanted  to  bring  none 
but  peaceable  farmers  and  stockmen,  and  who  would  form  a 
bulwark  of  protection  between  the  timid  Spaniard  and  the 
fierce  and  bloody  Comanches  and  Lipans. 

But  when  the  Mexican  rulers  beheld  the  resistless  energy 
and  courage  and  wonderful  growth  of  the  fiery  Anglo-Ameri- 
cans, they  were  appalled.  They  saw  that  in  nineteen  years 
they  had  colonized  Texas  with  30,000  brave  and  resolute  pio- 
neers, which  was  just  five  times  more  than  Spain  had  colon- 
ized in  147  years,  with  millions  of  money  from  the  royal 
treasury.  When  they  saw  these  30,000  Texas  colonists,  ter- 
ror struck  to  the  hearts  of  the  fierce  savages  even,  and  they 
exclaimed,  what  will  they  do  in  ten  years  more?  Will  they 
not  overrun  Mexico  ? 

These  facts  so  alarmed  the  fears  of  the  Mexican  rulers 
they  resolved  by  all  means  to  cripple  or  crush  this  fearful 
increase  !t>f  Anglo-Americans.  Bustamente's  first  act  was 
strictly  to  forbid  all  further  immigration  from  the  United 
States,  though  the  Constitution  of  the  Mexican  Government 
of  1824  positively  declared  "no  State  shall  pass  any  law  for- 
bidding immigration  till  the  year  1840." 

His  second  act  was  to  make  Texas  a  penal  colony  fur 
Mexican  convicts  and  outlaws.  The  third  was  a  decree  lo 
free  all  slaves.  His  fourth  act  to  establish  custom  houses  at 
San  Antonio,  iN^acogdoches,  Copano,  Velasco  and  Anahuac  to 
rob  the  colonists  of  their  hard-earned  money.  His  fifth  act 
was  to  disarm  the  Texans  and  leave  them  to  the  mercy  of  the 
enraged  Comanches,  which  meant  extermination.  To  en- 
force these  outrages  and  unconstitutional  acts  of  oppression, 
Bustamente  stationed  five  Mexican  officers — Piedras,  with  320 
soldiers,  at  Nacogdoches;  Bradburn,  with  150,  at  Anahuac; 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  803 

Ugartecliea.,  witli  150  men,  at  Velaso,  and  Bean,  with  112 
men,  at  Teran.  These  Mexican  soldiers  were  the  most  brutal 
of  the  whole  Mexican  army,  and  were  sent  to  vex  and  outrage 
the  Texans  in  every  possible  way  and  drive  them  frOm  their 
homes  or  exterminate  them. 

How  dare  ISTorthern  historians,  professing  any  regard 
for  truth,  justice  or  human  liberty,  say  the  Texans  had  not  a 
hundred  times  greater  reasons  to  revolutionize  and  form  a  new 
government  than  the  thirteen  colonies  had  to  rebel  against 
England  in  1776?  The  thirteen  colonies  rebelled  agamst 
England  on  account  of  a  few  pence  tax  on  tea.  The  Texans 
fought  for  life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness;  yea,  for 
existence  itself. 

Thomas  Jefferson  Chambers,  who  was  sent  as  the  Mexi- 
can Supreme  Judge  of  Texas,  says : 

"Bradburn  introduced  martial  law  and  took  the  prop- 
erty of  citizens  without  consent  or  consideration.  He  arrested 
and  imprisoned  many  good  citizens,  and  protected  many  vile 
soldiers  who  were  guilty  of  robbing  and  stealing.  The  peace- 
able, law-abiding  Texans  assembled  in  1830  and  sent  a  peti- 
tion to  the  military  rulers  to  desist  from  such  terrible  aces. 
But  Branch  T.  Archer  and  George  McKinstry,  who  bore  the 
petition,  were  spurned  with  contempt.  In  June  of  the  same 
year  the  infamous  tyrant,  Bradburn,  and  apostate  Virginian 
in  the  Mexican  service,  arrested  and  imprisoned  William  B. 
Travis,  Patrick  H.  Jack  and  Monroe  Edwards  for  no  other 
cause  than  their  opposition  to  his  lawless  acts  against  the  lib- 
erties and  lives  of  the  Texans.  The  Texans  rose  up  as  one 
man,  elected  the  immortal  Frank  W.  Johnson  as  their  leader, 
and  marched  to  the  rescue  of  the  imprisoned  patriots." 

They  captured  nineteen  of  Bradburn's  soldiers,  sent  to 
disperse  them,  and  were  marching  on  to  tear  down  the  fort  at 
Anahuac  and  drive  the  infamous  Bradburn  out  of  Texas. 
But  before  actual  assaults  on  the  fort  began.  Gen.  Piedras,  of 
T^acogdoches,  a  high-toned  gentleman,  arrived,  and  acceded  to 
the  wishes  of  the  Texans,  ordered  the  release  of  all  the  pris- 
oners, and  sent  the  infamous  Bradburn  to  New  Orleans.  The 
affairs  at  Velasco,  the  great  seaport  of  Texas,  were  still  worse. 
Capt.  John  Austin,  W.  J.  Russell,  Henry  S.  Brown  and  112 


804 


The  Life  and  Writings  of 


patriots,  disgusted  Avith  the  oppression  and  falsehoods  of  the 
Mexican  commander,  Ugartechea,  resolved  to  capture  the  fort 
and  125  soldiers.  After  a  heroic  assault  on  the  strongly  for- 
tified fort,  mounted  with  cannon,  125  Mexicans  suiTendered 
to  112  Texans. 

In  this  first  battle  thirty-five  Mexicans  were  killed 
and  fifteen  wounded.  Eight  Texans  were  killed  and  twenty- 
seven  wounded.  A.  C.  Buckner,  of  Buckner's  Creek,  a  great 
Indian  fighter,  was  among  the  killed.  Among  the  wounded 
were  Henry  Smith,  afterwards  Governor;  J.  P.  Caldwell, 
Edwin  Waller  and  R.  H.  Williamson. 


^^K^>« 

^^^y'"'" 

'/ 

v'-p 

' 

SANTA  ANNA. 


But  the  victory  was  complete.  Ugartechea  and  his  men 
were  banished  from  Texas,  and  all  Texas  was  free. 

At  this  critical  juncture,  General  Santa  Anna,  a  great 
Bepublican  leader  in  Mexico,  overthrew  the  tyrant  President, 
Bustamente,  and  declared  the  Constitution  of  1824  should  be 
restored,  and  military  law  should  be  banished  and  the  rights 
of  all  citizens  should  be  protected.  The  gallant  Colonel  Jose 
Antonio  Mexia,  General  Santa  Anna's  messenger,  arrived  in 
Texas  to  assure  the  Texans  that  Santa  Anna  intended  to 
restore  the  Constitution  of  1824,  modeled  after  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States,  and  protect  all  citizens  in  life,  lib- 
erty and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.  A  full  meeting  of  Texas 
delegates,  assembled  at  San  Felipe,  assured  Colonel  Mexia,  for 
whom  our  beautiful  Mexia  is  named,  that  Texas  was  loyal  to 


De.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  805 

tlie  Mexican  flag,  and  would  co-operate  with  Santa  Anna  in 
his  noble  purpose  to  restore  the  Constitution  of  1824,  to  expel 
tyrants  and  royalists  and  maintain  republicanism.  And  as 
an  earnest  of  their  good  intentions  they  aided  Colonel  Mexia 
in  capturing  General  Piedras,  commander  at  ISTacogdoches, 
who,  though  a  gallant  and  noble  man,  like  the  courtly  Baron 
De  Bastrop,  was  an  ardent  friend  of  monarchy  and  an  uncom- 
promising foe  to  republicanism. 

He  sternly  refused  to  join  Santa  Anna's  Republican 
party,  and  bravely  resisted  every  attempt  to  capture  the  fort, 
led  on  by  Captain  Bradley  Looney.  But,  seeing  it  impossible 
to  hold  the  fort,  he  threw  his  ammunition  in  the  wells  and  at- 
tempted a  retreat  to  San  Antonio.  But  he  met  an  overwhelm- 
ing force  of  Texans  on  the  banks  of  the  Angelina.  After  see- 
ing his  brave  Captain  Marcos  and  forty  others  killed  and  a 
large  number  wounded,  and  realizing  that  all  resistance  was 
hopeless,  and  knowing  also  that  the  majority  of  his  men  were 
Republicans,  he  turned  over  the  command  to  Major  Medina, 
and  retired  without  a  stain  on  his  official  honor  and  with  the 
admiration  of  all  true  Texans. 

General  Santa  Anna  expressed  himself  well  pleased  with 
the  spirit  of  the  Texans,  and  especially  their  heroism  in  wiping 
out  the  last  vestige  of  Bustamente's  power  in  Texas.  He 
assured  Stephen  F.  Austin  and  other  eminent  Texans  that 
Texas  should  be  the  special  object  and  regard  of  his  adminis- 
tration. ISTo  name  was  dearer  to  Texas  at  that  time  than  San 
Antonio  Lopez  De  Santa  Anna. 

But  alas !  how  soon  men  change  and  honors  flee  away. 
In  less  than  three  years  Santa  Anna  was  loaded  with  infamy, 
and  he  was  crouching  a  bare-headed,  bare-footed  suppliant  at 
the  feet  of  General  Houston,  while  a  hundred  outraged  Texans 
were  shouting  around  Houston's  tent,  "Shoot  him !"  "Hang 
him !"  "Burn  him !"  "He  murdered  my  brother,  my 
father,  my  son  at  the  Alamo  or  Goliad." 

As  it  is  the  sacred  office  of  history  to  tell  the  truth  con- 
cerning all  men,  and  as  the  law  of  the  ancient  Colchuans,  or 
Aztecs,  made  it  death  for  a  historian  not  to  tell  the  whole 
truth  alike  regarding  enemies  and  friends,  it  may  be  well  to 
state  a  few  facts  in  favor  of  Santa  Anna : 


806  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

1.  Just  as  soon  as  he  attempted  to  organize  the  Govern- 
ment of  Mexico  on  a  republican  basis,  he  found  the  Mexicans 
were  incapable  of  self-government  and  not  prepared  for  the 
Republican  Constitution  of  1824.  And  the  sixty-nine  revo- 
lutions in  the  Republic  of  Mexico  in  sixty-seven  years  show  he 
was  correct. 

2.  He  found  the  priesthood  of  Mexico  well-nigh  omni- 
potent and  that  it  must  be  conciliated.  These  priests,  with 
Padre  Muldoon  at  their  head,  had  traveled  all  over  Texas 
and  remarried  all  the  Texans  at  $25  and  $50  a  couple, 
and  baptized  all  the  babies  at  $2.50  a  head.  Padre  Muldoon 
declared  Texans  had  no  more  reverence  for  the  Holy  Catholic 
Church  than  wild  beasts;  that  a  stalwart  Texan  had  slapped 
his  jaws  in  San  Felipe  because  he  refused  to  drink  with  him, 
stating,  'T  never  drink  with  anybody  but  gentlemen." 

3.  After  two  years  of  arduous  labor  to  reconstruct  the 
Republic  of  Mexico  under  the  Constitution  of  1824,  and  wit- 
nessing a  failure  everywhere,  he  declared  in  favor  of  a  mili- 
tary government,  and  that  the  ci\dl  must  be  subordinate  to 
the  military,  and  that  the  interest  of  the  Catholic  Church 
and  priesthood  must  be  supreme  in  all  things. 

Whether  Santa  Anna  did  this  from  necessity  or  from  love 
of  power  will  probably  never  be  fully  known  till  the  secrets 
of  all  hearts  are  fully  revealed  at  the  judgment  day.  But 
the  practical  result  was,  every  vestige  and  guaranty  of  liberty 
was  swept  away,  and  military  despotism,  headed  by  the  once 
beloved  Santa  Anna  and  the  Jesuitical  priests,  ruled  over  every 
State  in  Mexico.  At  Zacatecas,  Santa  Anna  left  2,000  dead 
and  dying  patriots  on  the  battlefield.  While  Santa  Anna 
assured  Stephen  P.  Austin  that  Texas  should  be  an  exception, 
he  sent  secretly  the  infamous  Ugartechea  with  50  soldiers  to 
San  Antonio  and  Captain  Tenorio  to  Anahuac.  Wm.  B. 
Travis,  whose  soul  hated  tyranny,  raised  a  company  of  Texans 
and  captured  Tenorio  and  his  soldiers  and  held  them  as  pris- 
oners. Captain  Hurd  also  seized  the  Mexican  warship,  Carrie, 
and  all  her  crew,  in  Galveston  Bay,  and  sent  them  to  IN'ew 
Orleans  as  pirates.  Santa  Anna  now  ordered  Ugartechea  to 
arrest  W.  B.  Travis,  Mosely  Baker,  A.  M.  Williamson,  J.  W. 
Johnson,  John  H.  Moore  and  that  noble  patriot,  Zavalla,  and 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  807 

other  leading  Texans,  and  send  them  to  Mexico  and  establish 
firmly  military  law  in  all  Texas. 

The  course  now  left  to  the  heroic  Texans  was  to  live 
as  down-trodden  slaves  of  a  military  tyrant  and  an  ignorant, 
debauched  priesthood,  or  to  gird  on  their  swords  and  bravely 
meet  their  opponents  on  the  field  of  battle.  How  gallantly 
and  heroically  they  did  this  at  the  Alamo,  Groliad  and  San 
Jacinto  all  the  world  knows. 

The  era  of  Eevolution  from  1830  to  1836  is  the  most 
tragic  and  momentous  of  all  Texas  history.  It  would  require 
the  pen  of  a  Homer,  a  Virgil,  a  Milton  or  a  Macaulay  to  do 
full  justice  to  the  thrilling  events  and  heroic  deeds  of  Texans 
from  1830  to  1836.  I  ask  the  reader  to  recall  the  law- 
less outrages  committed  on  the  Texans  and  also  their 
long,  patient  endurance.  And  especially  that  when  our 
Travis,  Jack  and  McKinstry,  and,  above  all,  when  our 
spotless  Stephen  F.  Austin,  bore  earnest  petitions  to  the 
highest  Mexican  authorities  to  respect  our  constitutional 
rights,  they  were  insulted  and  imprisoned  with  common 
felons.  Stephen  F.  Austin  lay  two  years  in  a  Mexican  jail 
for  no  other  cause  than  advocating  the  rights  of  .Texans. 

And  when  it  became  self-evident  that  the  military  des- 
pots who  had  enslaved  Mexico  had  resolved  to  exterminate 
the  Texans,  I  ask,  even  our  N'orthern  historians,  what  should 
Anglo-Saxons  do  ?  Should  they  bend  to  the  lash,  or  wait  like 
fat  oxen  for  the  butcher's  knife  ?  What  would  the  heroes  of 
Lexington  and  Bunker  Hill,  in  1776,  have  done?  Would 
they  not  have  done  just  what  the  Texan  heroes  did?  Gird 
on  their  swords,  and,  in  the  name  of  God  and  liberty,  march 
to  battle,  crying  "Give  us  liberty  or  give  us  death."  The  bat- 
tle of  Gonzales  has  been  justly  called  "The  Lexington  of  our 
Texas  Revolution."  The  battles  of  Velasco,  Anahuac, 
ITacogdoches  and  Angelina,  were  local  efforts  to  repel 
the  personal  outrages  of  the  Mexican,  tyrants,  Hgar- 
techea,  Bradburn,  Teran  and  Tenorio.  All  the  true  Tex- 
ans hoped  the  General  Government  at  Mexico  would 
endure  their  acts  of  self-preservation  and  remove  the  petty 
tyrants.  But  all  these  hopes  soon  vanished.  For.  on  the  Ist 
of  September,  1835,  General  Cos,  Santa  Anna's  brother-in- 


808  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

law,  arrived  with  500  additional  troops,  and  witli  positive 
orders  to  abolish  all  civil  offices  and  establish  military  despot- 
ism, and  imprison  or  execute  every  patriot  who  refused  to  bow 
the  knee  and  wear  the  chain  of  slavery.  General  Cos  estab- 
lished his  headquarters  at  San  Antonio,  and  on  the  16th  of 
September  sent  General  Castenado,  with  200  men,  to  capture 
some  cannon  and  other  munitions  of  war  at  Gonzales.  They 
attempted  to  cross  the  Guadeloupe  River  at  Gonzales  on  the 
20th  of  September,  1835,  but  were  repelled  by  Captain  Albert 
Martin  and  his  little  heroic  band  of  eighteen  men.  Castenado 
withdrew  his  force  of  200  men  to  a  mound,  seven  miles  above 
Gonzales,  to  await  re-enforcements  from  San  Antonio.  In 
the  meantime  Texas  patriots  had  arrived  from  Guadeloupe, 
La  Vaca  and  Colorado,  increasing  the  Texan  army  to  168 
men.  Stephen  F.  Austin,  appointed  commander-in-chief  by 
the  general  consultation,  not  having  arrived,  the  volunteers 
elected  that  grand  old  pioneer,  John  H.  Moore,  Colonel,  and 
J.  W.  Wallace  (  a  brother  of  our  Dr.  D.  R.  Wallace)  as 
Lieutenant  Colonel. 

The  Texas  attacked  the  Mexicans  October  2nd,  1835,  at 
4  o'clock  in  the  morning,  with  infantry,  cavalry  and  cannon. 
The  skill  in  arranging  the  forces,  as  well  as  the  time  and  mode 
of  attack,  and  the  courage  of  executing  would  have  done  great 
credit  to  veterans. 

They  drove  the  enemy  from  the  field.  The  Mexicans 
fled  ingloriously  back  to  Sa.n  Antonio,  leaving  many  dead  and 
wounded  on  the  field.  The  Texans  returned  in  great  triumph 
to  Gonzales,  without  having  a  single  man  killed  or  wounded. 
The  victory  so  inspired  the  Texans  that  they  resolved  to  cap- 
ture Goliad  and  San  Antonio,  strongly  fortified  with  men  and 
arms,  and  to  drive  all  military  despots  from  Texas  soil. 

Captain  George  Collingsworth,  of  Matagorda,  raised  a 
company  of  fifty  men  for  the  capture  of  Goliad.  Fortun- 
ately, the  very  night  Captain  Collingsworth  reached  Goliad 
they  fell  in  with  Ben  R.  Milam,  who  had  escaped  from  the 
guard  at  Monterey,  and  was  making  his  way  back  to  Texas. 
He  was  lying  on  the  grass,  almost  fainting  from  journeying 
over  600  miles  on  foot,  and  from  hunger.  He  supposed  Col- 
lingsworth and  his  men  were  Mexicans  sent  to  arrest  him,  and 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  809 

resolved  to  fight  and  sell  his  life  as  dearly  as  possible.  What 
was  hs  joy  to  find  they  were  Texans,  pressing  forward  to  cap- 
ture a  Mexican  garrison.  The  Texans  were  equally  rejoiced 
to  meet  so  heroic  and  experienced  a  commander,  and  Collings- 
worth at  once  tendered  him  the  command;  but,  like  all  really 
great  leaders,  he  comprehended  the  difficulties  so  clearly,  he 
did  not  covet  leadership,  and  declined,  but  took  his  place  in 
the  ranks.  An  assault  was  at  once  agreed  upon.  After  sev- 
eral hours  of  hard  fighting.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Sandoval  and 
his  command  of  twenty-five  soldiers  surrendered  October  8, 
1835,  with  300  stands  of  arms,  two  brass  cannon  and  $10,000 
in  silver.  Three  weeks  later  Captain  Westover  captured  Lip- 
antitlan,  on  the  ISTueces  River.  But  the  fathers  of  Texas,  like 
all  great  pathfinders  and  foundation  builders  of  civilization, 
knew  that  complete  organization  and  preparation  were  essen- 
tial to  great  success.  Hence  on  the  3d  of  October,  1835,  rep- 
resentatives elected  from  all  Texas  assembled  at  San  Felipe  to 
take  counsel  and  provide  for  the  perils  of  the  hour.  On  the 
12  th  a  provisional  government  was  formed,  with  Henry  Smith 
as  Governor,  James  W.  Robinson,  Lieutenant-Governor,  and 
Sam  Houston,  Commander  of  the  army,  mth  an  Advisory 
Council  of  nine  men,  and  John  R.  Jones,  Postmaster  General. 
But  while  the  civilians  at  San  Felipe  were  organizing  a  civil 
government,  Austin  and  his  little  army  at  Gonzales,  after 
being  thoroughly  reorganized,  moved  forward  to  capture  San 
Antonio,  the  strongest  military  fortification  in  Texas.  On 
the  20th  of  October  they  reached  Mission  Espado,  nine  miles 
below  the  city.  On  the  27th  General  Austin  dispatched  Fan- 
nin and  Bowie  to  select  a  more  suitable  camping  place  nearer 
the  city.  This  advance  guard  camped  the  first  night  in  a  bend 
of  the  San  Antonio  River,  near  the  grand  old  Mission  Concep- 
tion, one  and  a  half  miles  from  the  city.  The  place  was 
admirably  located  for  defense  by  day  or  night.  The  river 
bank  was  covered  by  dense  timber,  a  second  bank,  considerably 
lower  than  the  level  prairie,  in  front,  forming  a  kind  of  natural 
breastwork,  and  the  curve  of  the  river  presented  a  half-moon 
shape  that  prevented  all  flank  movements.  General  Cos 
learned  from  spies — disguised  peddlers  of  tortillas,  that  there 
were  ony  ninety-two  men,  and  expected  to  capture  them  early 


810  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

next  morning.  At  8  o'clock,  October  28,  the  Mexicans,  under 
cover  of  a  dense  fog,  surrounded  the  Texans  on  three  sides, 
with  a  large  cavalry  force,  infantry,  and  one  cannon,  and 
opened  on  them  a  fearful  discharge  of  musketry  and  cannon 
shot. 

The  whole  Mexican  line  was  a  continued  blaze  of  fire. 
But  the  deadly  aim  of  the  Texas  riflemen,  secure  behind  their 
natural  breastworks,  as  by  magic  cleared  the  cannon  and  laid 
the  cannoneers  weltering  in  their  blood.  This  was  repeated 
three  times,  and  leaden  hail  of  death  extended  all  along  the 
line,  till  the  Mexicans,  terror-stricken,  fled  precipitately,  leav- 
ing sixty  killed  and  forty  wounded  on  the  ground.  The  only 
Texan  killed  was  a  gallant  soldier,  Richard  Andrews,  an  uncle 
of  Rev.  Dr.  Andrews.  The  bullet  that  pierced  his  brave  heart 
was  picked  up  and  long  preserved  as  a  relic  by  that  noble  old 
veteran.  Col.  J.  A.  Haynie,  of  Waco.  On  the  1st  of  !N"ovem- 
ber,  1835,  General  Austin  moved  his  army  of  about  1,000 
brave  volunteers  near  the  powder  house,  at  the  mill,  one  mile 
east  of  the  city.  But  the  soldiers  were  poorly  provided  with 
tents  and  arms,  and  without  cannon;  and  San  Antonio  was 
built  on  the  model  of  all  European  cities  200  years  ago,  with 
exceedingly  narrow  streets,  so  as  to  be  easily  barricaded  against 
an  invading  army;  and  the  city  on  all  sides  was  like  a  solid 
wall. 

It,  therefore,  seemed  madness  for  1,000  half-armed  men, 
without  cannon,  to  assault  a  city  so  strongly  fortified  and 
defended  by  at  least  2,000  effective  soldiers.  The  Texan 
army,  therefore,  concluded  to  besiege  the  city,  cut  off  all  sup- 
plies, and  starve  the  enemy  into  an  open  fight  or  a  surrender. 
Thus  nearly  one  month  was  consumed  in  restless  inaction. 
Great  diversity  of  opinion  and  dissatisfaction  arose.  Many 
clamoring  for  an  immediate  assault,  and  others  declaring  such 
an  assault  almost  certain  ruin.  The  malcontents  criticised 
bitterly  the  caution  of  General  Austin.  The  brave  and  im- 
petuous Bowie  resigned  his  commission  in  disgust.  The 
army  dwindled  down  to  about  600. 

All  the  others  returned  home  to  their  families.  The  only 
two  incidents  to  break  the  dull  monotony  of  the  siege  of  twen- 
ty-eight days  was  the  capture  of  300  horses  Cos  had  endeav- 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  811 

ored  to  slip  out  by  night,  and  send  to  the  Rio  Grande,  to  save 
consuming  all  the  provender  in  the  city. 

The  other  incident  was  the  celebrated  "Grass  Fight,"  on 
the  26th  of  ISTovember.  Gen.  Cos  had  sent  out  a  party  to 
cut  hay,  and  a  company  with  two  pieces  of  artillery  as  a  guard. 
The  Texans,  seeing  these  hay  cutters  and  escorts  returning, 
supposing  them  to  be  new  recruits,  about  100  men  rushed 
forth,  under  the  impetuous  Bowie,  and  routed  the  Mexicans, 
captured  their  hay  and  left  fifty  dead  Mexicans  along  the  road. 

On  ISTovember  28,  two  days  after  the  "Grass  Fight,"  Gen- 
eral Austin  resigned  a  position  utterly  unsuited  to  his  taste  or 
talents,  and  accepted  another,  for  which  he  was  pre-eminently 
fitted — Minister  to  the  United  States.  The  little  wasted  army 
of  600  elected  Gen.  Ed  Burleson,  "the  great  Indian  fighter," 
to  fill  his  place.  Preparations  were  immediately  made  for 
attacking  the  city,  though  very  many  declared  it  utterly  sui- 
cidal. But  the  little  army  was  paraded,  December  2,  by  order 
of  General  Burleson,  and  a  stirring  address  was  delivered  by 
Colonel  W.  H.  Jack,  and  a  call  made  for  volunteers  to  storm 
the  city  at  once.  Four  hundred  and  fifty  men  immediately 
stepped  to  the  front  and  enrolled  their  names.  Some  trivial 
mistakes  and  grave  suspicions  delayed  the  attack  for  two  days, 
and  even  threatened  to  break  up  the  siege.  But  on  the  second 
day,  Sam  Maverick,  J.  W.  Smith  and  Mr.  Holmes,  Avho  had 
been  detained  by  General  Cos  as  prisoners,  reached  the  Texas 
camp,  and  gave  a  minute  account  of  the  situation  of  the  Mex- 
ican army,  and  inspired  fresh  hope  and  confidence  of  success. 
General  Burleson,  as  commander-in-chief,  authorized  Milam 
to  organize  a  new  storming  party.  The  heroic  Milam  stepped 
out  in  front  of  General  Burleson's  tent,  and  with  his  trumpet- 
like voice  shouted,  "Who  will  follow  old  Ben  Milam  into 
San  Antonio?"  The  brave  Breeding  was  the  first  to  shout i 
"I  will.  Hurrah  for  old  Ben  Milam  and  San  Antonio !"  Im- 
mediately 400  men  fell  into  line.  The  plan  agreed  upon  was 
admirable  in  every  respect.  Gen.  Burleson  was  to  make  a 
feint  of  an  attack  on  the  north  at  the  old  mill,  and  Colonel 
ISTeil  was  to  do  the  same  on  the  Alamo  at  2  o'clock  on  the 
morning  of  December  5,  so  as  to  draw  the  whole  attention  of 
the  startled  enemv  to  the  north  and  east,  while  Milam  and 


812  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

Johnson,  with  only  300  men,  rushed  into  the  city  on  the 
south,  and  before  they  were  discovered  by  the  astonished 
enemy  they  gained  a  secure  lodgment  in  the  stronghold  of  the 
house  of  Verimandi.  The  fearless  Texans  were  now  in  the 
heart  of  the  city,  and  with  two  small  cannon  and  death-dealing 
muskets,  they  spread  terror  and  dismay  throughout  the  city. 

On  December  6,  at  3  o'clock,  the  fearless  Milam,  enter- 
ing the  Verimandi  House,  was  shot  through  the  brain  by  a 
musket  ball,  and  fell  dead,  and  was  buried  in  the  park,  or 
ipu'eraua^  oqX  'osnoq  po:^Bjq9[90  ^q:^  o;  p9i[0B:^:^-B  '"^noo 
House  was  celebrated  for  another  very  dissimilar  event.  In 
that  house  the  heroic  fJ0^vit,  wooed  and  married  the  surpass- 
ingly beautiful,  queenly  daughter  of  Governor  Verimandi, 
It  was  there  she  died,  and  unconsolable  grief  would  have 
shortened  Bo^vie's  life,  even  if  he  had  not  been  killed  in  the 
Alamo,  prostrated  with  grief  and  consumption,  on  his  couch. 

The  siege,  with  its  reign  of  terror,  especially  to  women 
and  children,  raged  four  days,  when,  on  the  morning  of  the 
9th,  General  Cos  suspended  his  firing  of  cannon  and  mus- 
kets, lowered  his  black  flag  and  hung  out  the  white  flag  of 
surrender  of  the  city  and  fourteen  hundred  soldiers  to  Gen- 
eral Burleson,  with  less  than  600. 

Article  9  of  surrender  said :  "All  public  property,  arms 
and  munitions  of  war  shall  be  inventoried  and  delivered  tu 
General  Burleson." 

Article  10,  General  Cos,  with  his  force,  shall,  for  the 
present,  occupy  the  Alamo,  General  Burleson  and  his  force 
shall  occupy  the  city  Bexar,  and  neither  General  molest  the 
other. 

Article  11.  General  Cos,  with  his  force,  shall  retire 
within  six  days,  with  their  side  arms,  into  the  interior  of  Mex- 
ico, under  parole  of  honor  that  they  will  not  in  any  way  oppose 
the  re-establishment  of  the  Constitution  of  1824." 

In  violating  this  last  pledge  they  perjured  themselves, 
and,  according  to  the  laws  of  war,  should  have  been  shot  when 
captured  at  San  Jacinto;  but  which  just  sentence  the  Texans 
magnanimously  declined  to  execute,  and  covered  themselves 
with  glory  before  the  civilized  world. 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  813 

General  Burleson  furlonghed  his  gallant  little  army  to 
return  home  in  glory.  He  left  the  gallant  W.  B.  Travis  and 
the  volunteers  of  other  States  to  garrison  the  Alamo  till  peace 
was  fully  ratified  and  Texas  independence  recognized  by 
Mexico. 

This  splendid  victory  filled  all  Texas  with  joy,  and  was 
celebrated  with  bonfires  throughout  Texas,  and  also  filled  all 
Mexico  with  astonishment  and  Santa  Anna  with  rage  and 
frenzy. 

He  raved,  says  one  of  his  Generals,  "like  a  madman,  and 
swore  he  would  invade  Texas  in  person  and  wipe  out  this  dis- 
grace on  Mexican  arms  in  blood,  confiscation  and  exile." 

But  while  our  little  half -armed,  haK-f  ed,  half -clothed  and 
self-supporting  army  under  General  Burleson  at  San  Antonio 
was  covering  the  name  of  Texas  with  undying  fame,  the  pigmy 
politicians  at  San  Felipe  were  disgracing  not  only  Texas,  but 
human  nature. 

Governor  Henry  Smith  and  his  Lieutenant  Governor, 
and  council  of  nine  were  engaged  in  a  petty  scramble  who 
should  be  greatest.  The  committee  of  nine,  like  many  other 
men  clothed  with  a  little  brief  authority,  foolishly  insisted 
they  should  direct  the  Generals  how  and  where  to  fight, 
and  that  the  Governor  was  a  mere  figurehead,  to  sign 
their  decrees.  General  Houston,  who  learned  war  under  Gen- 
eral Jackson,  knew  the  Governor  was  the  proper  person  to 
issue  orders,  and  refused  to  obey  their  orders,  and  they  vir- 
tually suspended  him  and  deposed  the  Governor.  It  is  a 
remarkable  fact  that  these  Solomons  have  sunk  into  such  utter 
oblivion  that  not  one  Texan  in  50,000  ever  heard  of  their 
names.  Oh,  that  such  men,  and  there  are  many  such  now  in 
Texas,  could  learn  a  small  modicum  of  common  sense. 

But  soon  these  Lilliputians  were  swept  into  oblivion  by 
the  stern  necessities  of  the  hour. 

Santa  Anna  had  subjected  several  States  in  Mexico  to  his 
military  despotism  by  thirty-two  battles,  in  the  last  of  which 
he  left  2,000  dead  patriots  on  the  battlefield  of  Zacatecas. 

Flushed  with  victory  and  maddened  with  his  success,  he 
resolved  to  select  8,000  veteran  soldiers  and  sweep  down  on 
Texas  like  an  enraged  lion  and  retrieve  all  that  Cos  and  Ugar- 


8 14:'  The  Life  and  AVkitings  of 

tecliea  liad  lost.  He  selected  his  bravest  Generals,  Filisola, 
Urrea,  Sestrillou,  who  had  stood  by  him  in  thirty-two  victo- 
ries, and,  in  his  folly,  he  thought  Texas  would  flee  before  this 
august  majesty — ^"the  Napoleon  of  the  West" — ^like  deer 
before  a  Mexican  lion.  But  the  heroic  Texans  assembled  at 
Washington,  on  the  banks  of  the  Brazos,  in  a  newly  erected 
storehouse  of  Eev.  N.  T.  Byars,  and  not  only  hurled  defiance 
at  the  ''Napoleon  of  the  West,"  but  declared  her  eternal  sepa- 
ration from  Mexico,  and  boldly  took  her  stand  among  the 
nations  of  the  earth  as  The  Lone  Star  Republic  of  Texas. 

Hon .  David  Burnet  was  elected  President,  and  Lorenzo 
De  Zavalla,  Vice-President,  and  Gen.  Sam  Houston,  Com- 
mander-in-Chief, untrameled  by  the  silly  dictation  of  a  few 
clerks  and  farmers,  who  never  smelled  gunpowder  nor  knew 
what  war  did  mean,  but  was  left  to  exercise  his  own  profes- 
sional skill  in  hurling  back  the  mighty  hosts  of  Santa  Anna. 

Santa  Anna  devised  an  admirable  plan  for  the  ruin  of 
Texas.  He  intended  to  sweep  over  Texas  in  three  columns. 
Gen.  Urrea,  an  apostate  Tennesseean,  with  a  powerful  army, 
was  to  sweep  over  Middle  Texas  and  conquer  Bexar,  Gonzales, 
Bastrop  and  Nashville.  A  third  division,  under  Santa  Anna, 
was  to  aid  Filisola  in  capturing  San  Antonio  and  Gonzales, 
and  then  penetrate  the  heart  of  the  colonies  to  San  Felipe, 
and,  if  need  be,  as  far  as  Nacogdoches  and  San  Augus- 
tine. The  vain-glorious,  self-styled  "Napoleon  of  the  West" 
firmly  believed  that  he  would,  as  he  wrote  to  Senor 
Tornel,  the  Minister  of  War,  be  able  in  eight  weeks  "to  drive 
from  Texas  all  who  had  taken  part  in  the  war,  and  divide  out 
their  lands  and  property  among  his  officers  and  soldiers  and 
forever  blot  out  the  American  colonies  in  Texas." 

But  alas,  alas,  for  human  pride.  He  did  not  realize  the 
truth  of  what  Bums  said : 

"The  best  laid  schemes  o'  mice  and  men  aft  gang  agley." 

And,  above  all,  that  God  said  "a  haughty  spirit  goeth 
before  a  fall."  How  little  did  he  (^ream  that  in  sixty  days 
his  grand  army  would  be  scattered  as  sheep  having  no  shep- 
herd, and  he  would  be  fleeing  and  hiding  in  the  grass  like  a 
scared  rabbit,  and  then  caught  bare-headed,  bare-footed,  and, 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Bukleson.  815 

mounted  on  a  mule  behind  the  boy,  Sylvester,  would  ride  into 
Houston's  camp  amid  the  hisses  and  curses  of  an  outraged 
people.  And  there  to  crouch  like  a  whipped  spaniel  at  the 
feet  of  Houston,  and  implore  forgiveness  and  protection 
against  those  who  were  shouting  "Hang  him,"  "Shoot  him," 
"Burn  him,"  "Remember  the  Alamo,"  "Remember  Goliad." 


THE  SIEGE  AND  FALL  OE  THE  ALAMO. 

When  Santa  Anna  heard  that  his  brother-in-law,  Gen- 
eral Cos,  had  surrendered  the  strongly  fortified  city  of  San 
Antonio  with  2000  soldiers  to  Gen.  Burleson's  army  of  600 
half -armed  Texans  he  was  furious.  He  swore  that  he  would 
sweep  do^Ti  on  Texas  and  humble  the  Texans  in  the  dust  or 
drive  them  from  the  state.  And  having  conquered  the  last 
republican  general  in  Mexico  and  leaving  2000  dead  patriots 
on  the  battlefield  at  Zacatecas,  he  hastened  on  to  Texas.  He 
brought  with  him  his  greatest  generals  and  8,000  select  troops 
who  had  followed  him  in  thirty-two  battles. 

When  General  Cos  surrendered,  as  there  was  no  neces- 
sity for  retaining  a  strong  military  force  at  San  Antonio,  Gen- 
eral Burleson  disbanded  his  Spartan  heroes,  and  turned  over 
the  command  to  Col.  William  B.  Travis,  and  his  144  gallant 
soldiers  to  guard  the  city. 

On  February  22,  1836,  when  Santa  Anna  reached  the 
subui'bs  of  San  Antonio,  Col.  Travis  with  his  heroic  band, 
composed  of  such  men  as  Crockett,  Bowie,  Bonham  and  Dick- 
inson, retired  to  the  Alamo.  This  was  the  most  strongly  for- 
tified of  all  the  nineteen  mission  forts  of  Texas.  The  main 
chapel,  still  standing,  is  Y5x62  feet;  walls  of  solid  masonry 
four  feet  thick  an.d  twenty-two  feet  high.  From  the  north- 
west corner  a  Avail  of  fifty-two  feet  extended  to  the  convent, 
which  was  a  two-story  building  186x18.  The  prison  was  one- 
story  115x17.  These,  with  several  low  buildings,  included 
about  three  acres,  sufficient  to  accommodate  a  thousand  men; 
all  being  surrounded  by  a  stone  wall  two  and  a  half  feet  thick 
and  eight  feet  high.    Fourteen  cannons  were  mounted  on  vari- 


816 


The  Life  and  Writings  of 


OTIS  parts  of  the  Alamo  fortifications.  Fortunately,  on  tlie 
first  day  of  the  siege,  Travis  secured  eighty  bushels  of  corn 
and  thirty-two  beeves.  About  noon  on  the  23d  Santa  Anna 
arrived  in  person,  and  ordered  the  Texans  to  surrender  or  be 
put  to  death.  They  answered  him  with  a  cannon  shot.  The 
siege  continued  eleven  days,  during  which  cannon  balls  poured 
incessantly  on  the  heroic  army  of  Texans.  Travis  sent  out 
touching  appeals  for  help,  but  none  came,  except  thirty-two 
from  Gonzales,  who  forced  their  way  through  the  Mexican 
ranks  into  the  Alamo.     On  the  tenth  day,  when  Travis  saw 


BOWIE  BEING  CARRIED  OVER  THE  LINE. 

there  was  no  hope  for  recruits,  he  assembled  his  men  and  ex- 
plained the  situation.  He  then  drew  a  line  with  his  swora, 
and  said,  "Now  all  who  are  resolved  to  die,  with  me,  fighting 
for  liberty,  will  cross  over  this  line,"  With  a  loud  heroic 
shout  they  all  rushed  over  the  line.  The  gallant  Bowie  was 
lying  helpless  on  his  couch,  and  he  cried,  "Oh,  boys,  I  am 
resolved  to  die  fighting,  please  carry  me  over  the  line."  And 
with  a  still  louder  shout  they  lifted  up  his  couch  and  carried 
him  over  the  line.  On  Sunday  morning,  March  6,  while  the 
church  bells  were  calling  the  worshippers  to  morning  prayers. 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  Sll 

Santa  Anna  with  six  thousand  select  troops  supplied  with 
scaling  ladders  and  crowbars,  made  the  last  deadly  assault. 
The  little  heroic  band  met  them  with  a  deadly  fire,  and  the 
assailants  reeled  and  fell  back.  But  Santa  Anna  with  his 
cavalry  goaded  them  to  renew  the  assault.  Soon  a  breach  was 
made  in  the  walls  and  the  hosts  of  murderers  rushed  in.  Travis 
was  shot  in  the  head  and  fell  dying,  but  had  strength  to  kill 
a  Mexican  that  was  trying  to  spear  him.  Bowie,  true  to  his 
vow,  died  fighting,  and  killed  two  or  three  Mexicans  as  they 
murdered  him  lying  on  his  couch. 

Crockett  retreated  into  the  little  Confessional  room  of  the 
X)riest,  where  Mrs.  Dickinson  says  she  found  him  with  many 
Mexicans  lying  dead  around  him. 

Every  man  died  a  hero,  fighting.  And  after  the  deadly 
roar  of  the  guns  and  clash  of  steel,  Mrs.  Dickinson,  whose 
husband  had  been  killed,  taking  her  little  babe  in  her  arms 
and  a  pitcher  of  water,  went  to  each  hero  to  see  if  any  were 
still  living,  but  all  were  dead.  That  evening  the  brutal  Santa 
Anna  had  the  one  hundred  and  eighty-two  noble  Texans 
placed  in  a  pile  and  burned.  Alcalde  Ruiz,  who  was  appointed 
to  bury  the  dead  Mexicans,  says  he  buried  sixteen  hundred, 
while  Santa  Anna  with  his  usual  mendacity,  reports  sixty 
killed  and  two  hundred  and  fifty-one  wounded. 

Thus  ended  the  battle  that  will  forever  place  the  Alamo 
beside  the  grandest  battles  of  the  world,  and  will  cause  her 
heroic  defenders  to  shine  on  with  ever  increasing  splendor, 
till  sun,  m^oon  and  stars  grow  dim. 

In  1837  John  IST.  Seguine  had  the  bones  of  the  illustrious 
heroes  of  the  Alamo  collected  and  buried  with  great  military 
honors. 


FORT  PARKER  MASSACRE. 

"VVe  give  a  detailed  account  of  this  horrible  massacre,  for 
two  reasons : 

First — It  demonstrates  the  unparalleled  suffering  and  un- 
dying courage  of  the  early  Texas  pioneers. 

Second — It  demonstrates  the  inhuman  demoniac  brutal- 
ity of  the  Indians.    And  shows  that  like  the  ancient  Sodomites 

52 


818  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

and  Canaanites  their  cup  of  iniquity  was  full,  and  cried  to  a 
just  and  merciful  God  for  their  extermination,  from  the  face 
of  the  earth,  which  is  now  well  nigh  accomplished. 

Parker's  Fort  was  built  in  1833  by  a  colony  from  Illinois, 
consisting  of  the  Parker  family  and  their  relations.  The 
Parker  family  was  originally  from  Tennessee,  but  had  been  at- 
tracted to  Illinois  by  its  celebrity  as  a  wheat  growing  coun- 
try. But  they  soon  became  dissatisfied  with  the  freezing  win- 
ters— the  ice  and  snow  covering  the  ground  for  months.  And 
they  resolved  to  seek  a  home  in  the  genial  sunny  clime  of 
Texas,  the  Paradise  of  America. 

The  Parker  family  was  remarkable  for  honesty,  courage 
and  strong  native  talent.  They  were  all  Hard  Shell  or  Primi- 
tive Baptists.  And  violently  opposed  temperance,  missions 
and  Sunday  Schools.  Elder  Daniel  Parker  is  widely  known 
as  the  father  of  "the  two-seed  doctrine."  Which  is  that  the 
whole  human  family,  by  an  eternal  decree  of  God  is  divided 
into  the  elect  and  the  non-elect,  or  the  seed  of  God  and  the 
seed  of  the  devil. 

The  colony  consisted  of  thirty-three  persons.  These 
all  combined  and  built  a  fort  or  block  house,  including 
over  an  acre  of  land.  And  cottages  adjoining  the  wall. 
The  whole  fort  was  conveniently  arranged  for  the  sepa- 
rate families  and  also  arranged  with  portholes  and  every  con- 
venience for  repelling  an  attack.  All  the  colonists  slept  inside 
of  the  Fort,  and  kept  all  the  gates  and  doors  securely  barred 
and  guarded.  The  fort  stood  on  a  beautiful  hill  near  a  clear 
cool  spring  of  water,  overlooking  the  fertile  valley  of  the 
I^avasota  and  the  boundless  prairie  covered  with  vast  herds  of 
cattle  and  buffalo  and  wild  game  of  every  description.  Some 
remains  of  the  old  fort  are  yet  to  be  seen  two  and  a  half  miles 
from  the  beautiful  town  of  Groesbeck.  When  the  men  went 
to  their  fields  to  work  or  on  the  prairies  to  hunt  their 
daily  supply  of  meat,  they  carried  with  them  guns  and  went 
in  sufficient  numbers  to  repel  an  attack  of  the  Indians,  always 
leaving  two  or  three  men  at  home  to  guard  the  women  and 
children. 

On  the  18th  of  May,  1836,  just  twenty-seven  days  after 
the  battle  of  San  Jacinto,  when  Santa  Anna  and  his  invading 


Dr.  Rufus  0.  BuRLESoisr.  819 

army  had  been  conquered  and  driven  from  Texas,  and  all 
things  promised  peace  and  prosperity,  the  newly  risen  sun 
was  shining  brightly,  the  birds  were  singing,  the  flowers  were 
blooming  over  the  vast  prairies  covered  with  carpets  of  unend- 
ing green.  The  men,  except  a  few,  had  gone  to  work  in  the 
field.  The  women  were  busy  at  their  dairies,  wheels  and  looms. 
The  merry  children  were  shouting  and  laughing  in  their 
sport.  When  suddenly  as  an  outbursting  volcano,  about  five 
hundred  Comanche  and  Kiowa  Indians  made  their  appearance 
on  a  hill  three  hundred  yards  from  the  fort.  The  frightened 
children  flew  to  their  mothers.  The  men  on  guard  seized  their 
guns,  but  the  deceitful  demons  raised  the  wliite  flag  as  a  token 
of  peace  and  friendship.  Mr.  Ben  Parker  went  forth  to  see 
what  the  Indians  wanted.  They  professed  to  be  very  friendly 
and  asked  him  to  show  them  a  good  camping  place  near  the 
springs  and  asked  him  for  a  beef  as  they  were  very  hungry. 
Mr.  Parker  fearing  to  offend  them  promised  they  should  havo 
what  they  wanted.  Returning  to  the  fort  he  told  the  trembling 
women  what  the  Indians  said,  but  added,  "I  fear  they  intend  to 
fight.''  "But  by  kindness  I  will  try  to  dissuade  them  from 
fighting."  His  brother,  Silas,  and  all  the  women  begged  him 
not  to  go  out  to  them  again.  But  he  went  and  immediately 
the  bloody  monsters  surrounded  and  murdered  him.  And 
then  with  horrid  yells  and  death  dealing  clubs,  axes  and  toma 
hawks  they  rushed  upon  the  fort,  and  battered  down  the  doors. 
Then  began  one  of  the  bloodiest  tragedies  known  even  in 
Texas  Indian  warfare.  Mr.  Silas  Parker  was  murdered  trying 
to  rescue  his  sister,  Mrs.  Plummer.  She  made  a  desperate 
effort,  but  was  knocked  down  with  a  hoe  and  captured.  Sam 
Prost  and  son  were  killed  while  heroically  defending  the 
women  and  children  inside  the  fort.  Old  grandmother  Parker 
was  stabbed  and  left  for  dead.  Elder  John  Parker,  aged  79, 
and  his  wife  and  Mrs.  Kellogg  were  making  their  escape,  but 
when  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  from  the  fort  were  over- 
taken and  the  venerable  preacher  was  brutally  murdered  and 
stripped,  scalped  and  horribly  mutilated.  His  aged  wife  was 
knocked  down,  speared,  stripped,  but  feigning  to  be  dead  she 
was  left  lying  on  the  ground.  Thus  in  one  short  hour,  the 
happy,  prosperous  colony  was  deluged  in  blood  and  filled  with 


820  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

desolation  and  mourning.  Elder  John  Parker  and  Silas  M. 
Parker  and  John  Parker,  Samuel  M.  Frost  and  his  son,  Rob- 
ert, were  killed.  Mrs.  John  Parker,  Grandma  Parker  and 
Mrs.  Duty  were  dangerously  wounded.  Mrs.  Rachel  Plum- 
mer,  daughter  of  Jas.  Parker,  and  her  son,  James,  2  years 
old,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Kellogg,  Cynthia  Ann  Parker,  8  years 
old,  were  taken  into  captivity  as  prizes  to  be  redeemed  by  lov- 
ing and  sorrowing  friends  at  home. 

The  fiends,  after  murdering  Silas  Parker  overtook  his 
wife  fleeing  with  her  four  children  from  the  fort,  and  com- 
pelled the  terror-stricken  mother  to  lift  her  daughter,  Cynthia 
Ann,  and  her  son,  John,  6  years  old,  up  on  horse-back  behind 
two  mounted  Indians,  and  the  Indians  on  foot  were  driving 
the  mother  and  her  two  little  children  back  to  the  fort,  but  they 
were  rescued  by  the  men  who  came  rushing  from  the  fields  as 
soon  as  they  heard  the  screams  of  the  women  and  children. 
The  terror-stricken  men,  women  and  children,  seeing  their 
once  happy  home  in  the  possession  of  five  hundred  bloody 
Indian  murderers,  escaped  to  the  dense  timbers  of  the  iSTava- 
sota  bottoms.  When  night  came  and  spread  her  dark  mantle 
over  the  scene  of  horror,  Abraham  Anglin  and  Evan  Faulk- 
enberry  started  back  to  see  if  they  could  give  any  succor  to  the 
wounded,  and  examine  the  extent  of  the  ruin.  The  only  liv- 
ing being  they  could  see  was  old  Grandma  Parker  whom  the 
Indians  had  speared  and  stripped,  except  her  undergarments 
and  left  her  feigning  to  be  dead  on  the  ground.  She  had 
crawled  to  a  deserted  cabin  and  concealed  herself.  They  took 
her  some  bed  clothing  and  carried  her  to  a  place  of  conceal- 
ment until  they  could  return  from  the  fort.  On  reaching  the 
fort  no  living  human  sound  could  be  heard.  All  was  silent 
in  death,  but  the  dogs  were  barking  furiously,  the  cattle  were 
lownng,  the  horses  neighing  and  the  hogs  squealing,  making 
a  hideous  medley  of  sounds.  The  next  morning  Messrs.  Bates, 
Anglin  and  Faulkenberry  went  back  to  the  fort  to  get  if  pos- 
sible, some  provisions  and  horses  on  which  to  retreat  and  also 
to  look  after  the  dead.  On  reaching  the  fort,  they  found  five 
or  six  horses,  a  few  saddles,  some  venison,  bacon  and  honey, 
but  fearing  an  attack  from  the  Indians  who  might  still  be 
lurking  in  the  thickets  they  left  without  burying  the  dead. 


Dk.  Kufus  C.  Burleson.  821 

They  al\  concealed  themselves  in  the  thick  timbers  of  Nava- 
sota  until  they  could  set  out  for  Fort  Houston,  ninety  miles 
away,  near  the  present  town  of  Palestine  and  on  the  present 
farm  of  Hon,  John  H.  Reagan.  We  give  the  description  of 
that  mournful  journey  in  the  language  of  Mr.  James  W.  Par- 
ker, who  sa^^s,  '.'We  were  truly  a  forlorn  set,  many  of  us  bare- 
footed and  bareheaded,  a  relentless  foe  on  the  one  hand  and 
on  the  other  a  trackless  and  uninhabited  wilderness  infested 
with  reptiles  and  wild  beasts,  entirely  destitute  of  food  and 
no  means  of  procuring  it,  added  to  this  the  agonizing  grief 
for  the  death  and  capture  of  our  dear  relatives  and  the  expecta- 
tion of  meeting  at  any  moment  a  like  fate,  utter  dispair  al- 
most seized  us. 

I  took  one  of  my  children  on  my  shoulders  and  led  the 
other,  the  grown  persons  followed  my  example.  Our  mourn- 
ful party,  consisting  of  eighteen  persons  left  for  Fort  Houston. 
Our  journey  lay  through  thickly  tangled  briars  and  under- 
brush. My  wife  was  in  bad  health,  Mrs.  Frost  was  in  deep 
distress  for  the  loss  of  her  husband  and  son,  and  all  were  bit- 
terly mourning  for  the  loss  of  loved  ones,  and  being  bare- 
footed except  my  wife  and  Mrs.  Frost,  our  progress  was  very 
slow.  Many  of  the  children  had  nothing  on  but  their  shirts 
and  their  sufferings  from  the  briars,  tearing  their  little  legs 
and  feet  were  almost  beyond  human  endurance. 

We  traveled  until  about  3  o'clock  in  the  morning,  when 
the  women  and  children  being  worn  out  with  hunger  and 
fatigue,  we  lay  down  on  the  grass  and  slept  till  daylight  when 
we  resumed  our  perilous  journey.  The  briars  tore  the  legs  and 
feet  of  the  children  until  they  could  have  been  tracked  by  the 
blood  that  flowed  from  their  wounds.  At  dark  of  the  second 
day  after  leaving  the  fort,  the  children,  and  especially  the 
women  who  were  nursing  infants  began  to  suffer  intensely 
from  hunger,  but  alas,  we  had  not  a  morsel  of  food.  But 
providentially  at  that  moment  a  polecat  came  near  us,  I  im- 
mediately pursued  him  and  caught  him  just  as  he  jumped  into 
the  river.  The  only  way  I  could  kill  it  was  by  holding  it  under 
the  water  until  it  drowned.  Fortunately,  we  had  the  means 
of  striking  a  fire  and  we  soon  had  it  cooked  and  equally  divided 
among  the  women  and  children,  the  share  of  each  being  small 


822  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

indeed.  This  was  all  we  had  to  eat  until  the  fourth  day,  when 
we  were  lucky  enough  to  catch  another  polecat  and  two  small 
terrapins,  which  we  also  cooked  and  divided,  giving  the  women 
and  children  the  larger  share.  On  the  evening  of  the  fifth 
day  I  found  that  the  women  and  children  were  so  exhausted 
that  it  would  be  impossible  for  them  to  travel  much  farther. 
After  holding  a  consultation  it  was  agreed  that  I  should  hurry 
on  to  Fort  Houston  for  aid,  leaving  Mr.  Dwight  in  charge  of 
the  women  and  children,  and  early  next  morning,  I  started  for 
the  fort  about  thirty-five  miles  distant  which  I  reached  early 
in  the  afternoon.  I  have  often  looked  back  and  wondered 
how  I  was  able  to  accomplish  this  extraordinary  feat.  I  had 
not  eaten  a  mouthful  for  six  days,  having  always  given  my 
share  of  the  polecats  and  terrapins  to  the  women  and  children, 
and  yet  I  walked  thirty-five  miles  in  about  eight  hours.  But 
the  thought  of  the  suffering  women  and  children  I  had  left 
behind  inspired  me  with  strength  and  perseverance,  and  above 
all,  God  in  his  bountiful  providence  upheld  me  in  that  trying 
hour. 

The  first  person  I  met  on  reaching  Fort  Houston  was  the 
generous  and  brave  Captain  Carter.  He  soon  had  five  horses 
saddled  and  other  means  of  conveyance,  and  he  and  Jeremiab 
Courtney  went  with  me  to  meet  our  little  band  of  starving, 
bleeding  women  and  children.  We  met  them  just  at  dark, 
and,  placing  the  Avomen  and  children  on  the  horses,  we  reached 
Captain  Carter's  hospitable  home  about  midnight.  Every 
preparation  had  been  made  to  receive  the  mournful  company 
of  sufferers.  The  hungry,  weary  women  and  children  Avitli 
their  bleeding  feet  were  tenderly  cared  for.  The  following- 
day,  on  the  25th  of  May,  my  son-in-law,  Mr.  Plummer,  reached 
Fort  Houston,  he  had  given  up  all  for  lost.  After  so  many 
long  years,  I  look  back  over  that  scene  of  unparalleled  suffer- 
ing with  inexpressible  horror,  yet  with  devout  thanksgiving 
and  praises  to  God  for  his  merciful  support  and  protection." 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Kellogg,  Mrs.  Rachel  Plummer  and  her 
son,  James,  2  years  old;  Cynthia  Ann  Parker,  8  years  old  and 
her  brother,  John,  6  years  old,  children  of  Silas  Parker,  were 
carried  into  captivity  to  be  slaves  or  to  be  redeemed  by  sor- 
rowing relatives  with  large  sums  of  money.       The  bloody 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  823 

Kiowas  and  Comanches  having  heard  no  doubt  of  the  uttei 
defeat  of  their  bloody  ally,  Santa  Anna,  at  San  Jacinto,  beat 
a  hasty  retreat  to  their  hiding  places  in  the  Wichita  Moun- 
tains on  North  Red  River.  They  traveled  till  midnight,  and 
camped  near  where  Waxahachie  now  stands,  to  hold  their 
bloody  war  dance  to  commemorate  their  horrible  victory  at 
Fort  Parker.  They  staked  out  their  horses  and  picket  guards 
and  brought  their  helpless  prisoners  together  and  tied  their 
hands  behind  their  backs,  and  their  feet  together  so  tight  that 
the  rawhide  ropes  cut  the  flesh.  And  then  threw  the  help- 
less captives  on  their  faces.  The  savage  demons  with  scalps 
dripping  in  blood  tied  to  their  wampum  belts  began  their 
usual  "war  dance."  The  demons  screamed  and  yelled  and 
danced  around  their  helpless  prisoners,  beating  them  on  their 
backs  with  their  bows  and  stamping  upon  them  with  their  feet 
till  their  own  blood  came  near  strangling  them.  And  the  help- 
less women  and  children  remained  in  this  position  of  torture 
weeping  and  bleeding  during  the  night.  The  mothers  endured 
the  unutterable  horrors  of  listening  to  the  screams  of  their 
little  children  with  no  power  to  aid  them.  Oh  what  prayers 
ascended  to  heaven  for  mercy  on  their  little  ones  and  the 
avenging  judgment  of  God  on  their  bloody  persecutors. 
Early  next  morning  they  hurried  on  their  retreat,  fearing  lest 
Gen.  Burleson  with  his  brave  "minute  men"  should  fall  on 
their  rear  and  inflict  bloody  vengeance  on  them  for  their 
crimes.  They  soon  found  an  opportunity  to  sell  Mrs.  Kellogg 
to  the  Keachies  and  Delawares,  who,  after  six  months  sold  her 
to  Gen.  Sam  Houston  for  $150.00,  and  he  conveyed  her  imme- 
diately to  her  sorrowing  relatives. 

Mrs.  Plummer  remained  a  captive  about  eighteen  months, 
and  we  give  the  following  extract  from  her  diary : 

"In  July,  and  a  portion  of  August  we  were  among  some 
very  high  mountains,  on  which  the  snow  remained  for  a  greater 
part  of  the  year,  and  I  suffered  more  than  ever  in  my  life.  It 
was  very  seldom  I  had  any  covering  over  my  feet,  and  but  lit- 
tle clothing  for  my  body.  1  had  a  certain  number  of  Buffalo 
skins  to  dress  every  day,  and  the  horses  to  mind  at  night.  My 
feet  would  often  be  frost  bitten.  In  October  I  gave  birth  to 
my  second  son.     It  was  a  beautiful  healthy  baby,  but  it  was 


824  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

impossible  for  me  to  secure  suitable  nourishment  for  myself, 
and  infant.  I  liad  been  mth  them  six  months  and  had  learned 
their  language  and  would  often  beseech  my  mistress  to  advise 
me  what  to  do  to  save  my  child,  but  she  turned  a  deaf  ear  to 
my  supplications.  My  child  was  6  months  old,  when  my 
master  thinking  that  it  interfered  with  my  work,  determined 
to  put  it  out  of  my  way. 

One  cold  morning  five  or  six  Indians  came  to  where  I 
was  suckling  my  babe.  As  soon  as  they  came  I  felt  sick  at 
heart;  my  fears  were  aroused  for  the  safety  of  my  child;  my 
whole  frame  convulsed  with  sudden  dread.  My  fears  were 
not  ill-grounded.  One  of  the  Indians  caught  my  child  by  the 
throat,  and  strangled  it  untilPall  appearances-:©^- it  was  dead. 
I  exerted  my  feeble  strength  to  save  my  child,  but  the  other 
Indians  held  me  fast.  The  Indian  who  had  strangled  my 
child,  then  threw  it  up  into  the  air  repeatedly,  and  let  it  fall 
on  the  frozen  ground  until  life  seemed  to  be  extinct.  They 
then  gave  it  back  to  me.  I  had  been  weeping  incessantly  while 
they  were  murdering  my  child,  but  now  my  grief  was  so  great 
the  fountain  of  my  tears  dried  up.  As  I  gazed  on  the  blue 
cheeks  of  my  darling  I  discovered  some  symptoms  of  return- 
ing life.  I  hoped  that  if  it  could  be  resuscitated,  they  would 
allow  me  to  keep  it.  I  washed  the  blood  from  its  face,  and 
after  a  time,  it  began  to  breathe,  but  a  more  heart-rending 
scene  ensued.  As  soon  as  the  Indians  ascertained  that  the 
child  was  alive,  they  tore  it  from  my  arms  and  knocked  me 
down.  They  tied  a  plaited  rope  around  its  neck,  and  threw 
it  into  a  bunch  of  prickly  pears  and  then  pulled  it  backwards 
and  forwards  until  its  tender  flesh  was  literally  torn  from  its 
body.  One  of  the  Indians  who  was  mounted  on  a  horse,  then 
tied  the  end  of  the  rope  to  his  saddle,  and  galloped  around  in  a 
circle  until  my  little  innocent  child  was  not  only  dead,  but 
torn  to  pieces.  One  of  them  untied  the  rope,  and  threw  the 
remains  of'  the  child  in  my  lap.  I  took  a  butcher  knife,  and 
dug  a  hole  in  the  earth  and  buried  my  child.  After  perform- 
ing the  last  sad  rights  for  my  dear  babe  I  sat  down  and  gazed 
with  a  feeling  of  relief  on  the  little  grave  I  had  made  for  it 
in  the  wilderness  and  could  say  with  David :  "You  can  not 
come  to  me,  but  I  can  go  to  you."     And  then,  and  even  now. 


De.  Rufus  C.  Buelesox.  825 

as  I  recall  the  dreadful  scene  I  rejoice  that  my  babe  passed 
from  the  sorrowing  and  sufferings  of  this  world.  I  shall  hear 
its  dying  cries  no  more  and  relying  on  the  righteousness  of 
Christ,  I  feel  that  my  innocent  child  is  mth  kinder  spirits  in 
the  world  of  joy.  After  the  death  of  my  child  I  was  given  to 
be  the  servant  to  a  very  cruel  old  squaw  who  treated  me  in  a 
most  brutal  manner.  My  other  son  had  been  carried  off  by 
another  party  to  the  far  West.  I  supposed  my  husband  and 
father  were  killed  at  the  massacre  of  Fort  Parker.  Death 
seemed  to  me  but  a  sweet  relief.  Life  was  a  burden  and 
driven  to  desperation  I  resolved  no  longer  to  endure  the  cruel 
treatment  of  the  intolerable  old  squaw. 

One  day  she  and  I  were  some  distance  from,  although 
still  in  sight  of  the  camp,  she  attempted  to  beat  me  with  a 
club.  I  wrenched  the  club  from  her  hands  and  knocked  her 
down.  The  Indians  who  had  witnessed  the  proceedings  from 
the  camp  came  running  up,  shouting  at  the  top  of  their  voices, 
I  expected  to  be  killed  immediately,  but  they  patted  me  on  the 
shoulder  crying,  "Bueno,"  "Bueno,"  '-good;  well  done;"  I 
now  fared  much  better  and  soon  became  a  great  favorite  and 
became  known  as  the  "Fighting  Squaw." 

Mrs.  Plummer  was  afterwards  ransomed  through  the 
assistance  of  some  Mexican  Santa  Fe  traders  by  a  noble-hearted 
American,  Mr.  "W.  M.  Donahue.  She  was  then  made  a  mem- 
ber of  her  benefactor's  family.  She  accompanied  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Donahue  on  their  visit  to  Independence,  Missouri,  where 
she  met,  and  embraced  her  brother-in-law,  L.  D.  ISTixon,  and 
by  him  was  brought  back  to  her  people  in  Texas.  On  the  19th 
day  of  February,  1838,  she  reached  her  father's  house.  Twenty- 
one  months  from  the  horrid  massacre  of  Fort  Parker  and  her 
capture.  She  died  on  19th  of  February,  1839,  just  one  year 
after  reaching  home.  Her  son,  James  Pratt  Plummer,  after 
six  long  weary  years  of  captivity,  was  ransomed  and  taken  to 
Fort  Gibson  late  in  1842  and  reached  home  in  February,  1843, 
in  charge  of  his  grandfather. 

He  became  a  respected  citizen  of  Anderson  county,  but 
he  and  his  father  also  are  now  dead. 

Cynthia  Ann  Parker  and  her  brother,  were  held  by 
separate  bands.  The  brother  and  sister  thus  separated  gradu- 
ally forgot  the  language,  manners  and  customs  of  their  own 


826  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

people  and  became  thorough  Comanclies.  John  grew  up  with 
the  semi-nude  Comanche  boys  of  his  own  age  and  played  ac 
hunting  and  war.  When  just  arrived  at  manhood,  John 
Parker  accompanied  a  raiding  party  of  Comanches  down 
the  Rio  Grande  into  Mexico.  Among  the  captives  taken, 
was  a  beautiful  young  maiden,  whom  the  young  warrior 
felt  his  heart  go  out  in  tenderness  to — the  fair  Dona  Juanita. 
And  the  two  were  soon  engaged  to  be  married  as  soon  as  they 
arrived  at  the  Comanche  village.  Each  day  as  the  cavalcade 
moved  steadily  along  the  young  lovers  could  be  seen  riding, 
and  discussing  the  anticipated  pleasures  of  conjugal  life,  when 
suddenly  John  was  prostrated  with  an  attack  of  smallpox. 
The  cavalcade  could  not  tarry  so  it  was  decided  the  poor 
fellow  should  be  left  alone  on  the  vast  plains  to  die  or  recover, 
as  fate  decreed.  But  the  beautiful  Juanita  refused  to 
leave  her  lover  and  insisted  on  her  captors  allowing  her  to 
remain  and  care  for  him.  With  Dona  Juanita  to  nurse  and 
cheer  him  up,  John  lingered,  lived,  and  ultimately  recovered, 
when  the'  young  people  with  as  little  ceremony  as  was  per- 
formed amid  the  bowers  of  Eden  became  husband  and  wife. 
They  settled  on  a  stock  farm  in  the  far  West  where  John 
Parker,  with  his  beautiful  Dona  Juanita  became  a  great  stock 
Jking.  But  after  the  most  diligent  search  of  weeping  and  loving 
relatives  for  Cynthia  Ann  Parker  nothing  could  be  learned. 
Large  sums  of  money  were  offered  for  the  recovery  of  the  lost 
children.  In  1840,  Col,  Len  Williams  and  Mr.  Stout  an  In- 
dian trader,  and  a  Delaware  Indian  guide  made  a  trading  tour 
on  the  Canadian  river  when  they  fell  in  with  P-a-h-a-u-k-a-s 
band  of  Comanches  and  Cynthia  Ann  Parker  was  Avith  this 
tribe.  From  the  day  of  her  captivity  five  years  before,  she  had 
never  seen  a  white  person.  Colonel  Williams  proposed  to  re- 
deem her,  but  the  Comanches  replied,  "All  the  goods  of  the 
white  man  could  not  ransom  her." 


MEXICAN  WAR. 

I  propose  to  give  a  brief  history  of  the  war  between  Mex- 
ico and  the  United  States.     For,  as  this  war  grew  out  of  the 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  827 

annexation  of  Texas  and  began  on  our  soil,  and  thousands  of 
Texans  acted  a  noble  part  in  the  war,  it  becomes  a  part  of 
Texas  history.  Texas,  after  ten  years  of  heroic  struggling 
against  8,000,000  Mexicans  and  60,000  Indians,  found  annex- 
ation to  the  United  States  a  necessity.  Great  and  far-seeing 
patriots,  both  in  Texas  and  the  United  States  combined  to  ac- 
complish this  glorious  result.  Mexico,  aided  by  England  and 
France  opposed  annexation  by  all  possibles  means.  When  the 
resolution  for  annexing  Texas  was  introduced  in  congress  by 
John  C.  Calhoun,  Gen.  Almonte,  the  greatest,  wisest  and  pur- 
est of  Mexican  statesmen  gave  the  United  States  formal 
notice  that  Mexico  would  regard  the  annexation  of  Texas 
as  an  unlawful  seizure  of  her  territory  and  equivalent 
to  a  declaration  of  war.  And  when  annexation  was  ac- 
complished, on  the  4th  of  July,  1845,  by  action  of  Texas, 
and  in  March,  1846,  by  the  United  States,  Almonte,  with 
a  sad  heart,  demanded  his  passport,  and  declared  all 
friendly  and  commercial  relations  between  the  United  States 
and  Mexico  ended,  and  declared  Mexico  would  immediately 
occupy  Texas  with  an  armed  force.  And  it  was  soon  fully 
known  by  reliable  private  and  public  information  that  Mexico 
was  marshalling  an  army  of  8,000  men  under  Gens.  Arista  and 
Ampudia  to  recapture  all  Texas.  They  also  sent  agents  to  the 
savages  on  the  northern  border  of  Texas,  as  they  sent  Cordova 
and  Flores  to  arouse  the  bloody  savages  to  warfare  against 
Texas.  Our  gallant  Governor,  Pinkey  Henderson,  imme- 
diately gave  President  James  K.  Polk  notice  of  these  dark 
storm  clouds  hanging  over  Texas,  and  requested  an  armed 
force  be  sent  at  once  to  the  Rio  Grande  and  to  our  Indian 
frontier.  The  mad  action  of  Mexico  in  attempting  to  conquer 
Texas,  when  aided  by  the  army  and  navy  and  wealth  of  the 
United  States,  when  she  had  signally  failed  to  conquer  alone 
in  ten  years,  can  never  be  fully  understood.  Many  supposed 
she  had  secret  assurance  of  aid  from  England  and  France.  But 
the  more  reasonable  solution  of  the  mystery  is  that  "God  who 
causes  the  wrath  of  man  to  praise  Him  and  the  remainder  of 
wrath  He  restraineth"  in  His  mysterious  providence  allowed 
Mexico  to  commit  the  folly  which  he  over-ruled  for  extending 
the  territory  of  the  United  States  from  the  shores  of  the  Atlan- 


828  The  Life  and  Wkitings  of 

tic  to  the  waves  of  the  Pacific  and  adding  untold  millions  of 
gold  and  silver  to  our  treasury,  and  thus  preparing  the  United 
States  to  become  the  grandest,  the  richest,  the  wisest,  the 
purest  nation  on  earth.  A  nation  that  shall  bear  the  banner 
of  liberty,  civilization  and  Christianity  around  the  globe. 
Whatever  was  the  cause  of  Mexico's  delusion,  as  soon  as  it 
was  fully  known  that  she  was  gathering  a  grand  army  to 
invade  Texas,  President  Polk  ordered  Gen.  Zachary  Taylor  to 
collect  an  army  of  at  least  3,000  men  at  Corpus  Christi  and  on 
the  Rio  Grande,  the  acknowledged  boundary  between  Texas 
and  Mexico.  As  soon  as  the  details  of  annexation  were  fully 
consummated  in  March,  1846,  Gen.  Taylor  marched  towards 
the  Rio  Grande.  Three  miles  east  of  Matamoras  a  small  de- 
tachment of  Mexicans  met  him,  and  their  commander  formally 
protested  against  his  further  invading  Mexican  soil.  Gen. 
Taylor  replied  that  the  Rio  Grande  was  the  boundary 
line,  and  he  intended  to  camp  on  that  border,  and 
desired  only  peace  and  good  will  to  Mexico.  The  Mexicans 
withdrew,  and  Taylor  marched  on  to  the  Rio  Grande,  opposite 
Matamoras,  and  began  at  once  to  construct  a  fort,  afterwards 
known  as  Fort  Brown.  Gen.  Parades,  the  President  of  Mex- 
ico, ordered  Gen.  Arista  to  attack  the  Americans  without 
delay,  and  on  the  first  day  of  May  the  first  act  of  the  bloody 
drama  of  the  Mexican  war  began.  Several  small  skirmishes 
occurred,  and  the  gallant  Thornton,  with  a  small  squadron  of 
cavalry,  on  vidette  duty,  was  captured  by  a  large  Mexican 
force,  and  Lieut.  Porter  was  killed,  and  the  gallant  Texas  hero, 
Campt.  Sam  H.  Walker,  \vith  his  company  of  rangers,  nar- 
rowly escaped.  On  the  4th  of  May  the  terrible  bombardment 
of  Fort  Brown  began,  and  on  the  6th  the  gallant  commander, 
Major  Brown,  was  killed,  and  Major  Hawkins  succeeded  in 
command.  Gen.  Arista  crossed  the  Rio  Grande  with  an  army 
of  6,000  picked  troops,  intending  to  capture  all  the  military 
stores  and  troops  at  Point  Isabel  and  Corpus  Christi  and  cut 
off  the  hope  of  recruiting  for  Fort  Brown.  The  first  great  battle 
of  the  war  was  fought  at  Palo  Alto.  Six  thousand  Mexic^in^, 
with  seven  cannon  and  800  cavalry,  were  admirably  arranged 
on  hilltops  and  valleys  to  prevent  the  advance  of  Gen.  Taylor 
to  protect  Point  Isabel  and  to  relieve  Fort  Brown.     Gen. 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Bueleson.  820 

Arista  deemed  his  force  and  position  invincible,  and  a  fierce 
contest  followed. 

Gen.  Taylor,  with  less  than  3,000  men,  routed  6,000 
Mexicans  from  their  strong  position.  The  Mexicans  left  100 
dead  on  the  battlefield  and  many  more  severely  wounded. 
Many  acts  of  heroism  were  performed  that  added  glory  to 
Texas  soil  and  the  American  heroes.  We  must  record,  as  a 
lesson  to  all  soldiers,  citizens,  and  especialy  to  teachers  and 
preachers,  the  glorious  heroism  of  Major  Ringgold.  Gen. 
Arista  had  mounted  his  cannon  in  admirable  position  on  a  high 
hill  in  t,he  prairie,  so  as  to  pour  a  deadly  fire  into  the  flank  of 
Gen.  Taylor's  army. 

Gen.  Taylor  called  the  gallant  Major  Ringgold,  com- 
mander of  mounted  dragoons,  and  said:  "We  must  silence 
those  death-dealing  cannon,  or  the  day  is  lost.  Can  you  silence 
them  ?  With  the  modesty  of  all  true  greatness,  he  said,  "I 
can  try."  And  as  he  was  dashing  forward  in  front  of  his 
dragoons,  a  cannon  ball  struck  him,  broke  his  horse's  back  and 
broke  both  of  his  legs  above  the  knees.  The  horse  and  rider 
fell  bleeding  to  the  ground.  His  loving  companions  halted, 
leaped  down,  ran  and  lifted  him  up.  AVith  stentorian  voice 
he  cried:  "Let  me  die  in  the  dust;  on  to  the  charge;  on  to  the 
cannon;  on  for  victory."  Fired  anew  by  the  dying  command 
of  their  great  leader,  the  men  rushed  on  with  renewed  cour- 
age, cut  down  the  cannoneers  and  silenced  the  death-dealing 
guns.  This  heroism  spread  consternation  among  Arista's 
men,  and  they  retreated  in  wild  confusion.  Oh,  that  all  sol- 
diers, citizens,  and  especially  ministers  of  the  gospel  and  teach- 
ers could  ever  imitate  the  heroism  of  the  dying  Ringgold,  ever 
willing  to  die  in  the  dust  if  only  victory  can  come  to  God's 
holy  cause.  I  learned  another  striking  lesson  from  the  battles 
of  Taylor  at  Palo  Alta  and  Resaca  de  La  Raima.  As  there 
were  then  no  railroads  and  no  telegraph  lines,  communica- 
tions were  very  slow.  As  they  had  to  be  carried  by  daily  or 
weekly  mails  on  horseback  or  in  mail  coaches.  The  first  news 
that  came  was  that  Gen.  Taylor  and  his  whole  army  of  3,000 
men  were  butchered  by  the  overwhelming  force  of  6,000  Mexi- 
cans. The  wildest  grief  spread  over  the  nation.  Taylor  was 
bitterly  denounced  as  reckless  and  as  wanting  in  generalship. 


830  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

I  remember  especially  at  that  time,  I  was  pastor  at  Newport 
Baptist  Church,  in  Kentucky,  and  I  dined  with  Gen.  Taylor, 
an  aged  gentleman  of  great  worth  and  wealth.  At  the  din- 
ner table  I  asked  him  who  Gen.  Taylor  was  that  had  lost  our 
army  on  the  Rio  Grande.  He  said:  "He  is  a  bull-headed, 
reckless  attache  of  the  army."  I  asked  him  if  he  was  a  rela- 
tion of  his.  He  said,  "I^o;  God  forbid  that  I  should  be  related 
to  such  a  bull-headed  simpleton."  One  of  his  beautiful 
grand-daughters,  sitting  at  the  table,  turned  her  nose  slightly 
with  a  silent  sneer  at  the  very  thought  of  relationship  with  the 
man  that  had  caused  our  army  to  be  butchered.  But  one 
month  from  that  time  I  saw  the  Scripture  realized,  "When 
thou  doest  well  for  thyself  all  men  will  praise  thee."  I  dined 
with  my  worthy  parishioner.  In  the  meantime  the  thrilling 
news  came  of  the  dauntless  heroism  and  the  glorious  victory 
of  Palo  Alto  and  Resaca  de  La  Palma,  and  that  the  American 
flag  had  been  planted  on  the  banks  of  the  Rio  Grande.  The 
whole  nation  was  now  resounding  with  the  praises  of  heroic 
Zachary  Taylor.  He  was  now  Rough  and  Ready  and  the  idol 
of  the  nation.  My  worthy  parishioner  had  hunted  up  the 
family  record  more  closely,  and  found  he  was  actually  a  cousin 
of  his  father,  and  his  son-in-law.  Col.  Tibbatts,  was  going  to 
the  Rio  Grande  to  get  a  position  on  "Cousin  Zach's  staff." 
After  dinner  the  beautiful  belle  that  had  turned  up  her  nose 
so  scornfully  a  month  before  at  the  very  thought  of  being 
charged  with  relationship  with  Gen.  Taylor  now  came  in  the 
parlor  "with  a  paper,  and  with  tears  in  her  eyes  said:  "Oh, 
Grandpa,  dreadful  news,  dreadful  news :  Cousin  Zach  has  had 
two  congestive  chills,  and  I  am  afraid  he  will  die  before  Uncle 
Tibbatts  gets  there."  Thus  it  is  with  the  world.  Wealth 
and  success  make  many  friends;  failure  and  misfortune  sepa- 
rate a  man  even  from  his  neighbors  and  his  cousins. 

The  second  battle  was  fought  at  Resaca  de  La  Palma,  on 
a  little  stream  called  Aroyo  Colorado,  three  miles  from  Mata- 
moras.  Here  the  Mexicans  were  routed  and  chased  over  the 
Rio  Grande  by  squadrons  of  dragoons,  battalions  and  artillery. 
The  Mexicans  lost  eight  cannon,  vast  stores  of  ammunition, 
eight  standards,  over  one  hundred  prisoners,  and  among  them 
Gen.  Romulo  La  Vega.     Recruits  from  all  parts  of  the  United 


Db.  Eufus  C.  Burleson.  831 

States  were  pouring  in.  Texans  showed  their  gratitude  and 
heroism  by  rushing  to  the  front,  as  it  was  known  that  in 
the  absence  of  railroads  and  steamships,  it  would  require 
weeks,  if  not  months,  to  get  the  recruits  needed  for  the  prose- 
cution of  the  Mexican  war.  The  First  Regiment  of  Mounted 
Dragoons  was  commanded  by  Col.  John  T.  (Jack)  Hays,  with 
the  heroic  Samuel  H.  Walker,  Lieutenant  Colonel.  The  sec- 
ond regiment  was  raised  at  and  near  Galveston,  and  was  com- 
manded by  the  celebrated  Albert  Sidney  Johnson,  who  fell 
gloriously  in  the  Confederate  war.  The  third  was 
commanded  by  Col.  George  T.  Wood,  afterwards 
Governor.  Capt.  Ben  McCulloch  commanded  a  heroic  com- 
pany of  mounted  videttes  and  did  heroic  service.  Gov.  Pink- 
ney  Henderson  held  the  rank  of  Major  General,  and  ex-Presi- 
dent Lamar  and  Gen.  Edward  Burleson  and  Edward  Clark, 
afterwards  Governor,  held  positions  on  his  staff.  Later  Presi- 
dent Lamar,  with  Hamilton  P.  Bee,  commanded  a  company 
stationed  at  Laredo.  In  all  8,018  Texans  served  in  the  Mex- 
ican war.  Many  of  them  performed  deeds  of  valor  that  add 
luster  to  the  Lone  Star  State.  Gen.  Arista  and  Ampudia  saw 
that  safety  required  a  rapid  retreat  from  the  valley  of  the  Rio 
Grande  to  Monterey  (or  Royal  Mountain). 

Monterey  they  deemed  invincible  against  any  force  the 
United  States  could  marshal.  And  I  confess,  when  on  a  recent 
excursion  of  the  Sabbath  School  Convention  to  Mexico,  I  sur- 
veyed carefully  the  lofty  and  almost  inaccessible  hills,  espe- 
cially Lidependence  Hill  and  the  Bishop^s  palace,  nearly  800 
feet  hight,  I  could  scarcely  see  how  it  was  possible  for  our 
heroic  soldiers  to  scale  those  lofty  summits,  all  mounted  with 
bristling  bayonets  and  death-dealing  cannon.  But  I^apoleon 
said :  "Impossible  is  bad  French,"  and  is  worse  English.  For, 
after  four  days  of  fierce  conflict,  extending  from  the  20th  to 
the  24th  of  September,  1846,  Gen.  Ampudia  sent  the  white 
flag  and  proposed  to  surrender  the  invincible  city  of  Monterey 
to  American  valor.  Among  the  Texans  who  displayed  such 
courage  as  to  merit  the  special  commendation  of  Gen.  Taylor 
in  his  published  reports  were  Gen.  M.  B.  Lamar,  Gen.  Ed 
Burleson,  Gen.  Albert  Sidney  Johnson,  George  T.  Wood,  Ed 
Clark,  Hamilton  P.  Bee  and  others.  According  to  the  terms  of 


832  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

the  surrender,  Gen.  Taylor  was  not  to  advance  beyond  Mon- 
terey for  eight  weeks,  as  he  realized  it  would  require  eight 
weeks  to  recruit  his  army  and  prepare  for  the  further  invasion 
of  Mexico. 

In  the  meantime,  Mexico  was  appalled  to  find  she  had  no 
leaders  capable  of  directing  the  storm  of  battle  against  her 
mighty  foe.  They  had  banished  their  great  leader,  Santa 
Anna,  to  the  Island  of  St.  Thomas.  A  secret  messenger  was 
dispatched  to  him,  urging  him  to  return  and  save  the  nation 
from  speedy  ruin. 

But,  apparently,  an  insperable  obstacle  was  in  the  way. 
The  American  fleets  blockaded  all  the  Mexican  ports.  But 
the  wily  and  perfidious  Santa  Anna  found  means  of  overcoming 
that  difficulty.  He  dispatched  a  special  courier  to  President 
Polk  that  if  he  could  be  permitted  to  pass  the  blockade  to 
Mexico,  he  could  induce  the  Mexicans  to  desist  from  hostili- 
ties and  form  a  treaty  of  friendly  and  commercial  relations 
with  the  United  States.  President  Polk,  knowing  that  this 
would  be  the  true  policy  for  Mexico,  and  not  knowing  the 
unscrupulous  trickery  of  Santa  Anna,  ordered  the  blockading 
fleets  to  let  Santa  Anna  pass  into  Mexico.  As  soon  as  he 
entered  he  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  army,  and  swore  eter- 
nal vengeance  against  the  avaricious  and  unscrupulous  Ameri- 
cans. And  his  first  stroke  of  generalship  showed  his  profound 
skill  as  a  strategist.  For  by  this  time  President  Polk  had 
placed  Gen.  Winfield  Scott  at  the  head  of  the  army  in  Mexico. 
Gen.  Scott  was  to  land  with  a  strong  blockading  fleet  at  Vera 
Cruz,  and  march  directly  on  the  City  of  Mexico,  a  distance  of 
230  miles.  Gen.  Scott,  feeling  that  the  Mexican  forces  in 
Korth  Mexico  were  overcome,  ordered  a  large  portion  of  Gen. 
Taylor's  army  to  join  him  at  Vera  Cruz.  The  wily  Santa 
Anna,  instantly  grasping  the  situation,  concentrated  his  whole 
army  in  North  Mexico  to  crush  Gen.  Taylor  and  the  remnant 
of  his  army,  and  concentrate  his  forces  on  Gen.  Scott.  On 
the  22nd  day  of  April  the  artful  Santa  Anna  marshalled  in 
person  25,000  Mexicans  to  annihilate  the  heroic  army  of  Gen. 
TTaylor,  with  only  about  5,000  troops.  It  is  doubtful  whether 
greater  scenes  of  heroism  were  ever  displayed  on  this  conti- 
nent than  were  displayed  by  Gen.  Taylor  and  his  little  army 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  BuELESOif.  833 

at  Buena  Vista.  The  wily  Santa  Anna  had  ordered  a  power- 
ful detachment  of  picked  troops  to  flank  Gen.  Taylor's  army, 
and  thus,  by  attacking  him  on  the  front  and  on  the  right  and 
left  flank,  to  overwhelm  his  little  army  with  25,000  Mexican 
soldiers.  The  heroic  Jeff  Davis,  commanding  1,200  heroic 
Mississippi  riflemen,  saw  that  unless  that  flanking  party  could 
be  driven  back  all  was  lost.  He,  with  courage  and  skill  never 
surpassed,  attacked  and  mowed  down  scores  of  the  advancing 
columns.  The  astonished  Mexicans,  panic-stricken,  fled  from 
the  field  of  battle.  The  whole  army  became  panic-stricken 
and  joined  in  the  retreat.  It  is  said  that  Gen.  Taylor  had  been 
a  bitter  enemy  of  Jeff  Davis  from  the  time  Davis  had  stolen 
and  married  his  lovely  daughter  till  that  day,  but,  seeing  his 
undying  heroism,  he  took  him  in  his  arms,  saying,  "This  day  I 
adopt  you  as  my  beloved  son.  I  find  my  lovely  daughter  was  a 
better  judge  than  I  was."  But  it  is  not  my  purpose  to  write  a 
full  history  of  the  Mexican  w^ar.  I  will  only  state  that,  in  rapid 
succession  the  victorious  armies  of  Gens.  Taylor  and  Scott  won 
the  battles. 

The  first  battle  of  Vera  Cruz,  deemed  by  the  Mexicans 
invincible  against  any  invading  army. 

Second,  Cere  Gorda,  located  on  a  high  mountain,  so  steep 
that  Santa  Anna  said:  "I  did  not  think  a  goat  could  have 
climbed  that  mountain."  But  American  valor  mounted  it, 
all  bristling  with  cannon,  and  drove  the  Mexicans  in  wild  con- 
fusion. 

Third,  Chapultepec,  and  lastly,  the  City  of  Mexico.  A 
South  Carolina  regiment,  leading  the  band  planted  the 
Palmetto  flag  on  an  elevated  scaffold,  and  by  nightfall  of  Sep- 
tember loth  the  City  of  Mexico  was  captured,  and  the  Stars 
and  Stripes  floated  over  the  halls  of  the  Montezumas,  Santa 
Anna  and  his  army  fled  in  wild  confusion  from  the  city.  A 
treaty  of  peace  was  signed  after  some  months'  delay  at  Guada- 
lupe-Hidalgo, February  22nd,  and  our  sister  republic  lay  dis- 
membered and  bleeding  at  the  feet  of  American  valor,  an  ob- 
ject of  profound  pity  and  commiseration. 

The  United  States  had  warned  Mexico  in  the  begining 
that  if  she  was  forced  into  war  Mexico  would  be  made  to  pay 
the  war  debt.     But,  as  her  treasury  was  empty,  a  merciful 

53 


834  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

compromise  was  adopted,  by  wliicli  Mexico  should  cede  to  the 
United  States  the  territories  of  California,  Nebraska,  Nevada, 
Utah,  Arizona  and  a  large  part  of  Colorado  and  Kansas,  which 
should  be  considered  a  payment  of  what  was  due  the  United 
States  on  expense  of  war.  The  United  States  agreed, 
in  addition,  to  pay  for  this  territory  $15,000,000;  also, 
$1,500,000,  due  to  American  citizens.  Thus,  by  the  annexa- 
tion of  Texas,  the  United  States  gained  an  additional  territory 
larger  than  all  the  territoiy  she  possessed  prior  to  1847,  and  a 
territory  unsurpassed  in  fertility  of  soil,  salubrity  of  climate, 
and  vast  mines  of  gold,  silver,  iron  and  coal,  and  Texas,  by  the 
sale  of  Santa  Fe  Territory  to  the  United  States  for  $12,500,- 
000,  paid  off  her  debts  and  added  $2,500,000  to  her  school 
fund,  and  thus  prepared  her  to  become  the  brightest  star  that 
glitters  in  the  galaxy  of  States. 

"The  Lord  causes  the  wrath  of  man  to  praise  Him  and 
the  remainder  He  restraineth." 


THE  GREAT  COMANCHE  RAID  OF  1840. 

This  is  the  greatest  raid  ever  made  by  the  Indians  in 
Texas.  It  began  from  the  mountains  above  San  Marcos  and 
extended  to  the  Port  Lavaca  Bay  on  the  coast,  and  back  to 
Good's  Crossing  on  Plumb  Creek,  twenty-seven  miles  south- 
west of  Austin. 

Here  this  remarkable  raid  ended  in  the  rout  of  the  Co- 
manches  and  the  re-capture  of  the  prisoners  and  property  they 
had  seized  at  Victoria  and  Linville. 

This  terrible  raid  was  to  revenge  the  killing  of  thirty- 
two  warriors  including  twelve  chiefs,  three  squaws  and  two 
children  in  the  council  house  at  San  Antonio,  at  the  same 
time  thirty-two  squaws  and  children  were  captured. 

This  mcurnful  affair  has  been  greatly  misunderstood, 
and  much  unjust  censure  has  been  cast  on  the  Texas  officers, 
but  the  facts  fully  justify  our  brave  men. 

The  facts  are  as  follows :  Early  in  February,  1840,  the 
Comanches  sent  a  messenger  to  Col.   Karnes,  commanding 


Dk.  Eufus  C.  Buklesojst.  836 

officer  at  San  Antonio,  to  make  a  lasting  treaty  of  peace. 
Col.  Karnes  replied  he  would  gladly  make  peace  if  they  would 
bring  to  San  Antonio  the  thirteen  women  and  children,  they 
held  as  prisoners.  This  the  Indians  promised  to  do  on  the 
next  light  of  the  moon. 

On  March  the  19th,  1840,  sixty-five  Comanches,  in- 
cluding women  and  children  came  into  San  Antonio  to 
get  a  big  price  for  the  women  and  children  held  by 
them  as  captive,  and  to  have  a  grand  time  purchasing 
whiskey,  ribbons  and  all  manner  of  trinkets.  But  they 
brought  only  one  girl,  Miss  Matilda  Lockhart,  who  had 
been  captured  when  13  years  old,  and  held  three  years 
in  slavery,  and  at  one  time  they  had  burned  off  the 
bottoms  of  her  feet  to  prevent  her  escaping.  The  com- 
manding officer  asked  them  why  they  had  not  brought  the 
thirteen  other  captives.  They  falsely  and  gi'uffly  said,  "Thi«? 
is  the  only  one  we  have,  the  others  are  scattered  around  among 
other  tribes."  The  commanding  officer  knew  this  was  false, 
for  Miss  Lockhart  said  she  saw  them  in  the  camp,  just  as  she 
was  leaving,  and  they  were  holding  them  back  to  get  larger 
sums  of  money.  The  commanding  officer  told  them  they  had 
violated  their  pledge  and  he  would  hold  them  all  as  prisoners 
until  the  thirteen  women  and  children  were  brought  in. 

Col.  Karnes  had  provided  a  strong  and  sufficient  guard 
against  any  emergencies;  and  it  was  well  he  had.  For  im- 
mediately the  Indians  began  to  fight  their  way  out  of  the 
council  house.  A  squaw  began  by  knocking  down  an  officer 
with  a  large  club. 

The  Indians,  after  thirty-two  warriors,  three  women  and 
two  children  and  seven  Texans  were  killed,  surrendered. 
Thirty-two  women  and  children  outside  of  the  council  house 
were  also  captured.  A  squaw  was  dispatched  to  inform  the 
Comanche?  if  they  would  bring  in  the  women  and  children 
they  held  that  they  would  exchange  prisoners. 

After  several  days  this  was  done  and  thirteen  women 
and  children  were  restored  to  the  loving  embrace  of  fathers, 
mothers  and  relatives. 

The  Comanches  were  enraged  at  this  defeat,  and  swore 
bloody  vengeance  on  the  pale-faces. 


836  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

On  the  6tli  of  August,  1840,  about  a  thousand  warriors 
burning  with  a  fiendish  rage,  commenced  their  bloody  raid. 
They  passed  down  the  country  seventeen  miles  east  of  Gon- 
zales, murdering  the  few  families  on  their  way.  They 
reached  the  quiet  town  of  Victoria,  August  6th,  2  :30  p.  m. 
The  citizens  were  not  dreaming  of  Indians.  Children  were 
playing  in  the  yards  and  on  the  streets,  ladies  were  shopping 
and  joyfully  engaged  in  their  domestic  affairs,  the  men  were 
engaged  in  their  usual  avocations,  when  these  bloody  demons 
with  horrid  yells  rushed  in  the  streets  and  began  their 
slaughter.  Dr.  Gray  and  a  few  others  who  attempted  resist- 
ance were  cut  down.  The  citizens  not  killed  took  refuge  in 
their  houses  and  fortified  themselves  as  best  they  could.  The 
Comanches  then  plundered  the  stores  and  private  residences  of 
everything  valuable.  They  caught  in  the  lots  and  pastures 
between  two  and  three  thousand  horses  and  mules  and  loaded 
eight  hundred  or  a  thousand  with  the  plundered  goods.  They 
then  started  to  Linville.  That  night  they  kindled  big  fires 
and  with  fiendish  joy  danced  and  yelled  around  the  scalps  of 
murdered  citizens  and  their  plunder. 

Kext  morning  they  hurried  on  to  Linville.  On  the  way 
they  captured  Mrs.  Crosby,  the  grand-daughter  of  the  cele- 
brated Daniel  Boone  of  Kentucky  with  her  child  and  nurse. 
About  daylight  on  August  the  8th,  while  many  of  the  citizens 
were  in  bed,  the  Indians  entered  Linville,  but  throwing  them- 
selves on  the  sides  of  their  horses  and  riding  in  this  way,  de- 
ceived the  few  early  risers  who  saw  them  coming,  but 
thought  they  were  some  of  the  vast  Calallados  of  horses  and 
mules  brought  into  Linville  for  sale  and  shipment. 

ISTo  language  can  tell  the  horror  of  the  innocent  people 
when  they  saw  a  thousand  red  demons  suddenly  rising  up  in 
their  saddles  and  -with  fiendish  yells,  killing  the  defenseless 
citizens.  Resistance  was  utterly  useless  and  the  terror- 
stricken  men,  women  and  children  rushed  for  the  small 
boats  lying  in  Lavaca  Bay.  The  warwhoop  of  the  wild 
Comanches,  the  cries  of  the  women  and  children  and  the 
groans  of  the  dying,  presented  a  scene  of  horror  the 
rising  sun  never  before  dawned  upon.  The  bloody  de- 
mons pursued  the  fleeing  men,  women  and  children  into  the 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Burlesox.  837 

water.  Among  those  killed  was  Captain  H.  O.  Watts,  col- 
lector of  customs.  He  and  his  beautiful  bride  were  captured 
between  the  shores  and  the  boats.  He  was  killed  and  his 
young  bride  ruthlessly  dragged  back  to  the  shore  and  carried 
away  captive.  The  majority  of  the  inhabitants  escaped  to  the 
boats.     All  others  were  murdered  or  carried  away  captive. 

Linville  was  the  shipping  point  for  a  large  portion  of 
Southwestern  Texas  and  Mexico,  and  was  at  that  time  sup- 
plied with  all  sorts  of  merchandise. 

The  exulting  Comanches  greedily  sacked  the  stores  and 
private  residences  and  packed  several  hundred  more  horses 
and  mules  Avith  every  kind  of  merchandise,  elegant  dresses  and 
bed  clothes  from  the  private  residences.  They  now  bedecked 
themselves  Avith  red  ribbons  and  gay  clothing  captured,  and 
rode  up  and  down  the  streets  yelling  like  demons,  fired  the 
town  and  burned  every  house  except  one. 

What  language  can  express  the  horrors  of  the  innocent 
men,  women  and  children  as  they  stood  on  the  boats  in  the  bay 
and  looked  upon  their  once  happy  homes  burned  to  ashes  and 
remembering  many  of  their  loved  ones  lay  bleeding  in  the 
streets. 

The  Comanches  with  three  or  four  thousand  horses 
and  mules,  many  of  them  heavily  packed  with  goods, 
plundered  at  Victoria  and  Linville  began  their  retreat.  They 
had  glorious  visions  of  the  grand  feasts  and  war  dance  they 
would  have  when  they  reached  their  mountain  homes  and  dis- 
played the  scalps  and  the  untold  wealth  and  the  women  and 
children  they  had  captured. 

But  God  gave  Texas  heroes  and  path-finders  who  were 
ever  ready  to  revenge  such  bloody  raids.  Among  these  were 
Ben  and  Thomas  McCulloch,  "Paint  Caldwell,"  John  H. 
Moore,  Ed  Burleson,  Gotch  Hardman  and  others. 

They  had  a  very  stirring  system  of  telephoning  in  those 
early  days.  It  was  this;  as  soon  as  an  Indian  raid  was  dis- 
covered, the  exposed  pioneer  fired  his  gun  and  his  -wife  at  the 
same  time  blew  the  horn,  the  next  neighbor  repeated  the  same 
firing  and  blowing  the  horn  until  the  signal  ran  from  Austin 
to  LaGrange,  a  distance  of  over  sixty  miles.  At  the  signal 
every  man  seized  his  gun  and  rushed  to  his  place  of  rendez- 


838  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

vous.  Those  near  LaGrange  met  at  Colonel  H.  Moore's,  those 
near  Bastrop  met  at  Gen.  Ed.  Burleson's,  those  near  Webber- 
ville  at  "Paint  Caldwell's,"  all  concentrated  at  the  point  sug- 
gested bj  Gen.  Burleson.  With  lightning  speed  this  terrible 
Comanche  raid  was  telephoned  and  General  Burleson  ordered 
all  to  meet  and  attack  the  Comanches  at  Good's  Crossing  on 
Plumb  Creek,  twenty-seven  miles  below  Austin.  The  grand 
old  hero  "Paint  Caldwell"  with  eighty-two  heroes  reached  the 
place  of  rendezvous  first,  August  11th,  1840. 

Next  morning  the  scouts  reported  a  thousand  Indians 
coming  on  the  prairie  \vith  vast  herds  of  horses  and  mules 
and  several  women  and  children.  But  Gen.  Burleson,  nor 
Moore,  nor  McCulloch,  nor  Hardman  had  arrived,  and  was  it 
safe  for  eighty-two  men  to  attack  a  thousand  Comanches? 
But  they  looked  upon  the  awful  spectacle  and  saw  them  mov- 
ing along  with  women  and  children  old  "Paint  Caldwell" 
could  restrain  no  longer,  but  yelled  out  "Boys  yonder  they  go, 
they  have  got  our  women  and  children — they  are  a  thousand 
strong — ^but  we  can  whip  hell  out  of  them.  Shall  we  fight  ?" 
All  shouted,  "Yes,  fight,  fight."  But  just  at  that  time  the 
courier  came  galloping  up  crying,  "Gen.  Burleson  with  one 
hundred  Texans  and  thirteen  Tonhamas  and  old  Placido  are 
coming.  In  the  meantime  Gem  Felix  Huston  (not  Houston) 
arrived,  and  as  Major  General  of  militia  he  took  command. 

The  Indians  were  exceedingly  anxious  to  defer  the  battle 
until  they  could  get  their  pack-mules  with  their  vast  plunder 
and  captured  women  and  children  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
infuriated  Texans.  And  Gen.  Huston  was  equally  anxious  to 
defer  the  battle  until  more  recruits  come.  Several  bluff  old 
Indian  fighters  told  him  that  he  knew  nothing  about  fighting- 
Indians,  that  he  ought  to  resign  and  let  Gen.  Burleson  com- 
mand. But  this  was  Gen.  Huston's  first  chance  for  glory.  The 
Indian  chiefs  did  all  in  their  power  to  intimidate  the  Texans 
until  they  could  get  their  plunder  and  capture  far  removed. 
Several  of  the  Indian  chiefs  charged  up  in  front  of  the  Texans 
and  hurled  defiant  arrows  at  them.  One  of  these  daring 
chiefs  rode  a  fine  horse  mth  a  fine  American  bridle,  with  a 
red  ribbon  eight  or  ten  feet  long  tied  to  the  tail  of  his  horse. 
He  was  dressed  in  elegant  style  from  the  goods  plundered  at 


Dk.  E,ufus  C.  Buklesox,  839 

Victoria  and  Linville,  with  a  high  top  silk  hat,  fine  pair  of 
boots,  leather  gloves  and  an  elegant  broadcloth  coat  hind-part 
before,  with  brass  buttons  shining  brightly  up  and  down  his 
back.  ^Vhen  he  first  made  his  appearance  he  was  carrying  a 
large  umbrella  stretched.  He  and  others  would  charge  upon 
the  Texans,  shoot  their  arrows,  and  retreat.  This  was  done 
several  times  in  reach  of  our  guns.  Soon  the  discovery  was 
made  that  they  wore  shields,  and  though  our  men  took  good 
aim,  the  bullets  glanced.  An  old  Texan  getting  as  near  the 
place  as  was  safe,  waited  patiently  till  they  came  up  and  as  the 
Indian  checked  his  horse,  his  shield  flew  up,  the  Texan  fired 
and  brought  him  to  the  ground.  Several  others  fell  at  the 
same  time.  Then  the  Indians  began  their  retreat  and  would 
soon  be  beyond  the  reach  of  the  Texans. 

Gen.  Huston  was  now  told  by  the  gallant  McCuUoch  and 
Gen.  Burleson  that  the  time  had  come  v.dien  they  must  fight 
and  he  reluctantly  gave  the  order,  charge.  iSTever  was  a  com- 
mand obeyed  with  -wilder  shouts.  Every  man  was  a  hero; 
and  the  conscious-stricken,  blood-stained  Comanches  were 
swept  away  like  chaff  before  a  tornado.  The  Indians  fied  in 
wild  confusion.  jSTo  one  thought  of  saving  anything  but  his 
own  scalp.  They  abandoned  their  three  thousand  horses  and 
plunder  and  the  captured  women  and  children  they  had,  but 
they  could  not  forego  the  fiendish  pleasure  of  murdering  Mrs. 
Crosby  and  her  child  and  nurse.  They  shot  an  arrow  also  iu 
the  bosom  of  the  lovely  young  bride,  Mrs.  Watts,  and  left  her 
as  dead,  but  Rev.  Z.  J^.  Morrell  and  Dr.  Brown  heard  her 
screams  in  the  thicket  and  went  to  her  assistance,  extracted  the 
arrow  and  she  recovered  and  lived  many  years  and  died  at 
Port  Lavaca  in  1878,  but  never  forgot  the  Comanche  raid 
of  1840. 

The  enraged  Texans  pursued  the  fleeing  Indians  for  ten 
or  flfteen  miles.  The  Indians  fled  to  their  mountain  homes 
utterly  crushed.  They  confidently  intended  with  the  three 
or  four  thousand  horses  and  mules  and  booty  captured  at  Vic- 
toria and  Linville  to  make  a  grander  raid  down  the  Colorado 
River  to  the  Gulf. 

In  the  meantime  Canalizo  and  Woll,  Mexican  Generals, 
with  three  thousand  cavalry  were  to  rush  forward  and  capture 


840  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

San  Antonio  and  Austin  and  all  their  booty,  and  Bowles  and 
liis  Cherokees  were  to  move  down  on  East  Texas  and  the 
Waco's  and  Apaches  down  the  Brazos  and  Central  Texas  and 
thus  utterly  wipe  out  the  Texans. 

But  the  routed  Comanches  retreated  to  their  mountain 
homes  overwhelmed  with  the  conviction  that  the  Texans  were 
invincible,  and  that  their  safety  and  existence  depended  only 
on  letting  them  alone. 

Thus. ended  the  great  Comanche  raid  of  1840  at  Good's 
Crossing  on  Plum  Creek,  two  miles  from  where  Lockhart  now 
stands  and  twenty-seven  miles  from  the  city  of  Austin. 


GEK    WOLL'S    li^VASIO^    OF   TEXAS    Al^D   THE 
MIER  EXPEDITION. 

These  two  terrible  events  in  Texas  history  are  insep- 
erably  connected.  The  Mier  expedition  or  invasion  of  Mexico 
by  the  Texans  was  a  mad,  foolish  effort  at  revenge,  for  Woll's 
invasion  of  Texas  and  his  capture  of  San  Antonio. 

The  Mexicans  kept  continual  paid  agents  among  all  the 
leading  Indian  tribes  urging  them  to  harrass  the  Texans  in 
every  possible  way — killing  and  driving  off  their  stock,  burn- 
ing their  houses,  murdering  their  women  and  children  or 
carrying  them  into  cruel  bondage.  All  of  which  the  Indians 
did  in  the  massacre  at  Fort  Parker,  the  Comanche  raid,  attack- 
ing Victoria  and  burning  Linville,  and  the  Cherokee  war 
under  Bowles,  the  murder  and  scalping  of  Gilliland  and  Wil- 
bager,  the  murder  of  the  Colemans  and  one  thousand  other 
outrages  committed  on  the  Texans.  The  Mexicans  assuring 
the  Indians  that  as  soon  as  they  could  quell  some  insurrec- 
tions and  revolutions  at  home  they  would  sweep  down  upon 
the  bleeding,  exhausted  Texans  Avith  at  least  two  thousand 
splendidly  mounted  cavalrymen  and  thus  completely  exter- 
minate or  drive  from  Texas  soil  the  last  one  of  the  hated 
Anglo  Americans  and  make  the  beautiful  land  of  Texas  the 
perpetual  home  of  Mexicans  and  Indians. 

Six  years  had  passed  since  the  battle  of  San  Jacinto  and 
the   Mexican   army   of   eight   thousand   were   chased   out   of 


De.  Kufus  C.  Burleson.  841 

Texas,  and  their  great  leader,  the  ISTapoleon  of  the  "West,  was 
captured.  The  Mexicans  goaded  to  madness  by  the  remem- 
brance of  these  things,  and  to  encourage  their  bloody  Indian 
allies,  sent  two  thousand  Mexican  cavalrymen  under  Gen. 
Vasque  and  Adrian  Woll  to  invade  Texas.  Their  first  aim 
was  to  capture  San  Antonio,  and  if  successful,  to  dash  into 
Austin  and  capture  Gen.  Houston  and  his  cabinet  and  seize 
all  the  government  archives  and  carry  them  off. 

The  Indians  were  to  make  a  bloody  invasion  along  the 
whole  frontier  and  by  this  combined  assault  the  Texans  were 
to  be  wiped  out.  According  to  this  plan  on  the  11th  of  July, 
1842,  Gen.  Adrain  Woll,  with  one  thousand  and  three  hund- 
red picked  Mexican  cavalry,  and  three  hundred  Greasers  and 
Indians,  all  well  mounted,  dashed  into  San  Antonio.  The 
attack  was  wholly  unexpected.  District  court  was  in  session 
and  the  court  house  was  crowded  to  witness  the  trial  of  a 
celebrated  case. 

The  presiding  judge,  Hutchinson,  J.  W.  Robinson, 
lieutenant  governor  under  Henry  J.  Smith,  a  number  of  other 
lawyers  and  officers  of  the  court  were  captured. 

So  complete  was  the  capture  that  on  WoU's  retreat,  and 
in  camp  on  the  Hondo,  a  good  natured  lawyer  arose  among  the 
prisoners  and  said:  "May  it  please  your  honor,  we  have 
here  in  camp  to-night  the  judge,  the  clerk  with  all  the  papers, 
the  criminal,  all  the  witnesses  and  the  twelve  jurors  and  the 
lawyers  on  both  sides.  I  therefore  move  your  honor  order  the 
sheriff  to  call  the  court  and  proceed  to  try  the  case,  beginning, 
just  where  we  left  off  when  Gen.  Woll  laid  his  quash  on  our 
proceedings  in  San  Antonio."  The  grim  old  judge  replied 
"He  thought  there  would  be  very  little  law  and  less  fun  in 
any  such  proceeding."  And  the  case  never  was  resumed  so 
far  as  history  reports. 

Judge  Hutchinson  after  two  years  imprisonment  in 
Mexico  was  released  and  settled  in  Mississippi.  On  a  visit 
to  my  sister  I  was  anxious  to  see  him  and  gather  up  facts  in 
regard  to  Woll's  capture  of  San  Antonio.  He  said  he  would 
be  glad  to  see  Mrs.  Siveley's  brother;  but  said,  "I  am  soured 
on  Texas  and  I  do  not  want  to  see  or  hear  anything  that  will 
remind  me  of  the  scenes  of  my  capture  and  confinement  in 


842  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

the  horrid  dungeons  of  Mexico.  But  let  it  be  recorded  in 
justice  to  Gen.  Woll  that  he  and  his  men  behaved  well,  and 
inflicted  no  needless,  lawless  outrages  on  private  citizens  or 
their  property."  Having  thus  captured  the  great  city  of  San 
Antonio  without  firing  a  gun,  Gen.  Woll  appointed  Alcaldes 
and  other  Mexican  ofiicers  instead  of  Judge  Hutchinson  and 
others  whom  he  removed  so  unceremoniously,  but  was  more 
eager  to  rush  on  to  Austin  and  seize  a  bigger  prize.  But  old 
and  prominent  Mexicans  at  San  Antonio,  who  had  always 
secretly  sympathized  with  Mexico,  said,  "If  you  go  to  Austin, 
Gen.  Burleson  and  his  Bastrop  brigade  will  fall  in  your  rear 
at  San  Marcos,  cut  off  your  retreat  and  kill  and  capture  every 
man,  and  make  another  San  Jacinto.  By  the  well  known 
signals  of  firing  guns  and  blowing  horns  the  whole  country  for 
forty  miles  can  be  aroused  in  one  hour,  and  they  are  more 
rapid  in  their  movements  than  the  Arabs,  and  fear  no  dan- 
ger." But  allured  by  the  fascinating  hope  of  capturing  the 
President  and  Capital  of  Texas,  he  started  on  his  perilous -raid. 
But  to  his  astonishment  on  the  Salado,  six  miles  east  of  San 
Antonio,  he  found  that  grand  old  Texan,  "Paint  Caldwell," 
and  the  fiery  young  Jack  Hays,  intrenched  in  the  bed  of  the 
Salado,  and  ready  to  fall  on  his  rear  like  hungry  lions  on  their 
prey. 

About  2  o'clock.  Gen.  Woll,  with  sixteen  hundred  in- 
fantry, cavalry  and  artillery,  surrounded  the  Spartan  band  of 
two  hundred  Texans.  Their  grand  old  leader.  Col.  Caldwell, 
in  a  few  words  of  burning  eloquence,  said,  "Boys  we  can 
never  surrender;  we  must  all  die  fighting;  and  although  they 
outnumber  us  eight  to  one  we  can  whip  them  as  we  did  at 
San  Jacinto."  He  called  on  Elder  Z.  IST.  Morrell,  Avho  was 
equally  gallant  in  the  use  of  the  musket  as  in  melding  the 
sword  of  the  spirit,  to  encourage  the  boys.  The  old  hero 
cried  aloud,  "Boys,  we  are  going  into  battle  against  fearful 
odds,  eight  to  one,  but  their  cannon  can't  hurt  u.s  intrenched 
as  we  are.  Keep  cool.  Don't  fire  till  you  see  the  whites  of 
their  eyes.  Shoot  every  man  who  wears  an  ofiicer's  cap  or 
sword,  and  before  God  we  can  whip  them." 

Just  at  that  moment  the  cannon  roared  and  the  shrjt 
rattled  among  the  tops  of  the  trees  and  cut  down  the  limbs. 


Dk.  Eufus  C.  Bukleson.  843 

Inmiediately  the  Mexicans  came  moving  up  in  grand  martial 
array,  with  a  splendid  band  of  music,  guns,  spears,  infantry 
and  cavalry.  'Not  a  gun  was  fired  till  the  Mexicans  were 
within  thirty  feet  of  the  Texans,  when  200  death-dealing  rifles 
fired.  The  whole  front  line  fell.  Some  few  sprang  to  their 
feet  screaming  in  agony.  In  five  minutes  not  an  ofiicer  could 
be  seen.  Then  men  stood  appalled  with  horor.  Gen.  Woll, 
standing  at  his  cannon  on  top  of  the  hill,  saw  his  men  falling 
like  autumn  leaves  before  the  tornado,  while  the  Texans  were 
unhurt.  He  knew  the  day  was  lost.  He  sounded  the  horn 
for  retreat,  and  the  Mexicans  fled  in  wild  confusion  from  the 
scene  of  slaughter,  leaving  two  hundred  dead  and  wounded 
on  the  field. 

The  Texans  could  scarcely  be  restrained  from  pursuing 
them.  But  while  the  Texans  were  exulting  in  their  victory 
gained  without  the  loss  of  a  single  man,  they  heard  the  firing 
of  rifles  in  the  rear  of  the  Mexicans.  It  was  the  brave  Capt. 
Dawson,  of  LaGrange,  who,  on  receiving  Col.  Caldwell's  call 
for  men,  gathered  fifty-two  men,  many  of  them  young  men 
whose  fathers  had  gone  to  the  front.  Capt.  Dawson  came 
up  in  the  rear  just  in  time  to  hear  the  firing  of  the  guns  and 
see  on  the  broad,  open  prairie  the  Mexicans  fleeing  in  wild 
disorder. 

As  soon  as  Gen.  Woll  discovered  this  little  band  he 
ordered  his  men  to  surround  and  kill  or  capture  them.  The 
Mexicans  burning  with  revenge  for  their  recent  defeat, 
speedily  surrounded  the  little  band,  who  took  shelter  in  a  little 
"Island  of  Timber"  standing  in  the  vast  prairie. 

The  two  hundred  heroes  intrenched  in  the  bed  of  the 
Salado  saw  the  unequal  fight  of  fourteen  hundred  Mexicans 
against  fifty-two  Texans,  and  were  perfectly  conscious  they 
were  powerless  to  give  them  any  aid,  and  knowing  some  oi 
them  were  their  own  sons  and  neighbors'  sons,  no  human 
tongue  can  express  the  agony  of  soul  they  felt.  They  saw 
thirty-five  of  the  brave  little  band  of  fifty-two  fall  in  battle, 
two  escaped  and  fifteen  were  made  prisoners.  But  the  little 
Spartan  band  did  not  fall  in  vain.  ISTearly  one  hundred  dead 
Mexicans  lay  upon  the  field.  When  the  battle  was  over  the 
Mexicans  from   San   Antonio   gathered   around   Gen.    Woll 


844  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

and  said,  "You  have  a  foretaste  of  what  you  will  find  if  you 
try  to  capture  Austin.  Burleson  with  his  terrible  Bastrop  brig- 
ade, with  Caldwell  and  his  heroes,  will  fall  on  you  and  not  a 
single  soldier  will  cross  the  Kio  Grande  to  tell  the  tale.  And 
they  are  coming  and  soon  all  hope  of  retreat  will  be  cut  off." 
Gen.  Woll  aroused  to  the  consciousness  of  his  danger,  com- 
menced his  retreat  to  San  Antonio  and  spent  the  night  in 
carrying  their  dead  into  the  city  and  burying  them. 

It  was  a  night  of  horrible  suspense  to  the  brave  two  hun- 
dred, many  of  whom  knew  their  sons  and  neighbors  were  in 
Dawson's  band. 

jS'ext  morning,  by  daylight,  fathers  and  brothers  were 
turning  over  and  examining  the  dead  bodies.  Bitter  wailings 
and  mourning  rent  the  air  as  some  loved  and  mangled  form 
was  discovered.  Elder  Z.  N.  Morrell  learned  from  the  muster 
roll,  or  some  other  papers,  that  his  noble  son,  Allen,  was  in  the 
company,  and  no  doubt  a  prisoner  in  chains.  A  burning  de- 
sire filled  the  father's  heart  to  rescue  his  boy  or  die  in  the 
struggle. 

The  little  band  of  two  hundred  had  increased  to  five  hun- 
dred and  still  they  were  coming,  and  they  hurried  on  in  pur- 
suit of  the  retreating  Mexicans. 

They  overtook  Woll  and  his  men  on  the  Hondo,  forty 
miles  west  of  San  Antonio.  Gen.  Woll  planned  the  battle 
with  consummate  skill.  His  cannon  were  placed  upon  a  high 
hill  with  infantry  on  each  side  of  the  road,  up  which  the  Tex- 
ans  had  to  p'ass  in  charging  the  cannon. 

But  the  cannoneers  and  the  musketeers  both  overshot 
the  Texans,  who,  with  a  yell  which  struck  terror  to  the  Mexi- 
can heart,  charged  up  and  shot  down  the  cannoneers,  and  the 
infantry  fled  in  wild  confusion  to  their  main  encampment. 

Many  of  the  soldiers,  especially  Bro.  Morrell  and  those 
who  had  sons  among  the  prisoners,  were  eager  to  press  on  and 
rescue  their  loved  ones,  but  it  was  dark  and  it  was  thought  to 
be  safer  to  wait  till  daylight  next  morning. 

During  the  night  Gen.  Woll  retreated  and  next  morn- 
ing he  was  several  miles  away. 

A  council  of  war  was  called  to  decide  whether  to  pursue 
the  flying  enemy. 


Dk.  Eufus  C.  Burleson.  845 

It  was  in  vain  that  Father  Morrell  and  Judge  Hemphill 
urged  the  men  with  tears  to  go  with  them  and  rescue  the  brave 
bojs  that  rushed  out  from  LaGrange  to  aid  them  in  their 
unequal  contest,  now  doomed  to  waste  years  in  Mexican  dun- 
geons unless  rescued. 

Gen.  Woll  reported  to  his  government  that  he  lost  six 
hundred  men  in  his  invasion  of  Texas,  and  therefore  could  not 
have  had  more  than  one  thousand  men,  who  were  utterly  de- 
moralized in  three  battles.  This  is  one  of  the  disgraceful 
pages  of  Texas  history  that  I  record  with  a  blush.  But  for 
this  cowardly  act  of  a  few  timid  men,  Woll's  invasion  of 
Texas  in  1842  would  have  been  as  disastrous  as  Cos'  was  in 
1835  and  Santa  Anna  in  1836. 

He  escaped  to  Mexico  with  the  loss  of  six  hundred  men 
and  half  his  cannon,  while  Texans  only  lost  thirty-six  killed 
and  fifteen  prisoners. 

The  Mier  expedition  originated  in  a  burning  desire  in  the 
hearts  of  the  Texans  to  avenge  the  wrongs  Mexico  had  com- 
mitted in  Texas  by  the  invasion  of  Vazques  and  Woll,  and 
also  for  sending  emissaries  all  along  oiir  Indian  frontier  to- in- 
cite the  bloody  savages  to  burn  our  houses  and  murder  and 
scalp  our  women  and  children. 

All  that  fearfully  large  class  that  reason  from  their  pas- 
sions and  prejudices  clamored  for  invading  Mexico.  They 
claimed  with  equally  folly  that  there  was  a  large  element  in 
Mexico  opposed  to  the  government,  and  if  an  army  of  well 
beloved  Texans,  such  as  they  met  at  the  Alamo  and  San  Ja- 
cinto, could  only  get  into  Mexico,  vast  armies  of  loving  Mexi- 
cans would  rush  to  their  embrace.  It  was  in  vain  that  Gen. 
Houston  and  all  our  real  statesmen  who  always  reason  from 
facts,  and  not  from  passion  and  prejudice,  showed  them  that 
the  grand  predominant  trait  of  Spanish  character  for  four 
hundred  years  had  been  hatred  against  foreign  domination. 
But  madness  ruled  the  hour,  as  in  the  case  of  secession  and  a 
thousand  other  minor  cases  where  passion,  and  hot  heads, 
ruled  the  masses. 

Mexico  must  and  should  be  invaded  and  punished  for  her 
wrongs  inflicted  on  Texas.     The  hot  heads  claimed  that  two 


846  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

thousand  men  and  $10,000  would  be  sufficient  to  invade 
Mexico.  Houston  told  them  it  would  require  fifty  thousand 
men  and  $10,000,000  to  invade  Mexico  successfully.  And 
the  invasion  of  Mexico  by  the  United  States  showed  how  much 
better  it  is  to  reason  from  facts  than  passion. 

But  madness  ruled  the  hour  and  a  little  army  of  about' 
one  thousand  men  flocked  to  the  Rio  Grande  to  invade  a 
nation  of  eight  million.  All  the  men  wanted  Gen.  Burleson  to 
lead  the  invasion.  But  Gen.  Houston  appointed  Gen.  A. 
Somervell,  the  old  secretary  of  war,  with  instructions  to  march 
to  the  Rio  Grande  and  cross  over  as  soon  as  he  deemed  it  pru- 
dent. When  Gen.  Somervell  reached  the  army  and  found  the 
men  clamoring  for  Gen.  Burleson  he  generously  proposed  to 
resign.  But  Gen.  Burleson,  with  equal  modesty,  declined  to 
accept  the  command.  The  army  of  invasion  now  m«irched  to 
the  Rio  Grande  and  captured  the  town  of  Laredo.  The  army 
of  invasion  wandered  along  the  banks  of  the  Rio  Grande  amid 
the  dense  chaparral,  as  Gen.  Somervell  did  not  deem  it 
pru'dent  to  cross  over  as  the  sagacious  Houston  foresaw,  he 
abandoned  the  invasion.  All  returned  home  except  about 
three  hundred.     These  elected  Rhodes  Fisher  as  their  leader. 

These,  after  fighting  heroically  at  Mier,  surrendered  as 
prisoners  of  war,  but  were  marched  off  to  the  City  of  Mexico 
in  chains  as  felons.  At  Hacienda  Salado  they  rose  on  the 
guard,  overpowered  them  and  made  their  escape. 

After  wandering  about  for  days  in  the  mountains  and 
dense  forests  of  Mexico  they  were  recaptured  and  Santa  Anna 
ordered  every  tenth  man  to  be  shot.  One  hundred  and  fifty- 
nine  white  beans  and  seventeen  black  ones  were  put  in  a  box, 
and  every  man  that  drew  a  white  bean  was  doomed  to  hard, 
degrading  toil  under  insulting  overseers.  Those  who  drew 
the  black  beans  were  immediately  shot.  Before  being  shot 
they  called  on  Mr.  Robert  Dunham,  one  of  their  number,  a 
pious  Methodist,  to  pray  for  th'em.  Mr.  Dunham  knelt  down 
and  offered  a  most  earnest  prayer  for  them,  and  himself,  when 
they  were  blindfolded  and  shot. 

The  one  hundred  and  fifty-nine  who  drew  the  white 
beans,  after  two  years  of  loathsome  confinement,  were  re- 


Dk.  Eufus  C.  Bukleson. 


847 


leased  bj  the  dying  request  of  Santa  Anna's  wife.  Her  wom- 
anly heart  was  touched  by  the  suffering  of  the  poor  Texan 
prisoners  and  her  dying  request,  was  that  they  be  released  and 
sent  home.     Thus  ended  the  Mier  expedition. 


PEESIDENTS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC   OF  TEXAS- 
1836-46. 


David  G.  Burnet. 
Sam  Houston. 


M.  B.  Lamar. 
Anson  Jones. 


PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

The  ten  years  of  the  Republic  of  Texas  from  1836  to 
1846  will  ever  be  memorable  in  the  history  of  Texas.  Memo- 
rable for  the  many  acts  of  unsurpassed  heroism  on  the  battle- 
field, unsurpassed  wisdom  in  counsel  and  patient  suffering  of 
the  people. 


848  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

But,  above  all,  memorable  for  the  wisdom  and  goodness 
of  God  for  giving  Texas  such  heroes  in  battle  and  such  states- 
men to  guide  the  helm  of  state. 

David  G.  Burnet  was  elected  President  ad  interim  on 
the  inauguration  of  the  Kepublic,  March  2,  1836.  He  was 
peculiarly  fitted  for  the  important  and  perilous  crisis.  He 
had  an  army  to  recruit  and  support,  a  government  to  inaugu- 
rate and  carry  forward  without  buildings  or  a  dollar  in  the 
treasury.  He  was  born  in  New  Jersey  in  1788 — four  years 
older  than  Gen.  Sam  Houston.  His  pious  and  intelligent 
parents  gave  him  the  education  of  heart  and  head  that  fitted 
him  fully  for  his  great  life  work. 

In  1806,  when  eighteen  years  old,  his  soul  was  deeply 
aroused  by  the  suffering  patriots  of  Venezuela,  and  he  spent 
four  years  as  an  officer  under  Gen.  Miranda.  But  when  that 
patriot  was  captured  and  murdered,  young  Buruet  returned 
to  the  United  States  and  settled  in  Cincinnati,  and  read  law 
with  his  distinguished  brother,  Judge  Burnet.  But,  his 
health  failing,  he  came  to  Texas,  and  spent  three  years 
roaming  over  our  health-giving  prairies  with  the  Comanche 
Indians.  His  health  fieing  thoroughly  restored,  he  returned 
to  New  Jersey,  and  while  there  married  Miss  Estis,  of  New 
York,  whose  pure  heart  and  brilliant  intellect  prepared  her 
to  become  a  helpmate  for  him  in  his  life  work. 

In  1833  he  and  his  young  wife  entered  the  schooner 
"Call"  with  all  their  personal  and  household  goods.  The  ves- 
sel was  wrecked  off  Bolivia  Point,  and  the  young  couple  had 
to  wade  through  the  breakers  to  the  shore,  and,  though  bereft 
of  all,  with  undaunted  hearts  they  began  their  great  life  work 
in  Texas. 

Mr.  Burnet  was  a  leading  member  of  the  convention  of 
1834,  and  wrote  the  powerful  memorial  to  the  Mexican  Gov- 
ernment, showing  the  importance  of  Texas  becoming  a  sepa- 
rate State  from  Coahuila. 

lie  also  presented  a  set  a  stirring  resolutions  against  the 
African  slave  trade,  then  carried  on  with  great  profit  by 
Munroe  Edwards  and  others.  Large  ship  loads  of  the  sons  of 
Africa  were  landed  at  Anahuac  and  Velasco,  not  only  for 
Texas,  but  also  for  Louisiana.     One  man  made  $65,000  by 


Dk.  Rufus  0.  Burleson.  849 

this  infamous  traific.  These  resolutions  were  bitterly  de- 
political  life  and  spent  his  last  days  in  sad  disappointment, 
slave  trade  was  banished  from  Texas.  He  was  appointed  Dis- 
trict Judge  of  the  Brazos  Department  in  1834:,  and  held  court 
regularly  at  San  Felipe. 

He,  with  Stephen  F.  Austin  and  others,  earnestly  opposed 
the  total  separation  of  Texas  from  Mexico  till  the  last  efforts 
to  secure  the  rights  of  Texas  were  exhausted.  But  when 
Santa  Anna  blotted  out  the  last  vestige  of  republicanism  in 
Mexico,  and  sent  four  military  despots  to  extend  military  rule 
over  Texas,  he  entered  with  his  whole  soul  into  the  revolu- 
tion, and  on  the  16th  of  March,  1836,  was  elected  President 
ad  interim  of  the  Republic.  But  on  the  very  day  his  elec- 
tion the  sad  news  came  that  the  Alamo  had  fallen  and  her 
noble  heroes  were  inhumanely  murdered.  Very  soon  the 
sad  news  came  that  Fannin  and  his  400  men  were  captured 
and  later  murdered  at  Goliad.  Very  soon  the  news  came  that 
Grant,  Ward  and  King  were  captured  at  Refugio.  Very 
soon  the  bloody,  infamous  tyrant,  Santa  Anna,  with  8,000  sol- 
diers, was  pursuing  Gen.  Houston  with  his  little  army  of  784 
men. 

President  Burnet  deemed  it  safe  to  remove  the  capital 
from  Washington  to  Harrisburg.  A  fearful  panic  spread 
over  the  whole  country.  Old  men,  women  and  children  were 
seen  everywhere  fleeing  from  Santa  Anna. 

But  Houston  seized  the  golden  moment,  April  21,  1836, 
and  crushed  Santa  Anna  with  his  picked  troops. 

But,  alas,  with  this  glorious  victory  and  the  Mexican 
army  banished  from  Texas,  there  arose  fearful  dissensions  that 
threatened  to  engulf  Texas  in  ruin. 

Sam  Houston,  so  eminently  gifted  to  rule  the  stormy 
elements,  was  dangerously  wounded  in  the  battle  of  San 
Jacinto,  and  had  gone  to  [N'ew  Orleans  for  treatment. 

And,  as  it  always  happens,  when  victory  is  won  and  hon- 
ors are  to  be  divided,  a  number  of  ambitious  men  will  rush  to 
the  front  and  desire  to  be  leaders  and  appropriate  the  honors 
to  themselves. 

These  infamous  intriguers  whispered  it  around  among 
the    half-fed    and   badly-paid    soldiers    that    Sam    Houston, 

54 


850  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

Stephen  F.  Austin  and  David  G.  Burnet  had  been  bribed 
bj  Santa  Anna  to  release  him,  when  he  should  have  been 
hanged  for  murdering  Crockett,  Bowie,  Bonham  and  others, 
and  if  thej  were  in  power  they  would  see  that  the  half- 
clothed  and  unpaid  heroes  of  San  Jacinto  should  be  well 
fed,  clothed  and  paid.  These  whisperings  kindled  sparks 
that  soon  stirred  flames  of  indignation  and  anarchy.  And  as 
Houston  was  not  present  to  guide  the  raging  storm,  and  noble- 
hearted  and  honest  Burnet  had  no  skill  in  that  direction, 
soon  mutiny  and  anarchy  ruled  the  hour.  It  was  resolved 
to  arrest  President  Burnet  and  his  Cabinet  and  try  them  for 
treason,  and  seize  Santa  Anna  on  the  ship  about  to  sail  for 
Mexico,  and  establish  a  military  despotism  in  Texas. 

The  very  evil  against  which  the  war  of  the  Texas  revo- 
lution was  waged.  With  shame  and  only  as  an  eternal  warn- 
ing against  all  such  ambitious,  "upstarts"  in  church  or  State, 
we  record  the  infamous  order  adopted  by  T.  C.  ]Vtillard,  Tom 
Jeff  Green  and  others : 

"You  are  hereby  ordered  to  proceed  from  Quintana  to 
Velasco,and  arrest  the  person  of  D.  G.  Burnet;  take  into  your 
possession  the  books  and  records  and  papers  of  the  Secretary 
of  State,  of  War,  and  of  the  Treasury,  and  then  safely  keep, 
and  report  forthwith." 

This  order  was  signed  by  Col.  H.  H.  Miller  and 
addressed  to  Col.  A.  Turner,  who,  though  violently  opposed 
to  releasing  Santa  Anna,  was  equally  opposed  to  the  outrage 
of  arresting  President  Burnet,  and  thus  overthrowing  the 
civil  government  adopted  by  Texas.  In  the  meantime  one  of 
the  men  who  came  with  Millard  got  drunk  and  told  the  secret 
object  of  their  visit  to  arrest  President  Burnet. 

When  it  became  known  that  the  army  contemplated  sub- 
verting the  civil  authority,  a  wonderful  reaction  took  place 
in  the  public  mind.  Such  citizens  as  Thomas  F.  McKinney, 
W.  H.  and  Patrick  Jack,  W.  H.  Wharton  and  others  resolved 
to  stand  by  the  President  at  all  hazards;  and  Gen.  Lamai', 
who  violently  opposed  the  releasing  of  Santa  Anna,  said  He 
would  die  by  the  President  and  civil  authority.  Some  of  the 
people  threatened  the  lives  of  Millard  and  his  companions, 
and  they  found  it  very  important  for  them  to  leave  the  seat 
of  government  at  once.     It  was  providential  that  at  that  time 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Bukleson.  '  851 

"the  Buckeye  Rangers/'  from  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  just  arrived, 
and  they  had  been  magnificently  entertained  at  the  Burnet 
House  by  President  D.  J.  Burnet's  brother,  and  some  of  them 
,were  sons  of  the  noble  women  of  Cincinnati  who  furnished 
the  Twin  Sisters,  or  two  cannons,  for  the  Texas  army,  that  did 
such  glorious  work  at  the  battle  of  San  Jacinto.  These  Twin 
Sisters  were  shipped  to  Texas  as  hollow  ware.  This  company 
unanimously  and  enthusiastically  declared  for  President  Bur- 
net. In  the  meantime  some  of  the  desperadoes  threatened 
to  assassinate  the  President;  and  his  heroic  wife  kept  a  light 
burning  in  the  front  window  all  night,  and  sat  in  a  secure 
place  with  a  revolver  in  her  hand,  resolved  to  die  Avith  her 
husband.  Amid  all  these  terrible  convulsions  one  of  Presi- 
dent Burnet's  children  died  from  exposure  in  an  uncomfort- 
able house.  But  amid  all  these  surging  billows  of  opposition 
he  stood  like  an  ocean-beaten  rock,  and  soon  the  foaming  bil- 
lows of  anarchy  passed  away. 

But  let  no  one  suppose  that  this  shameful  outburst  of 
ambition  and  intrigue  was  peculiar  to  Texas,  for  it  is  the  out- 
growth of  depraved  humanity,  and  it  has  developed  itself  in 
every  part  of  the  world's  history.  Even  our  great  and  good 
Gen.  Washington,  after  he  had  fought  gloriously  the  battles 
of  liberty  and  was  elected  President,  ambitious  upstarts 
secretly  whispered  and  affirmed  that  he  had  been  bribed  by 
the  British  Government;  and  the  same  class  of  persons  said 
that  the  great  and  good  John  Adams  obtained  the  office  of 
President  by  British  gold. 

President  Burnet,  to  show  that  he  had  no  ambition, 
merely  to  hold  power,  on  the  23d  of  October,  1836,  ordered 
an  election  to  be  held  on  the  first  Monday  in  December,  1836, 
for  the  election  of  President  and  other  permanent  officers  of 
Government. 

Sam  Houston  was  elected  President  and  M.  B.  Lamar 
Vice-President.  Gen.  Houston  had  been  compelled  to  go  to 
ISTew  Orleans  for  surgical  treatment  of  a  terrible  wound  he 
had  received  at  the  battle  of  San  Jacinto,  and  while  the  wound 
was  being  successfully  treated  by  Dr.  Christian  he  received 
another  wound.  The  heart  of  the  grand  old  hero  was  deeply 
pierced  by  arrows  shot  from  the  lovely  blue  eyes  of  Miss  Mag- 


852  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

gie  Lee,  of  Marion,  Alabama,  who  was  tlien  on  a  visit  to  New 
Orleans  and  providentially  met  the  grand  old  hero.  So  the 
hero  of  San  Jacinto  returned  home  healed  in  soul  and  body 
and  a  hundred-fold  better  prepared  to  guide  Texas  in  her 
onward  move  to  glory. 

The  history  of  Sam  Houston  is  so  familiar  I  will 
only  add  that  it  is  the  solemn  conviction  of  all  who 
know  his  wonderful  history,  and  the  fierce  and  stormy  trials 
through  which  he  passed,  are  fully  convinced  that  he  was  the 
God-sent  man  and  the  only  man  good  enough  and  bad  enough 
to  save  Texas  and  to  prepare  her  to  become  the  grandest  States 
between  the  oceans. 

The  foundation  stone  of  Gen.  Houston's  greatness  was 
laid  in  his  magnificent  physical  and  mental  nature.  He  stood 
6  feet  6  inches  tall,  he  weighed  230  pounds  and  without  a 
pound  of  surplus  flesh.  He  stood  erect,  with  a  broad  and  ele- 
vated forehead,  with  an  eye  penetrating  as  an  eagle's.  His 
second  great  preparation  for  his  life  work  was  the  training  by 
his  grand  old  Scotch  Presbyterian  mother.  She  trained  him 
form  the  cradle  to  reverence  God  and  the  Bible,  and  to  love 
his  parents  and  his  native  land  more  than  life.  Thirdly,  he 
was  blessed  with  a  grand  teacher,  the  venerable  Dr.  Isaac 
Anderson,  the  founder  of  Maryville  College,  in  Tennessee. 
This  grand  old  teacher  taught  young  Houston  these  grand  les- 
sons: First,  how  to  think.  Second,  what  to  think,  Third, 
what  are  the  helps  of  correct  thinking.  Under  the  third 
class — helps  for  correct  thinking — he  gave  him  the  Bible, 
Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress,  the  life  of  Ben  Franklin  and 
of  Washington,  Watt's  Improvement  of  the  Mind,  and  Hom- 
er's Iliad.  And  young  Houston  made  these  authors  the  com- 
panions of  his  life.  When  clerk  in  a  store  on  the  frontier  of 
Tennessee  he  had  these  books  around  him,  and  while  other 
boys  were  attending  horse  racing,  hunting  and  shooting 
matches,  he  was  poring  over  these  grand  books.  He  could 
repeat  by  heart  whole  books  of  Homer's  Iliad.  Fifth,  the 
training  of  his  life  work  was  hi?  home  among  the  Cherokee 
Indians  with  the  family  of  the  old  chief,  Ouleteka.  Here 
he  studied  profoundly  the  nature  of  the  Indians,  and  no  man 
ever  lived,  save  William  Penn,  that  gained  such  power  and 
control  as  Sam  Houston  over  the  Indians.     By  his  magic 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  Bukleson.  853 

power  he  was  enabled  to  hold  in  check  30,000  Indians  on  our 
frontier,  and  at  the  same  time  repel  8,000,000  Mexicans  on 
the  west,  and  with  magic  power  maintained  law  and  order  in 
Texas. 

During  Houston's  first  administration  of  two  years,  law 
and  order  were  restored,  and  such  a  rigid  system  of  economy 
was  adopted  and  the  young  republic  was  so  thoroughly  organ- 
ized it  ws  recognized  as  an  independent  nation  by  France, 
England  and  the  United  States. 

Crops  were  abundant,  homes  were  happy  and  everything 
promised  a  glorious  future.  But  the  Constitution  limited  the 
office  of  the  first  President  to  two  years,  and  at  its  end  Hous- 
ton retired.  And  his  Vice-President,  Gen.  M.  B.  Lamar, 
was  elected  President,  and  Judge  Burnet  Vice-President. 

Gen.  Lamar  was  a  great  scholar,  orator,  soldier  and 
patriot.  He  was  a  native  of  Georgia,  and  belonged  to  an  old 
and  distinguished  Huguenot  family.  He  had  visited  Texas 
and  determined  to  make  it  his  future  home,  and  had  returned 
to  Georgia  to  mnd  up  his  business.  But  when  he  heard  that 
Santa  Anna  was  invading  Texas  with  8,000  troops,  he  hurried 
back  to  Texas,  and  landed  at  Velasco.  But,  finding  no  means 
of  conveyance,  he  set  out  on  foot,  and  reached  the  Texas 
army  at  Groce's  Petreat,  and  enlisted  as  a  private  soldier. 

In  a  preliminary  skirmish  on  the  20th  oi  April  he  dis- 
played extraordinary  heroism  in  rescuing  Walter  P.  Lane, 
when  surrounded  by  a  strong  force  of  Mexican  cavalry.  He 
heroically  dashed  over  one  Mexican,  killed  another  and  dis- 
armed a  third.  On  account  of  this  heroism  Gen.  Houston 
promoted  him  to  the  command  of  the  cavalry.  And  on  the 
ever  memorable  21st  of  April  he  showed  that  he  was  a  hero 
among  heroes.  Soon  after  the  battle  of  San  Jacinto  he  was 
made  Secretary  of  War  in  Burnet's  Cabinet,  and  on  the  1st 
of  October  he  was  elected  Vice-President  under  Houston. 
And  when  Houston's  two  years  expired  Lamar  was  elected 
President  for  three  years. 

'No  man  ever  rose  more  rapidly  in  honor  and  universal 
esteem  than  this  gallant  young  hero.  But  alas !  as  soon  as  he 
reached  the  summit,  he  showed  that,  though  brave  and  bril- 
liant and  the  soul  of  honor,  like  most  Frenchmen,  he  lacked 


854  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

strong  common  sense,  the  most  valuable  sense  in  the  world. 
He  regarded  the  administration  of  Houston  as  too  tame  and 
economical.  And  especially  he  regarded  his  policy  of  gentle 
forbearance  with  the  Indians  and  Mexicans  as  unwise.  Lamar 
recommended  the  chartering  of  a  national  bank,  and  a  more 
elegant  outfit  in  all  Government  affairs.  He  also  initiated  the 
grand  educational  fund  of  Texas  by  appropriating  fifty 
leagues  of  land  for  a  State  University;  three  leagues,  and 
afterwards  increased  to  four,  for  each  county.  He  proclaimed 
that  "the  boundary  line  of  the  Republic  would  be  drawn  with 
the  sword,"  and  a  vigorous  resistance  of  Mexicans  and  Indians 
was  waged  all  along  the  line.  The  killing  of  the  twelve 
Comanche  chiefs  and  the  thirty-two  warriors  at  the  "Council 
House,"  in  San  Antonio,  aroused  the  Comanches  to  make 
their  grand  raid  from  the  mountains  to  the  Gulf,  and  the 
sacking  of  Victoria  and  Linville  and  the  burning  of  the  lat- 
ter, followed  immediately  by  the  Cherokee  war  under  Bowles 
in  Eastern  Texas.  In  short,  the  camp  fires  were  blazing  from 
the  Rio  Grande  and  from  every  mountain  top  for  300  miles  of 
our  Indian  frontier.  The  treasury  was  empty,  and  every- 
thing theatened  ruin  to  Texas.  The  gallant  and  noble  Lamar 
struggled  as  heroically  as  ever  man  did,  but  all  in  vain.  His 
whole  sensitive  nature  gave  way,  and  he  asked  Congress  to 
relieve  him  from  his  official  duties  and  allow  him  to  retire  Lo 
his  old  home  in  Georgia.  This  sad  request  was  granted,  and 
the  grand  old  patriot,  David  G.  Burnet,  Vice-President, 
filled  out  the  three  years'  term  of  Lamar.  No  living  man  ever 
questioned  Lamar's  patriotism  and  devotion  to  Texas.  He 
was  simply  impracticable  and  wanting  in  common  sense.  But 
he  was  ever  true  to  Texas  and  performed  several  important 
duties.  His  first  "svife  having  died,  he  married  the  brilliant 
daughter  of  John  IsTeweland  Moffett,  a  sister  of  Commodore 
Moffett.  He  spent  his  last  days  on  his  beautiful  farm  near 
Richmond,  Texas,  and  died  December  19,  1859,  and  was 
buried  in  the  graveyard  where  sleeps  the  heroine,  Mrs.  Dr. 
Long,  of  Fredonian  fame,  and  not  far  from  the  Episcopal 
burying  ground,  where  sleeps  the  celebrated  spy  and  courier, 
"Deaf  Smith." 

In  the  deplorable  condition,  all  hearts  turned  to  the  hero 
of  San  Jacinto,  and  he  was  elected  President,  and  Gen.  Bur- 


De.  Rufus  C.  Bukleson.  855 

leson  Vice-President,  but  the  prospects  were  so  dark  with  a 
bankrupt  treasury,  an  unpaid  army,  30,000  hostile  Indians  on 
the  north  and  8,000,000  Mexicans  on  the  west,  that  many 
patriots  despaired  of  the  Republic,  and  Congress  passed  a 
resolution  to  make  Gen.  Houston  "dictator"  for  life.  But 
with  the  grand  patriotism  of  his  great  soul,  he  declined,  and  in 
an  earnest  appeal  to  the  people  implored  them  "not  to  despair 
of  the  Republic,  but  to  go  to  work,  plant  corn,  study  economy, 
and,  above  all,  pray  earnestly  that  the  God  of  Liberty  would 
guide,"  and  that  all  would  be  well. 

Houston  left  General  Burleson  to  watch  over  home  af- 
fairs, and  he  mounted  his  splendid  horse  and,  with  a  few 
friends,  both  white  and  Indians,  he  visited  the  hostile  camp 
fires  for  300  miles  on  the  frontier.  He  said,  with  tears: 
"We  are  all  children  of  the  same  great  Spirit  and  must  live  as 
brethren."  They  smoked  the  pipe  of  peace,  and  harmony 
was  restored.  After  three  years  of  strict  economy  Texas 
bonds  issued  by  Houston  were  worth  100  cents  on  the  dollar. 
The  battle  of  San  Jacinto  was  not  a  more  glorious  triumph 
than  this  second  administration  of  Houston.  Very  many  bit- 
terly regretted  that  clause  in  the  Constitution  that  forbade 
the  re-election  of  a  retiring  President.  The  great  question 
was  then,  "Who  shall  succeed  Houston?" 

Many  felt  that  Gen.  Ed  Burleson  had  never  been  honored 
as  he  ought  to  have  been,  and  insisted  that  he  be  elected  Pres- 
ident. But  many  said  that  he  was  such  an  Indian  fighter  and 
hater  that  he  would  renew  all  the  hostilities  with  the  Indians 
and  Mexicans,  and,  while  recognizing  his  honesty  and  integ- 
rity, they  said :  "We  would  rather  have  Houston's  shadow 
for  President  than  any  other  man  in  Texas."  And,  there- 
fore. Dr.  Anson  Jones,  Houston's  great  Secretary  of  State, 
and  who  had  conducted  the  internal  affairs  with  such  great 
skill,  was  elected  the  fourth  and  last  President  of  the  Republic 
of  Texas.  Dr.  Jones  was  born  in  Barrington,  Mass.,  in  1788. 
He  was  finely  educated,  and  took  a  high  stand  as  a  physician, 
but  was  greatly  inclined  to  political  life.  He  was  no  speaker, 
and  his  manner  not  attractive,  but  the  routine  of  office  he  did 
well.  But  the  grand  subject  of  his  administration  was  the 
annexation  of  Texas  to  the  United  States.     When  this  grand 


856  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

object  was  achieved  he  retired  to  private  life,  was  ignored  in 
political  life  and  spent  his  last  days  in  sad  disappointment. 
He  was  not  like  Houston,  "a  born  leader."  He  was  so 
mortified  at  being  called  "Houston's  shadow"  that  he  be- 
came bitter  against  his  old  friend.  And  Gen,  Houston's 
terrible  sarcasm  increased  greatly  his  gloom  and  despond- 
ency; and  on  one  occasion  he  sent  an  apology  by  Col.  Wash 
Crawford  to  General  Houston  for  some  bitter  things  he  had 
said  against  him,  and  asked  that  their  friendship  be  renewed. 
Gen.  Houston  replied:  "Tell  Dr.  Jones  that  I  accept  his 
apology  and  forgive  him,  but  I  have  no  time  to  galvanize  dead 
dogs."  Thus  the  pure  and  devoted  old  Texan  passed  his  last 
days  in  gloom  and  sadness  and  cruel  neglect.  On  one  occa- 
sion he  was  visiting  the  city  of  Houston  on  business  and  stop- 
ped at  the  old  "Capitol  Hotel."  He  was  very  gloomy  and  de- 
spondent, and  said  to  a  friend :  "Twenty  years  ago  I  com- 
menced my  political  career  as  a  Texas  Senator  in  this  house, 
and  here  I  would  be  glad  to  close  my  useless  life."  He  retired 
to  his  room,  and  soon  the  loud  report  of  a  pistol  was  heard,  and 
Dr.  Jones  was  found  bleeding  and  dying  on  the  floor.  This 
sad  death  is  a  warning  against  two  evils;  first,  giving  way  to 
despondency  and  gloom,  and,  secondly,  the  treating  of  old 
public  servants  with  neglect.  But  though  men  die,  their 
works  live,  and  Texas  flourishes  with  ever  increasing  splendor, 
and  will  shine  on  'till  the  stars  grow  dim. 


TEXAS  ANNEXATIQ]^. 

I  have  been  asked  by  several  students  and  teachers  of 
Texas  history  to  answer  the  follomng  questions: 

First.     Was  Gen.  Houston  opposed  to  annexation? 

Second.     Who  were  the  chief  actors  in  annexation? 

Third.     When  was  Texas  annexed  ? 

To  the  first  question  I  answer  emphatically  no.  I  make 
this  statement  on  the  repeated  declaration  of  Gen.  Houston  to 
me.  I  may  state,  to  illustrate  some  points  on  Texas  history, 
that  my  relations  with  Gen.  Houston  were  exceedingly  inti- 
mate.    He  was  converted  under  my  preaching,  and  I  buried 


De.  Eufus  C.  Bueleson.  857 

him  in  liolj  baptism  in  1854.  I  was  his  spiritual  and  he  was 
mj  political  adviser  in  all  things,  I  ever  regarded  him  as  the 
God-sent  and  God-directed  Moses  to  lead  the  Texans  out  of 
the  wilderness  into  liberty,  prosperity  and  greatness.  We 
were  both  ardent  admirers  of  Gen.  Jackson.  I  fully  sympa- 
thized with  Gen.  Houston  in  his  far-seeing  policy,  proposed 
in  1856,  for  limiting  foreign  immigration  and  preventing  for- 
eign control  in  the  affairs  of  this  republic.  I  ardently  sym- 
pathized with  him  in  his  devotion  to  the  American  Union,  and 
his  dread  of  secession  and  all  the  woes  that  it  would  brimg  upon 
our  beloved  Southland,  and  in  our  many  long  and  unreserved 
conversations  he  always  declared  that  he  was  in  favor  of 
annexation.  Yet,  from  his  wonderful  penetration,  he  fore- 
saw, as  any  great  statesman  could  see,  the  coming  woes 
of  the  Civil  War,  precipitated  by  the  abolition  fanatics 
of  the  !N'orth  and  the  misguided  fire-eaters  of  the  South.  But 
yet  he  was  ever  ready  to  unite  the  fate  of  Texas  with  her  sis- 
ter States.  Yet  he  saw  plainly  that,  as  Texas  was  surrounded 
by  eight  millions  of  infuriated  Mexicans  on  the  west  and  thirty 
thousand  bloody  savages  in  Texas  and  near  her  borders,  and, 
besides  all  these,  a  fearful  army  of  lawless  men  and  a  large 
number  of  political  "Smart  Alecks,"  who  always  come  after 
the  victory  is  won  and  claim  the  lion's  share  of  the  spoils. 
In  view  of  all  these  perils.  Gen.  Houston  and  his  compeers 
sought  annexation  to  the  United  States  in  1836.  But  this 
proposed  annexation  was  rejected,  and  Texas  was  left  to 
struggle  alone  against  the  fearful  powers  threatening 
her  existence.  After  this  rejection  Gen.  Houston  and 
other  Texas  statesmen  sought  a  commercial  alliance  with  Eng- 
land and  France  on  the  condition  that  England  and  France 
would  guarantee  the  independence  of  Texas  against  Mexico, 
and  Texas  on  her  part  would  furnish  England  and  France  her 
cotton,  wool,  rice,  wheat  and  beef,  all  free  of  tariff,  and  at  the 
same  time  admit  all  the  manufactured  goods  of  England  and 
the  silks  and  wines  of  France  free  of  tariff.  Such  an  alliance 
would  have  been  a  source  of  untold  wealth  to  Texas,  England 
and  France ;  but  would  have  almost  ruined  the  manufactories 
of  the  Korth  and  the  cotton  and  rice  fields  of  the  South.  Gen. 
Houston  and  the  great  Isaac  Van  Zandt  so  skilfully  presented 


858  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

these  points  as  to  arouse  the  cupidity  of  the  ITorth  and  South. 
And  also  their  dread  of  foreign  domination  on  this  continent. 
By  this  means  the  whole  North  and  South,  with  the  exception 
of  the  abolition  fanatics,  became  clamorous  for  the  annexa- 
tion of  Texas.  The  skillful  management  of  this  question  by 
Gen.  Houston  led  many  to  suppose  that  he  was  seeking  an 
alliance  with  England  and  France  and  opposed  to  annexation 
to  the  United  States. 

Again,  Gen.  Houston's  faithful  and  fearful  portrayal  of 
the  future  bloody  conflict  between  the  North  and  the  South 
led  many  to  suppose  that  he  was  opposed  to  annexation. 

Second.  Who  were  the  chief  agents  of  annexation  ?  I 
unhesitatingly  answer  the  grand  leader  of  annexation  was 
Hon.  Isaac  Van  Zandt.  While  Texas  Minister  to  England 
he  gained  the  admiration  of  Sir  Robert  Peel  and  all  the  great 
English  statesmen  by  his  open-hearted  honesty  and  his  great 
and  broad  statesmanship.  And  when  he  became  American 
Minister  he  made  the  same  impression  upon  all  the  great 
statesmen  at  Washington  City.  An  old  Texan  has  truly 
said :  "Isaac  Van  Zandt  was  the  great  Atlas  who  took  the 
Lone  Star  Republic  on  his  shoulders  and  fixed  her  amid  the 
galaxy  of  stars,  to  shine  with  increasing  luster  forever."  Presi- 
dent Anson  Jones,  by  his  strong  political  sense,  was  also  an 
important  factor,  and  deserves  great  praise  for  his  efforts  to 
secure  annexation.  Gen,  Houston,  though  he  had  retired 
into  private  life,  used  his  great  personal  influence  over  Gen. 
Andrew  Jackson  to  secure  annexation.  And  no  man  on 
earth  had  greater  influence  in  arousing  the  American  people 
to  the  importance  of  annexation  than  Gen.  Jackson.  As  soon 
as  the  grand  old  "lion  of  Democracy,"  in  his  retired  home  at 
the  "Hermitage,"  learned  from  his  beloved  friend  and  early 
protege,  Gen.  Houston,  that  either  speedy  annexation  to  the 
Ijnited  States  or  an  intimate  commercial  alliance  with  Eng- 
land and  Erance  was  indispensable  to  Texas,  the  old  lion 
apoused  himself,  shook  the  dew  drops  from  his  mane,  and  gave 
a  roar  so  loud  that  it  shook  not  only  Nashville  and  Tennes- 
see, but  aroused  the  Democracy  from  Maine  to  Louisiana. 
T,he  result  was,  as  soon  as  the  National  Democratic  party  met 
at  Baltimore  to  nominate  a  candidate  for  the  presidency  in 


Db.  Eufus  C.  Bukleson.  859 

1844,  ex-President  Van  Buren,  the  almost  certain  nominee, 
was  set  aside  because  of  his  opposition  to  the  annexation  of 
Texas,  and  James  K.  Folic,  of  Tennessee,  an  apparently 
imknown  man,  was  nominated  on  a  platform  favoring  the 
immediate  annexation  of  Texas.  As  soon  as  that  grand  ora- 
tor, patriot  and  statesman,  Henry  Clay,  who  had  been  nomi- 
nated by  the  Whig  party  on  a  platform  opposing  annexation, 
heard  the  roar  of  the  old  lion  and  saw  the  mighty  moving  of 
waters,  he  exclaimed,  "Beat  again."  And  James  K. 
Polk  was  elected  by  an  overwhelming  majority  in  favor  of 
annexation.  It  is  due  to  the  memory  of  the  great  orator  and 
statesman,  Henry  Clay,  to  say  that  he  was  an  ardent  friend  of 
Texas  and  Texans. 

But  as  he  said  in  his  gerat  speech  at  Raleigh,  ISTorth 
Carolina,  "Large  governments,  especially  large  republics,  are 
not  the  best;  they  become  too  vast  and  unwieldy  and  afford 
too  great  opportunity  for  corruption  and  local  jealoiisy.  The 
present  territory  of  the  United  States  is  large  enough  for  all 
the  purposes  of  a  grand,  free  and  prosperous  republic.  Texas, 
with  her  vast  and  fertile  plains,  is  large  enough  for  one  equally 
happy  and  prosperous.  And  let  this  whole  continent  be  dot- 
ted with  smaller  sister  republics,  and  not  one  grand,  overshad- 
owing, unmeldy  government,  crushing  out  individualism  and 
personal  freedom." 

Another  great  agent  in  the  annexation  of  Texas  was  that 
great  but  much  misunderstood  and  much  misrepresented 
statesman,  John  Tyler,  known  as  "E'o  Man's  President,"  or 
"a  President  without  a  party." 

Mr.  Tyler,  though  not  a  Whig,  was  put  on  the  Whig 
ticket  with  W.  H.  Harrison  to  carry  votes  in  Virginia  and  the 
South.  And  when  President  Harrison  died,  Vice-President 
Tyler  became  President.  This  grand  statesman,  from  pure 
patriotism,  and  against  all  party  alliances,  saw  the  importance 
of  annexing  Texas  to  the  United  States.  And  in  1845,  by 
special  message,  recommended  to  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States  the  annexation  of  Texas  to  the  United  States.  The 
measure  was  introduced  by  John  C.  Calhoun,  and  rejected  by 
a  vote  of  35  to  16.  But  after  the  ovenvhelming  vote  elect- 
ing James  K.  Polk  President  on  the  Texas  platform.  President 


860 


The  Life  axd  Writings  of 


1'KNI.l.tTr.N   M 


THE  GOVERNORS  OF  TEXAS. 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  861 

Tyler  again  introduced  the  subject,  and  a  bill  was  passed  by 
an  overwhelming  majority  of  both  houses.  This  bill  was 
promptly  signed  by  President  Tyler  and  forwarded  to  Texas. 
And  it  was  the  joyous  privilege  of  President  Tyler,  two  days 
before  his  term  of  office  expired,  to  sign  a  bill  for  the  final  an- 
nexation of  Texas  to  the  United  States. 


SEVENTH  ERA  OF  TEXAS  HISTORY. 

We  are  now  to  trace  the  seventh  and  last  era  of  the  Lone 
Star  State,  from  annexation  in  1845  to  1901.  It  is  safe  to 
say  that  the  colonial  history  of  Texas,  in  glorious  self-sacrifice 
and  heroism  of  her  men  and  women,  eclipses  any  other  Sate  in 
the  Union.  Even  the  colonial  history  of  grand  old  Virginia 
grows  dim  before  that  of  the  Lone  Star  Empire  State.  Oh, 
that  the  sons  of  Texas  may  make  her  a  State  equal  to  the 
grand  old  Father  of  States  and  Presidents.  The  Lone  Star 
State  arose  in  1845  amid  fearful  political  agitation,  followed 
by  the  bloody,  exciting  scenes  of  the  Mexican  war.  Annexa- 
tion and  the  result  of  the  Mexican  war  left  Texas  free  from 
the  dark  clouds  of  threatening  invasion  of  8,000,000  Mexi- 
cans and  of  30,000  Indians  in  and  near  the  border  lines  of 
Texas.  This  gave  Texas  patriots  a  glorious  opportunity  to  de- 
velop her  unrivaled  resources  of  soil,  climate,  location  and  her 
social,  religious  and  educational  interests.  And  every  Texan 
can  say  with  conscious  pride,  the  early  Texans  were  as  wise  in 
council  as  they  had  been  heroic  on  the  battlefield.  Among 
the  very  first  acts  one  occurred  that  deserves  a  monument  of 
glory.  In  counting  out  votes  for  Governor  and  Lieutenant- 
Governor,  by  a  mistake  the  Legislature  declared  that  Gen.  JST. 
H.  Darnell  was  elected  Lieutenant  Governor  over  Albert  C. 
Horton,  and  he  was  inaugurated  and  presided  over  the  Senate 
for  several  days.  The  noble  Darnell  was  among  the  first  to 
discover  the  mistake,  and  with  that  noble  integrity  and  hon- 
esty that  should  characterize  every  Texan  he  came  forward, 
announced  the  mistake  and  resigned  the  office,  and  welcomed 
his  honored  opponent  to  the  seat  assigned  him  by  the  sover- 
eign will  of  the  people.     This  act  is  worthy  of  a  monument, 


862  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

and  encircles  the  name  of  Gen.  ]^.  H.  Darnell  witli  glory. 
Another  remarkable  fact  that  I  am  surprised  to  see  over- 
looked in  the  exciting  times  of  Grangers,  Alliance  and  Third 
Party  men  is  that  the  first  two  Governors  were  farmers,  Gov. 
A.  C.  Horton  and  Gov.  Geo.  T.  Wood. 

But  at  that  time  Tammany  rings,  composed  of  whisky 
men  and  other  corrupt  elements  of  IsTew  York  and  all  the 
leading  cities  and  county  seats,  had  not  been  organized  to  con- 
trol the  legislation  of  the  country.  And  farmers  and  other 
worthy  citizens  had  some  chance  for  promotion. 

Hence  it  is  not  so  surprising  that  two  worthy  farmers 
were  elected  Governors  in  succession. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  immediately  after  the  elec- 
tion, Gov.  J.  Pinckney  Henderson  resigned  the  office  of  Gov- 
ernor to  take  command  of  three  Texas  regiments,  with  the 
rank  of  Major  General,  in  the  Mexican  war. 

Gov.  Henderson  resigned  the  Governorship  more  readily 
because  he  knew  that  Texas  would  be  perfectly  safe  in  the 
hands  of  the  grand  old  hero  and  farmer  statesman,  A.  C. 
Horton. 

Gov.  Horton  was  physically,  mentally  and  morally  a 
remarkable  man.  He  was  6  feet  6  inches  tall,  stood  erect, 
with  an  eagle  eye  and  Roman  nose.  He  was  a  born  leader 
among  men.  He  was  a  native  Georgian,  and,  like  Washing- 
ton and  Marion  and  so  many  other  great  men,  was  raised  by  a 
widowed  mother  and  thoroughly  trained  to  self-reliance  and 
lessons  of  purity. 

He  settled  in  ISTorth  Alabama,  near  Courtland,  about 
1825.  Here  he  married  a  lovely,  pious,  and  wealthy  young 
lady,  and  he  became  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church.  About 
1831  he  moved  to  Texas,  and  established  a  large  sugar  plan- 
tation on  old  Caney.  On  the  invasion  of  Santa  Anna,  in 
1836,  Gov.  Horton  raised  a  company  of  cavalry,  and  hastened 
to  the  aid  of  Col.  Fannin  at  Goliad.  He  reached  Goliad  on 
the  16th  of  March,  and  on  the  next  day  he  crossed  the  San 
Antonio  River  and  attacked  Gen.  Urrea's  cavalry,  but, 
encountering  a  large  body  of  infantry,  fell  back  in  good 
order.  Dr.  Shackleford,  commander  of  the  Huntsvillo 
Grays  in  Fannin's  army  says  "Horton  acted  with  great  gal- 


Dk.  Rufus  C.  BuELESo:sr.  86'3 

lantry  and  made  a  furious  charge  on  the  enemy  and  routed 
the  cavalry,  but  when  assailed  by  a  large  infantry  force  fell 
back  in  good  order." 

On  Fannin's  retreat  from  Goliad  Horton  was  sent  with 
this  cavalry  force  to  repel  a  large  body  of  Mexican  cavalry 
near  Coiita.  He  routed  the  Mexicans,  and  chased  them 
nearly  to  Victoria,  but  on  returning  he  found  Fannin  and  his 
heroic  companions  surrounded  by  the  overwhelming  forces  of 
Urrea  with  cannon,  cavalry  and  infantry.  Finding  it  utterly 
impossible  to  cut  his  way  through,  he  retreated  to  Victoria, 
hoping  to  get  re-enforcements,  but  Dimmit,  mth  all  his  troops, 
had  fallen  back  to  Colorado.  After  the  battle  of  San  Jacinto 
Horton  returned  to  his  farm,  but  devoted  his  great  talent  and 
wealth  to  building  up  the  social,  educational  and  political 
interests  of  Texas.  He  donated  largely  to  the  Methodist  Col- 
lege at  Butersville.  He  was  one  of  the  early  trustees  of  Bay- 
lor University,  and  donated  at  one  time  $5,000. 

With  all  these  historic  and  personal  qualifications,  he 
was  admirably  fitted  to  guide  the  ship  of  State  as  she  launched 
forth  on  her  new  era  as  a  State  in  stead  of  an  independent 
republic. 

The  arduous  duties  of  the  Governor  and  Legislature  were, 
first,  to  divide  the  State  into  eight  judicial  districts  and  elect 
eight  Judges.  Second,  to  provide  for  a  Supreme  Court,  with 
three  Judges,  all  to  hold  their  office  six  years.  Third,  divide 
the  State  into  two  congressional  districts,  with  the  Trinity 
River  as  the  dividing  line. 

Another  great  and  complicated  difiiculty  was  to  regu- 
late and  adjust  the  land  titles  that  had  been  issued,  24,331,764 
acres  of  which  were  fraudulent,  many  of  which  had  passed 
into  the  hands  of  innocent  purchasers. 

And  no  less  important  than  all  these  was  to  adjust  an 
equitable  system  of  taxes,  so  as  to  defray  current  expenses, 
and  provide  to  liquidate  the  enormous  debt  of  $12,100,000 
entailed  on  the  young  State  by  the  Republic  of  Texas. 

After  grappling  wisely  and  heroically  with  these  ques- 
tions for  two  years,  his  full  term  of  office,  Gov.  Horton  retired 
to  the  more  congenial  duties  of  his  home  and  farm. 


804 


The  Life  and  Wkitings  of 


THE  GOVERNORS  OF  TEXAS. 


Dr.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  865 

And  Gov.  George  T.  "Wood  was  elected  and  inaugurated 
on  the  21st  of  December,  184Y. 

He  was  also  a  farmer  Governor  and  a  native  Georgian, 
and  a  man  of  great  wealth,  massive  brain  and  vast  common 
senee.  In  his  first  message  to  the  Legislature  Gov.  Wood 
said: 

"The  debt  of  Texas  must  be  paid.  The  honor  of  the 
State  must  stand  without  a  blemish.  We  can  never  expect  to 
attain  a  high  and  permanent  prosperity  until  it  is  done.  And 
the  consummation  of  a  purpose  so  noble  calls  for  united  and 
energetic  action." 

On  the  20th  of  March,  1848,  a  law  was  passed  that  all 
claims  against  the  late  republic  be  presented  by  the  Ist  of 
N'ovember,  1849.  And  that  the  Comptroller  of  Public  Ac- 
counts classify  all  accounts  so  presented  and  reduce  them  to  the 
actual  par  value  which  had  been  realized  by  the  late  republic. 

On  the  recommendation  of  Gov.  Wood,  a  law  was  passed 
that  all  the  creditors  be  paid  off  in  Texas  land  at  fifty  cents  an 
acre.  But  few  of  the  creditors  were  willing  to  accept  wild 
lands  in  payment  of  their  claims,  and  Texas  was  left  staggering 
under  a  revolutionary  debt  of  $12,436,991.  Only  $4,500,000 
had  ever  been  actually  loaned  to  the  Republic  of  Texas,  as  Mr. 
Pearce  declared  ui  the  United  States  Congress. 

At  this  critical  juncture  a  fierce  controversy  arose  be- 
tween Texas  and  the  United  States  about  the  real  boundary 
of  Texas. 

Texans  always  claimed  the  Rio  Grande  river,  including 
Santa  Fe,  was  the  boundary  line  of  Texas.  But  Texas  had 
made  no  effort  to  extend  her  claim  over  that  territory,  except 
the  disastrous  Santa  Fe  expedition  under  Gen.  Hugh 
McLeod,  during  Lamar's  administration.  And  as  Gen. 
Kearney  with  the  United  States  army  captured  Santa  Fe  and 
"New  Mexico,  in  1846  in  the  actual  possession,  and  as  Mexico 
by  the  treaty  of  Gaudaloupe  Hidalgo,  had  sold 
that  territory  to  the  United  States,  along  with  California,  for 
$15,000,000,  the  United  States  felt  they  had  an  undoubted 
right  to  the  disputed  territory,  all  east  of  the  Rio  Grande,  and 
ordered  Col.  Monroe  to  take  charge  of  it  as  a  territory  of  the 
United  States;    while  the  legislature  of  Texas  sent  Judge 

55 


866  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

Beard  into  the  same  territory  to  organize  it  into  a  judicial 
district  of  Texas. 

Col.  Monroe  informed  Judge  Beard  that  he  was  an  in- 
truder, and  Gov.  Wood  asked  the  legislature  to  order  out  the 
whole  militia  force  of  the  United  States  to  enforce  the  claim 
of  Texas.  And  Texas  declared  if  a  congressman  from  New 
Mexico  entered  the  United  States  congress  the  Texas  senators 
and  representatives  would  retire. 

Gen.  Taylor  ordered  the  army  of  the  United  States  to 
aid  Col.  Monroe. 

Mr.  Phet  and  other  South  Carolinians  declared  the  first 
gun  fired  to  coerce  Texas  would  be  a  signal  for  the  whole 
South  to  rush  to  her  defense. 

The  JSTorth  was  indignant  to  think  that  while  Texas  was 
already  260  times  larger  than  Rhode  Island,  thirty-five  times 
larger  than  Massachusetts  and  six  times  larger  than  either 
Pennsylvania  or  Kew  York,  and  larger  than  Maine,  ISTew 
Hampshire,  Vermont,  Massachusetts,  Phode  Island,  Connec- 
ticut, Pennsylvania,  I^ew  York,  Ohio,  West  Virginia,  Dela- 
ware and  Maryland  all  combined,  should  still  want  121,000 
square  miles  more,  and  the  nation  seemed  about  to  be  plunged 
into  that  bloody  sectional  war  that  began  in  1861. 

But  fortunately  at  that  time  our  nation  was  blessed  with 
that  greatest  of  national  blessings,  great  and  good  political 
leaders,  such  as  Clay,  Benton  and  Pierce.  These  united  with 
Houston  and  Rusk  and  other  great  Texans  effected  a  compro- 
mise. 

Texas  agreed  to  accept  $10,000,000,  which  finally  in- 
creased to  $12,500,000,  for  the  disputed  territory. 

This  not  only  restored  peace  and  harmony  to  the  nation, 
but  enabled  Texas  to  pay  off  her  entire  debt  and  reserve  $2,- 
500,000  for  her  public  school  fund.  Thus  Texas  stood  at 
the  close  of  Bell's  administration,  free  from  debt  and  all 
border  troubles,  and  fully  prepared  to  enter  upon  her  glorious 
era  of  railroads,  puolic  school,  etc.,  preparatory  to  becoming 
the  empire  state  of  the  world. 


Dk.  Kufus  C.  Burleson.  867 

HO^".  J.  PINKJSTEY  HENDEKSON^FIEST  GOVERXOK 

OF  TEXAS. 

Gov.  Henderson  was  a  man  of  whom  the  State  of  Texas 
will  ever  be  proud  and  thankful  to  God  for  such  a  grand  foun- 
dation builder.  He  was  bom  in  ISTorth  Carolina,  March  31st, 
1808,  and  died  at  Wilmington,  K  C,  June  1st,  1858.  The 
wisdom  and  conservatism  of  our  Texas  Fathers  were  clearly 
seen  in  the  election  of  Jas.  Pinkney  Henderson  as  Governor, 
and  Albert  C.  Horton  as  Lieut.  Governor.  There  was  a  slight 
but  growing  spirit  of  sectional  jealousy  between  East  Texas 
and  "West  Texas.  And  Gov.  Henderson  was  from  San  Au- 
gustine, the  heart  of  East  Texas,  and  Lieut.  Gov.  Horton  was 
from  the  county  of  Wharton,  the  heart  of  the  great  and  grow 
ing  West,  as  then  populated.  Gov.  Henderson  was  a  finished 
scholar  and  profound  lawyer.  He  had  removed  from  ISTorth 
Carolina  to  Mississippi  and  was  doing  a  very  lucrative  law 
practice.  But  when  the  Texas  cry  came  for  help  to  repel  the 
dark  and  bloody  tyrants  of  Mexico  he  raised  a  company  of  gal- 
lant young  Mississippi ans  and  rushed  to  the  defense  of  liberty. 
They,  however,  reached  Velasco  June  13th,  1836,  after  the 
grand  battle  of  San  Jacinto  had  won  the  Independence  of 
Texas.  But  the  arrival  of  Col.  Henderson  and  his  gallant  Mis- 
sissippians  and  many  other  recruits  pouring  in  about  the  same 
time  told  Mexico  in  thunder  tones  that  she  could  never  subju- 
gate Texas.  Houston,  with  his  profound  judgment  of  men 
perceived  at  once  the  noble  qualities  of  young  Henderson,  and 
first  gave  him  the  appointment  of  Attorney  General.  And 
at  a  subsequent  period  he  nominated  him  for  Secretary  of 
State.  He  discharged  these  great  duties  in  the  formative 
state  of  the  young  Republic  to  the  eminent  satisfaction  of  all. 
He  was  then  Minister  to  England  and  France  to  secure  the 
recognition  of  Texas  as  a  Republic.  After  this  grand  work 
was  accomplished  he  returned  to  San  Augustine  and  was  en- 
gaged in  a  lucrative  practice  with  the  great  Thomas  J.  Rusk 
and  K.  L.  Anderson.  But  the  great  crisis  of  annexation  made 
it  necessary  for  him  to  become  a  minister  to  the  United  States, 
and  dispel  some  fearful  prejudices  against  Texas. 
Co-operating  with  such  grand  statesmen  as  Houston,  Rusk 


868  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

and  others,  these  prejudices  were  swept  away  and  Texas  was 
annexed  and  the  Lone  Star  Republic  was  merged  into  the 
Lone  Star  State  of  Texas.  As  a  just  tribute  to  his  great 
ability  and  eminent  services  in  such  great  and  responsible 
offices  as  he  had  filled,  he  was  elected  the  first  Governor  of 
Texas  in  1845.  All  the  great  men  of  Texas  felt  profoundly 
that  it  required  a  great  statesman  and  diplomatist  to  merge  a 
Republic,  with  all  her  interest  and  officers  and  treaty  alliances 
with  other  nations,  into  a  State,  to  be  only  one  in  a  grand 
sisterhood  of  states.  And  all  believed  James  Pinkney  Hen- 
derson was  the  man,  and  how  fully  their  expectations  were 
realized  all  history  demonstrates. 

The  inauguration  of  Gov.  Henderson  was  a  remarkable 
era  in  another  point.  The  Lone  Star  Republic  of  Texas  on 
that  day  placed  her  honors,  her  wealth  and  glory  at  the  feet 
of  the  Lone  Star  State,  and  was  to  shine  no  longer  as  the  Lone 
Star,  but  henceforth  was  to  blend  her  resplendent  rays  with 
mth  a  glorious  galaxy  of  sister  stars  to  spread  their  light 
around  the  globe  and  enlighten  the  benighted  nations  of  the 
earth. 

On  the  day  fixed  for  blending  the  light  of  the  Lone  Star 
Republic  with  the  light  of  her  sister  stars.  President  Anson 
Jones,  Gen.  Edward  Burleson,  and  the  other  cabinet  officers 
of  the  Lone  Star  Republic,  with  Gov.  Henderson  accompan- 
ied by  Lieut.  Gov.  Horton  and  the  venerable  Chaplain  R.  E. 
B.  Baylor,  entered  the  congressional  halls  amid  the  vast  con- 
course assembled  there.  The  officials  were  seated  on  a  magni- 
ficent rostrum,  and  after  an  earnest  and  touching  prayer  by 
the  eminent  judge  and  divine,  R.  E.  B.  Baylor,  President 
Jones  delivered  his  farewell  address,  which  thrilled  the  hearts 
of  all  that  vast  assembly. 

The  final  act  of  the  great  drama  is  now  performed — the 
Republic  of  Texas  is  no  more.  Gov.  Henderson  then  arose, 
amid  thundering  acclamations  and  spoke  as  follows: 

"This  day  and  within  this  very  hour  has  been  consum- 
mated the  great  work  of  annexation.  This  consummation 
should  be  a  full  compensation  to  our  citizens  for  all  their  toil 
and  suffering  endured  for  ten  long  years.  Our  hearts  should 
he  full  of  gratitude  to  the  Giver  of  all  good  for  the  many 


De.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  860 

favors  he  has  bestowed  upon  us  at  all  times  and  under  all  cir- 
cumstances. In  the  beginning  of  the  Revolution,  when  the 
frowns  of  the  world  were  upon  us,  His  protecting  arm  shielded 
us  from  danger,  and  now  at  its  close,  when  we  have  happily 
completed  our  labors  and  attracted  the  attention  of  the  prin- 
cipal nations  of  the  earth.  He  is  still  with  us.  Who  can  look 
back  upon  our  history  and  not  be  fully  and  deeply  impressed 
with  the  consideration  that  the  arm  of  deity  has  shielded  our 
nation,  and  His  justice  and  wisdom  guided  us  in  our  path. 
It  is  with  deep  sense  of  the  responsibility  which  I  have  in- 
curred that  I  now  enter  upon  the  duties  of  the  station  which 
mj  fellow  citizens  have  called  me  to  fill." 

Gov.  Henderson  and  Lieut.  Gov.  Horton  then  in  the 
midst  of  that  grand  assembly  took  the  oath  of  office  and  the 
remainder  of  the  day  was  spent  in  joyful  congratulations  and 
expressions  of  undying  love  for  Texas.  The  government  of 
the  State  of  Texas  was  fully  inaugurated  and  Gen  Sam  Hous- 
ton and  Gen.  Thomas  J.  Rusk  were  elected  United  States 
Senators,  John  Hemphill,  Abner  S.  Lipscomb  and  Royal  T. 
Wheeler  formed  the  Supreme  Court.  The  officers  of  Gov. 
Henderson  were  David  G.  Burnet,  Secretary  of  State;  John 
"W.  Harris,  Attorney  General;  James  B.  Shaw,  Comptroller; 
James  H.  Raymond,  Treasurer;  Thomas  W.  Ward,  Com- 
missioner of  the  General  Land  Office,  and  W.  G.  Cooke,  Ad- 
jutant General.  No  grander  galaxy  of  statesmen  ever  gath- 
ered around  any  Governor  than  now  surrounded  James  Pink- 
ney  Henderson.  And  they  all  went  to  work  with  a  burning 
and  wisest  State  between  the  oceans. 


GOV.  GEO.  TYLER  WOOD. 

The  second  Governor  of  Texas  was  elected  N^ovember 
21st,  and  inaugurated  December  21st,  1847.  He  was  born 
in  Georgia  in  1816,  and  came  to  Texas  in  1836.  He  was  a 
tall,  commanding  and  vigorous  personage.  Before  coming  to 
Texas  he  married  an  elegant  widow,  Mrs.  M.  Gindratt.  They 
bought  a  farm  on  the  Trinity  River  near  where  the  village 
of  Point   Blank   now   stands.     Verv   soon   he   was   elected 


870  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

to  the  Texas  Congress.  As  soon  as  it  was  announced  in  1846 
that  Mexico  had  resolved,  in  her  supreme  folly,  to  recapture 
Texas  and  force  the  Lone  Star  Kepublic  to  submit  to  Mexican 
misrule.  Col.  Wood  was  one  of  the  first  to  raise  a  regiment 
and  march  to  the  Eio  Grande  and  join  the  grand  old  hero, 
Gen.  Zachary  Taylor.  His  regiment  was  composed  of  such 
heroic  men  as  Col.  Wm.  K.  Scurry,  O.  M.  Wheeler  and  T. 
Epperson.  Col.  Wood  and  his  regiment  did  heroic  service  in 
storming  Monterey  and  routing  the  Mexican  forces  at  Buena 
Vista  and  Cerro  Gordo,  and  in  waving  the  stars  and  stripes 
over  the  prostrate  capital  of  the  Republic  of  Mexico.  Mexico 
was  forced  to  pay  to  the  United  States  her  expenses  of  the 
war,  and  as  she  was  bankrupt,  she  had  to  sell  California  and  all 
of  her  territory  to  the  Pacific  ocean  to  the  United  States. 
Col.  Wood  retired  to  his  lovely  home,  and  hoped  to  spend  the 
remainder  of  his  life  in  quietness,  but  the  people  of  Texas 
felt  his  clear  mind  and  broad  soul  were  greatly  needed  in  lay- 
ing deep  and  broad  foundation  stones  of  our  Empire  State. 
Seven  days  after  Gen.  Wood's  inauguration,  he  said 
in  a  special  message  to  the  Legislature,  "the  Texas  debt  must 
be  paid,  the  honor  of  the  state  must  stand  without  a  blemish : 
We  can  never  expect  to  attain  a  high  and  permanent  prosperity 
until  it  is  done.  And  the  consummation  of  a  purpose  so 
noble  calls  for  united  and  energetic  action."  On  the  28th  of 
March,  1848,  a  law  was  passed  which  required  all  persons  hav- 
ing claims  against  the  late  Republic  of  Texas  to  present  them 
to  the  Comptroller.  Gov.  Wood  recommended  that  Texas 
creditors  be  paid  in  land  at  50  cents  an  acre,  but  very  few 
creditors  chose  to  take  the  land.  And  Gov.  Wood  had  to 
leave  the  grand  work  he  had  begun,  to  be  consummated  by 
his  successor  as  Texas  was  penniless. 

The  second  great  object  claiming  his  attention  was  the 
settlement  of  the  boundary  between  Texas  and  the  United 
States,  including  a  territory  of  98,000  acres  lying  east  of  the 
Rio  Grande,  and  north  of  the  Red  River.  Every  well  in- 
formed Texan  or  Mexican  knew  this  territory  was  a  part  of 
Texas,  yet  it  was  settled  sparsely  by  Mexicans,  and  separated 
by  a  vast  territory  inhabited  by  vdld  Indians.  After  the  un- 
fortunate failure  made  by  Gen.  Lamar,  Texas  made  no  farther 
effort  to  extend  her  official  authority  over  this  territory.     And 


Db.  Rufus  C.  Burleson.  871 

certain  traders  and  speculators,  and  especially  the  abolition 
fanatics  who  were  jealous  of  the  area  and  increasing  greatness 
of  Texas,  were  artfully  seeking  to  wrest  this  territory  from 
Texas.  And  an  officer  of  the  United  States,  Gen.  Kearney, 
had  taken  possession  of  the  territory  of  Santa  Fe,  New  Mex- 
ico, in  the  name  of  the  United  States.  In  1848  on  the  recom- 
mendation of  Gov.  Wood,  a  bill  was  passed  extending  the 
laws  of  Texas  over  that  portion  of  Santa  Fe  and  Mexico,  east 
of  the  Rio  Grande  Eiver,  and  Judge  Beard  was  sent  there  to 
hold  district  court.  Col.  Monroe,  of  the  United  States  army, 
paid  no  attention  to  the  Texas  judge,  and  proceeded  to  order 
an  election  for  a  territorial  delegate  to  the  United  States  con- 
gress. Gov.  Wood  requested  the  Legislature  to  put  the  whole 
military  force  of  the  state  under  his  control,  that  he  might 
enforce  the  just  claim  of  Texas.  In  the  heat  of  the  contro- 
versy some  hot  bloods  contended  that  if  the  delegate  of  'New 
Mexico  was  admitted  to  his  seat  in  congress,  the  Texas  dele- 
gates should  withdraw  and  Texas  resume  her  separate  nation- 
ality. Many  felt  that  civil  war  was  certain,  but  by  the  wis- 
dom of  such  God-sent  statesmen  as  Sam  Houston,  Thos.  J. 
Rusk,  Henry  Clay,  Thos.  H.  Benton  and  Frank  Pierce,  the 
whole  question  was  amicably  settled  to  the  great  joy  of  every 
true  patriot.  The  United  States  agreed  to  pay  Texas  $10,- 
000,000  for  98,000  square  miles  of  territory  disputed  lying 
north  of  the  Red  river,  and  east  of  the  Rio  Grande.  This 
paid  the  last  cent  that  Texas  owed  and  left  in  her  treasury 
over  $2,000,000  for  free  schools,  and  over  two  million  for 
improvements.  Thus  Gov.  Wood  rejoiced  to  see  his  plan  inau- 
gurated for  settling  the  debts  of  Texas,  and  also  for  settling 
the  boundary  question  joyfully  consummated  by  his  worthy 
successor.  Gov.  P.  H.  Bell. 

The  next  great  object  near  Gov.  Wood's  heart  was  to  see 
inaugurated  a  grand  system  of  railroads.  He  and  every  intel- 
ligent Texan  knew  that  without  railroads  Texas  could  never 
become  anything  but  a  great  cow  pen  and  sheep  ranch.  But 
if  giardled  with  railroads,  Avould  become  the  grandest  state 
between  the  oceans.  But  it  was  found  that  it  was  impracti- 
cable to  commence  a  grand  system  of  railroads  until  the  state 
was  more  fully  developed. 


872 


The  Life  and  Writings  of 


Texas  Capitol  Building  in  1836. 
Texas  Capitol  at  Houston. 


Texas  Capitol  at  Austin. 


THE  PRESENT  STATE  CAPITOL. 


Dk.  Kufus  C.  Bueleson.  873 

Gov.  "Wood  having  nobly  and  honorably  served  Texas  aa 
a  soldier  and  governor  for  twenty-two  years,  retired  to  his 
beautiful  farm  at  Point  Blank  in  San  Jacinto  county,  where 
he  lived  happy  and  honored  until  1858,  when  he  quietly 
passed  over  the  river  to  his  eternal  home. 


GOVEKKOR  E.  M.  PEASE. 

Elisha  Marshall  Pease  forms  an  important  link  in  Texas 
History.  Indeed  for  real  services  rendered  he  stands  next  to 
Stephen  F.  Austin,  Sam  Houston  and  Thos.  J.  Rusk. 

He  is  a  living  monument  of  what  a  man  without  bril- 
liancy or  fascinating  manner,  but  with  profound  common 
sense,  honesty  and  New  England  pluck  and  push  can  do. 

He  was  born  in  1812  and  reared  by  honest,  industrious 
old  Puritan  parents  near  Hartford,  Conn.  When  twenty- 
three  years  old  he  came  to  Texas  and  settled  at  Mina,  now 
Bastrop. 

In  September  of  that  same  year  when  Gen.  Cos,  carrying 
out  Santa  Anna's  law  for  disarming  Texas,  sent  Castan- 
ado  to  Gonzales  to  seize  the  cannon  given  the  citizens  for  their 
protection  against  the  Indians,  the  citizens  called  on  all 
patriots  for  aid  in  repelling  the  tyrant. 

Young  Pease  shouldered  his  musket  and  under  Gen.  Ed. 
Burleson  marched  to  Gonzales,  joined  Col.  John  H.  Moore 
and  drove  back  the  Mexicans  into  San  Antonio. 

He  remained  with  the  Texas  army  till  Gen.  Cos  and  his 
army  of  1400  soldiers  in  the  barricaded  city  of  San  Antonio, 
surrendered  after  a  five  weeks'  siege  to  Gen.  Burleson  with 
600  half-fed  and  poorly  armed  Texans. 

Young  Pease  then  repaired  to  San  Eelipe  and  became  as- 
sistant secretary  to  the  Consultation  Convention. 

He  was  also  secretary  to  the  convention  that  declared  the 
independence  of  Texas,  at  "Washington,  March  2,  1832. 

In  183Y  he  was  Comptroller  under  Gen.  Houston.  In 
this  position  Gen.  Houston  saw  his  eminent  talent  as  a  lawyer 
and  as  an  executive  ofiicer. 


874  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

In  1833  he  located  at  Brazoria,  then  the  wealthiest  and 
most  refined  part  of  Texas.  For  years  he  did  a  large  and 
lucrative  law  practice. 

In  1845  he  was  elected  to  the  legislature  in  connection 
with  annexation. 

In  1847  he  was  re-elected  to  the  legislature  and  then  to 
the  state  senate  for  four  years.  In  his  legislative  career  of 
eight  years  he  gained  great  reputation  as  a  wise  and  efficient 
la^^Tnaker. 

He  was  the  author  of  many  of  the  elementary  laws  en- 
acted after  annexation. 

In  1853,  when  Houston  and  Rusk  and  their  noble  com- 
peers saw  the  time  had  come  for  Texas  to  establish  a  grand 
system  of  railroads  they  felt  they  needed  a  leader  in  this  grand 
struggle,  for  the  greatness  and  glory  of  Texas. 

For  as  Texas  had  no  navigable  rivers,  without  great  im- 
provement nor  inland  bays  or  seas  a  grand  system  of  railroads 
was  essential  to  develop  her  grand  resources.  And  yet  Texans 
had  violent  prejudices  against  railroads  and  banks.  For  in  1837 
a  company  of  swindlers  came  to  Texas  and  got  a  grand  charter 
called  the  "Railroad,  Banking  &  JSTavigation  Company."  This 
grand  company  (on  paper)  after  swindling  the  Texans  out 
of  about  $50,000  skipped  or  evaporated.  This  great  fraud 
fired  the  Texans  with  a  burning  prejudice  against  banks  and 
railroads.  So  much  so  that  a  clause  was  inserted  in  the  con- 
stitution forbidding  the  legislature  from  chartering  a  bank. 

The  prejudice  against  railroads  was  equally  fierce.  The 
city  of  Houston  was  the  great  anti-railroad  center.  And  the 
old  Houston  Telegraph,  edited  by  Thos.  S.  Moore,  was  then 
to  Texas  what  the  Galveston-Dallas  ]^ews  is  today.  Dr. 
Moore  was  a  man  of  great  learning  and  great  skill  in  collect- 
ing and  publishing  news.  But  he  was  essentially  a  crank. 
He  induced  the  people  to  believe  that  whenever  a  railroad 
went  out  of  Houston  the  terminus  would  become  the  great 
city  and  Houston  would  dry  up.  Hence  her  noble  merchants, 
lawyers,  doctors  and  others  fought  railroads  with  the  energy 
of  blind  giants.  They,  under  the  leadership  of  Dr.  Moore 
spent  $67,000  in  building  an  "Adobe  Road,"  by  throwing  up 
or  grading  the  prairie  to  McCurley's  Point.        This  honest 


Dk.  Kufus  C.  Bukleson.  875 

and  learned  crank  told  them  that  this  road  when  packed  down 
by  the  farmers  would  become  like  the  "Adobe  Brick"  of  Mex- 
ico and  become  equal  to  a  macadamized  road.  But  in  spite  of 
all  the  wealth,  learning  and  prejudice  against  railroads,  Hous- 
ton, Busk  and  their  compeers  saw  that  Texas  must  be  linked 
together  by  a  grand  system  of  railroads.  And  they  decided 
that  E.  M.  Pease  was  the  man  that  could  lead  and  guide  in  this 
grand  enterprise. 

Houston  had  seen  the  profound  sagacity  and  statesman- 
ship of  Pease  displayed  when  he  was  comptroller  years  before. 
Gen.  Busk  and  others  had  also  tested  him  on  other  important 
occasions.  He  was  therefore  selected  to  lead  Texas  in  her 
grand  future  development  and  glory. 

Pease  was  elected  and  fulfilled  the  expectations  of  the 
patriots  of  Texas.  Under  his  governorship  a  grand  system 
of  railroads  was  planned.  And  also  a  broad  foundation  of 
$200,000  was  laid  for  free  schools.  As  Texas  was  sparsely 
settled,  freight  and  travel  would  not  pay  capitalists  to  build 
railroads,  hence  a  large  state  bonus  was  necessary. 

And  as  Texas  had  no  money  sufficient  for  this  grand  pur- 
pose she  agreed  to  borrow  and  loan  her  chartered  railroads 
and  give  them  sixteen  sections  of  land  for  every  mile  of  road 
built.  Provided  the  railroad  would  reserve  and  survey 
every  alternate  section  for  a  great  permanent  public  free 
school  fund. 

The  profound  wisdom  of  this  plan,  not  only  made  Texas 
the  greatest  railroad  state  in  the  Union  but  the  possessor  of  the 
greatest  free  school  system  in  the  world.       , 

The  merchant  princes  and  citizens  of  Houston  seeing 
their  mistake  abandoned  their  Adobe  Boad  or  rather  used  it 
as  a  foundation  for  the  Houston  &  Texas  Central  railroad  and 
soon  became  the  grand  railroad  center  and  the  pride  of  every 
Texan. 

But  the  grand  statesmanship  of  Gov.  Pease  was  not  con- 
fined to  a  grand  system  of  railroads  and  education  but  to 
everything  pertaining  to  the  prosperity  and  glory  of  Texas. 

In  his  first  message  he  urged  the  great  importance  not 
only  of  free  schools  and  a  great  State  University  but  the  im- 
portance of  providing  immediately  asylums  for  the  support 


876  The  Life  and  "Writings  of 

and  education  of  the  blind,  deaf  and  dumb,  and  also  an  asy- 
lum for  lunatics.  All  of  which  noble,  christian  asylums — 
except  orphans — went  into  operation  during  his  governorship. 

Every  Texan  should  be  proud  of  Gov.  Pease's  four  years 
administration.  But  one  of  the  noblest  acts  of  Gov.  Pease's 
life  occurred  when  Texas  was  prostrated  under  military  rule 
and  Gov.  Throckmorton  had  been  removed  by  the  military  au- 
thorities because  he  would  not  persecute  Texas  secessionists. 
Gov.  Pease  was  made  military  governor  as  it  was  known  in  the 
early  days  of  secession  that  some  of  the  hot  heads  had  pro- 
posed to  hang  him  and  other  leaders  if  they  did  not  support 
secession  and  the  confederacy. 

It  was  hoped  that  Gov.  Pease  would  be  a  suitable  man  to 
retaliate.  I  was  in  Austin  at  that  critical  moment  and  some 
of  my  dear  friends  who  were  among  the  violent  secessionist'? 
came  to  me  and  said :  "In  the  early  days  of  secession  we 
wanted  to  hang  E.  M.  Pease  and  some  other  men,  but  you  and 
others  with  tears  begged  us  not  to  commit  such  a  bloody  deed 
on  Texas  soil;  now  you  see  he  is  made  military  governor  of 
Texas  and  it  is  understood  that  he  is  going  to  wreak  vengance 
on  us,  and  you  ought  to  intercede."  I  assured  them  that  Gov. 
Pease  was  too  grand  a  patriot  to  seek  to  get  revenge  in  his 
official  capacity  for  private  injuries  done  him.  And  when  I 
approached  him  with  God-like  nobility  he  said,  "Tell  your 
friends  all  is  well.  I  would  blush  to  use  my  office  to  punish 
wrongs  done  me  individually.  Tell  them  that  I  want  every 
Texan  to  forget  the  bloody  past  and  unite  all  our  energies  to 
make  Texas  the  grandest  state  in  the  Union." 

Gov.  Pease  married  in  1850  Miss  L.  C.  Niles,  Windsor, 
Conn.,  who  has  been  a  heroic  partner  with  him  in  all  the 
duties  of  life.  They  have  two  daughters  and  a  lovely  home 
at  "Woodlawn,  adjoining  the  city  of  Austin. 


GEIvT.  EDWAKD  BUKLESO^. 

Gen.  Burleson  was  born  in  ISTorth  Carolina  in  1798. 
Very  early  in  life  he  was  fully  trained  in  his  great  life-work 
of  protecting  the  women  and  children  of  Texas  against  8,- 


Dr.  Edfus  C.  Bukleson. 


877 


000,000  Mexicans  and  30,000  blood-thirsty  Indians.  When  a 
little  boy  he  started  with  his  father  and  grand-father  to  join 
their  old  friend,  Daniel  Boone,  in  Kentucky,  then  known  as 
the  dark  and  bloody  hunting  ground. 

His  grand-father  was  murdered  by  the  Indians  in  cross- 
ing Clinch  River,  in  Tennessee.  And  his  Uncle  Aaron  was 
killed  at  Campbell  Station,  and  his  beloved  Aunt  Abbey  Bur- 
leson McFadden  was  shot,  tomahawked  and  scalped  at  Stone 
River  Fort,  near  where  IN^ashville  now  stands. 

All  these  things  burned  into  the  soul  of  little  Ed.,  and 


GEN.  ED.  BURLESON. 

especially  into  his  father's  heart  an  undying  hatred  for  the 
Indians. 

His  father  often  said,  "There  are  no  good  Indians,  but 
dead  ones,  and  I  have  a  burning  missionary  zeal  to  make  as 
many  good  ones  as  possible.  The  first  Indian  little  Ed  ever 
killed  was  just  before  the  beginning  of  the  terrible  Creek 
war.  When  the  whole  Indian  race  in  the  Mississippi  valley 
had  been  aroused  by  Tecumseh  for  the  utter  destruction  of  the 
whites.  Some  Indians  had  raided  on  the  white  settlements  on 
the  Tennessee  river  in  North  Alabama,  and  murdered  and 
scalped  three  whole  families.     Gen.  Coffee  ordered  Jonathan 


878  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

Burleson  (father  of  Dr.  Ruf as  C.  Burleson)  the  commander 
of  the  "Minute  Men"  to  take  one  hundred  picked  soldiers  and 
chastise  fully  the  inhuman  murderers  of  women  and  children. 
Capt.  Burleson  rallied  his  men,  and  went  in  hot  pursuit.  Little 
Ed  rode  on  his  "war  pony"  and  carried  a  holster  of  horsemen 
pistols  tied  on  the  horn  of  his  saddle.  The  bloody  fiends  find- 
ing that  they  would  be  overtaken,  devised  a  plan  to  entrap 
and  murder  their  pursuers.  They  concealed  all  the  captured 
goods  and  scalps  of  the  murdered  men  and  women  in  the 
thicket  and  hid  their  guns  and  tomahawks  behind  logs  and 
in  the  grass.  And  placed  a  full  supply  of  brandy  on  the  logs 
and  stumps  in  front.  But  they  were  all  busy  cooking  dinner 
and  playing  ball.  Their  trick  was,  that  when  the  captain  of 
the  "Minute  Men"  came  up  for  the  chief  to  go  out  and  ask 
the  captain  of  the  "Minute  Men"  to  get  down  and  eat  and 
drink  with  them.  And  while  so  doing  he  was  to  plunge  his 
butcher  knife  in  the  heart  of  the  captain,  which  would  be 
the  signal  for  all  to  seize  their  guns  and  murder  the  whole 
company.  When  the  whites  road  up  the  old  chief  came  out, 
with  his  butcher  knife  concealed  under  his  hunting  shirt,  hold- 
ing out  a  bottle  of  whisky  called  out :  "Bobysheely,  Bobyshee- 
ly,"  (good  friends,  good  friends)  and  asked  them  to  get  down 
and  eat  and  drink  with  them.  But  the  captain  to  the  surprise 
of  the  Indians  formed  his  men  in  line  of  battle,  and  when  he 
alighted  from  his  horse,  and  reached  out  his  hand  to  greet  the 
Indian,  the  old  chief  jerked  out  his  butcher  knife  and  plunged 
it  at  the  heart  of  the  captain.  But  the  captain  with  wonderful 
activity  sprang  to  one  side,  which  placed  the  Indian  between 
him  and  his  men,  and  they  could  not  shoot  the  Indian  with- 
out endangering  the  life  of  their  captain.  But  quick  as  light- 
ning. Little  Ed  seizing  his  pistol,  spurred  his  pony  and  rush- 
ing up  shot  the  Indian  chief  dead. 

The  captain  then  cried  out,  "Charge,  fire,  kill  the  last 
one  of  them."  And  the  order  was  quickly  obeyed.  After  the 
battle  the  father  of  little  Ed,  standing  by  the  dead  chief  and 
laying  his  hand  on  his  son's  head  said,  "My  noble  boy,  I  am 
proud  of  you,  and  now  let  it  be  the  business  of  your  life  to  kill 
these  red  devils,  who  have  not  only  killed  your  grandfather 
and  uncle,  but  shot,  tomahawked  and  scalped  your  Aunt 
Abbey,  and  have  stained  this  continent  with  blood."     Very 


Dr.  Ehfus  C.  Burleson.  879 

soon  after  this  Gen.  Jackson  called  for  volunteers  to  aid  in 
driving  the  bloody  Creeks  from  their  strong  and  almost  im- 
pregnable fortifications,  the  "Horse  Shoe  Bend,"  on  the  Talla- 
poosa River  in  Alabama. 

Here  all  historians  make  a  mistake,  they  say  that  little 
Ed's  father  was  a  captain,  and  as  he  could  neither  read  or  write, 
he  took  his  bright  little  son  along  to  keep  his  muster  roll's.  His 
father  never  was  a  captain,  but  was  one  of  Gen.  Jackson's 
commissaries  and  took  little  Ed  along  as  his  clerk.  Gen. 
Jackson  had  had  a  fearful  conflict  with  his  commissary  officers 
for  their  speculating  in  army  supplies  and  thereby  reduced 
the  soldiers  to  great  want  and  forced  him  after  the  glorious 
victory  at  Emucfaw  to  fall  back  to  Huntsville  and  allow  the 
Indians  to  make  their  terrible  fortification  at  the  "Horse  Shoe 
Bend,"  the  Thermopylae  of  America,  Gen.  Jackson  dismissed 
his  commissary  and  calling  Major  William  Russell,  said :  "I 
want  to  make  you  a  commissary,  for  I  believe  that  you  are  the 
only  man  living  honest  enough  to  be  a  commissary,  and  if  you 
go  to  speculating  on  army  stores  I  will  hang  you  to  the  first 
scaly  bark  hickory  that  I  find."  Mr.  Russell  replied :  "I  am 
ready  to  do  anything  that  you  request,  but  I  have  two  cousins 
here,  James  and  Joseph  Burleson,  and  they  are  more  honest 
than  I  am,  since  I  have  been  drinking  champagne  at  your 
headquarters,  and  they  know  all  about  rushing  up  beeves  and 
army  supplies,  and  if  you  catch  them  in  speculation  on  provi- 
sions for  the  soldiers  you  may  hang  us  all  three  to  the  first 
hickory  you  find." 

The  cousins  were  appointed  as  commissaries,  but  little 
Ed's  father  said :  "General,  I  mil  gladly  rush  up  the  beef 
that  you  need,  but  I  want  to  get  me  at  least  six  Indians  at  the 
battle  of  Horse  Shoe  and  I  do  not  want  to  hide  behind  com- 
missary stores."  Gen.  Jackson  replied,  "It  would  never  do  for 
a  commissary  to  go  into  battle,  if  he  should  get  killed  the  sol- 
diers would  starve."  But  he  replied,  "Oh,  General,  God 
never  made  me  to  be  killed  by  Indians."  Jackson  greatly  ad- 
miring his  pluck,  told  him  he  must  keep  out  of  the  battle; 
but  when  Gen.  Jackson  attacked  the  strong  fortifications  on 
the  east  side  of  the  river,  Capt.  Jim  Burleson,  Little  Ed  and 
the  whole  commissary  force  on  canoes  and  logs  lashed  to- 


880  The  Life  and  Weitings  of 

gether  crossed  over  the  river  into  the  Horse  Shoe  Bend.  And 
as  soon  as  Gen.  Jackson,  Sam  Houston  and  Levi  Taylor  (who 
recently  died  at  Smithville)  charged  the  Indians  in  front,  the 
commissary  force  commenced  shooting  the  Indians  in  the  back 
and  made  fearful  slaughter  and  panic  among  the  Indians. 
After  the  battle  was  over  the  commissary  said :  "Oh,  General, 
I  got  me  a  dozen  Indians,  but  the  only  thing  I  feel  mean  about 
was  that  I  had  to  shoot  them  in  the  back,  and  the  fools  were 
so  scared  that  they  could  not  tell  where  we  were."  Gen. 
Jackson  said :  "You  old  sinner,  did  you  go  into  the  battle  ?" 
He  replied :  "Why,  General,  I  could  not  stay  out,  I  would 
have  died  if  I  had  not  seized  that  chance  to  kill  these  red 
devils."  Jackson  replied :  "But  a  good  soldier  should  always 
obey  orders,  but  as  the  war  is  over  I  will  not  court-martial 
you."  And  laying  his  hands  on  the  head  of  little  Ed  he  said : 
"Oh,  that  you  may  be  worthy  of  your  father,  and  aid  in  sweep- 
ing these  murderers  of  women  and  children  from  American 
soil."  And  let  it  never  be  forgotten  that  Little  Ed  was  the 
commissary  clerk  of  his  father  when  he  studied  profoundly 
the  arts  of  war  under  Gen.  Jackson.  Soon  after  the  war  Little 
Ed  returned  with  his  father  to  ITorth  Alabama  where  the 
Burlesons  got  into  a  bloody  conflict  with  the  Indians  on  their 
territory  and  were  ordered  to  leave.  Little  Ed  went  with  his 
father  to  Missouri,  and  not  to  Virginia,  as  so  many  historians 
say.  In  1826  he  and  his  father  came  to  Texas  and  settled  on 
the  Colorado  river  below  Bastrop.  Seven  years  later  seven- 
teen other  Burleson  families  removed  from  Alabama.  They 
brought  with  them,  their  pastor,  deacons  and  whole 
church  including  thirty-two  members.  And  the  Bur- 
lesons have  been  coming  to  Texas  ever  since.  Gen.  Burleson 
now  entered  upon  his  grand  life  work  of  protecting  Texas  from 
Mexicans  and  Indians.  For  twenty-five  years  the  women  and 
children  could  never  sleep  soundly,  unless  Gen.  Burleson  was 
between  them  and  the  Indians.  Our  space  does  not  allow  us  to 
given  even  the  names  of  all  of  his  battles  and  the  many  great 
duties  he  performed  for  Texas,  as  a  citizen,  a  soldier  and  as  a 
statesman.  He  bore  a  conspicuous  part  in  capturing  Cos  and 
his  whole  army  in  San  Antonio;  and  at  the  battle  of  San 
Jacinto.  In  1839  when  Gen.  Flores  and  Cordova  were  form- 
ing an  alliance  with  the  Indian  chief,  Bowles,  and  30,000  In- 


Dk.  Eufus  C.  Burlesox.        ^  881 

dians  to  deluge  Texas  in  blood  and  ruin,  Gen.  Burleson  de- 
tected their  conspiracy  and  killed  Bowles  on  the  Neches,  and 
Flores  and  Cordova  in  Western  Texas.  He  was  a  leader  in 
thirty-two  baittles,  two  horses  were  killed  under  him,  his 
saddle  was  riddled  with  bullets  many  times,  and  yet  as  by  a 
miracle  of  mercy  he  was  unhurt.  His  last  interview  with  Dr. 
Burleson  when  on  his  death  bed,  will  forcibly  illustrate  his 
grand  character.  After  referring  briefly  and  tenderly  to  his 
life  he  said :  "Cousin  Bufus,  my  life  has  been  a  rude  and 
rough  one,  I  have  been  a  man  of  blood  from  my  youth.  The 
first  Indian  I  ever  killed  was  to  save  your  father's  life  when 
I  was  14  years  old,  but  my  Heavenly  Father  in  whose  presence 
I  shall  soon  appear  will  bear  me  witness,  I  never  shed  human 
blood  for  fame,  for  money  or  for  revenge,  but  to  protect 
women  and  children  and  my  country  against  Indians  and  Mex- 
icans. For  twenty-five  years,  I  have  been  fighting  Mexicans 
and  Indians  for  the  glory  of  Texas,  and  now  I  want  you  to 
give  me  your  hand  as  a  pledge  that  you  will  fight  sin  and 
ignorance  for  twenty-five  years  and  we  will  thus  make  a 
family  fight  of  half  a  hundred  years,  for  the  glory  of  Texas." 


EAILROADS. 


THEIE    ORIGIN   AND    EXTENT. 


In  this  article  we  propose  to  give  a  brief  account  of  the 
origin  and  early  struggles  for  railroads.  Two  things  made  it 
a  self-evident  fact  that  Texas  must  have  railroads. 

First. — She  in  all  her  vast  territory  had  no  navigable 
rivers,  inland  bays  or  seas  that  could  transport  her  commerce 
over  her  vast  territory.  Probably,  Texas  in  proportion  to  her 
size  has  fewer  navigable  streams  or  inland  bays  than  any  set- 
tled portion  of  the  world. 

Second. — ISTo  part  of  the  globe  is  better  adapted  for  the 
cheap  constmction  of  railroads  than  Texas.  Over  vast  por- 
tions of  her  territory,  the  country  is  so  level  that  the  grading 
amounts  to  nothing  compared  with  the  Allegheny  and  Rocky 

56 


882  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

and  Cumberland  mountains  where  great  mountains  have  to 
be  leveled  do-vvn  or  tunneled  through.    These  two  great  points 
suggested  to  the  grand  men,   God-sent  foundation  builders 
and  path-finders  of  Texas,  the  importance  of  railroads.     A 
company  of  men  seeing  this  universal  desire,  came  in  1837 
and  obtained  a  charter  for  the  "Railroad,  Banking  and  Navi- 
gation Co."    This  company  proved  to  be  a  grand  failure  and 
fraud  and  cheated  many  Texans  out  of  their  hard  earned  and 
limited  means.     This  created  such  a  prejudice  that  the  early 
constitution  of  Texas  forbade  the  legislature  chartering  banks 
or  private  corporations  for  issuing  paper  money,  and  a  cele- 
brated commercial  house  in  Galveston  was  fined  $83,000  for 
violating    this    law.      Every    profound    thinker    laiew    that 
Texas  could  never  be  anything  but  a  great  sheep  pen  and  cow- 
ranch  without  railroads.    Hence  in  1851-1852  the  question  of 
railroads  became  the  great  issue  in.  the  election  for  governor. 
Elisha  M.  Pease  was  the  railroad  candidate,  and  J.  W.  Hend- 
erson of  Houston  became  the  anti-railroad  candidate.     Pre- 
ceding the  nomination  for  governor,  there  had  been  a  grand 
railroad  meeting  held  in  Austin  attended  by  Sam  Houston,  T. 
J.  Rusk,  E.  M.  Pease  and  many  of  the  greatest  statesmen  of 
Texas.     They  formulated  an  outline  for  the  campaign  and 
issued  a  circular  arousing  the  people  of  Texas  to  their  real  in- 
terests.    But  while  it  is  true  that  many  great  statesmen  and 
profound  thinkers  were  in  favor  of  railroads,  there  were  many 
great  and  good  men  in  Texas  who  believed  that  railroade 
would  be  another  grand  swindle,  and,  it  is  remarkable  that  the 
greatest  city  in  the  State  and  the  most  widely  circulated  jour- 
nal in  the  State,  to-wit,  the  city  of  Houston  and  the  Houston 
Telegraph,  were  bitterly  opposed  to  railroads.     The  Houston 
Telegraph  was  really  the  first  paper  ever  permanently  es- 
tablished in  Texas,  by  Gail  Borden  and  Mosely  Baker  and  then 
under  the  editorship  of  Dr.  Francis  L.  Moore,  had  a  circula- 
tion equal  if  not  superior  to  any  other  five  papers  in  the  State. 
In  the  great  railroad  convention  at  Austin  or  in  the  com- 
mittee for  conducting  the  campaign,  it  was  decided  as  of  the 
greatest  importance  to  have  some  man  who  could  spike  that 
great  anti-railroad  gun  and  who  if  possible  could  gain  a  hear- 
ing from  the  noble  merchants  of  Houston  and  convince  them 
of  their  mistake  in  opposing  railroads.     After  canvassing  for 


Dk.  Kufus  C.  Bukleson.  883 

some  time  Gen.  Houston  suggested  that  I  was  the  man;  that 
Houston  had  been  my  first  home  in  Texas,  and  that  I  was  ard- 
ently attached  to  the  city  and  her  people  and  that  I  was  an 
enthusiastic  advocate  of  railroads,  and  that  while  I  was  a 
preacher  and  president  of  Baylor  University,  I  believed  that 
every  Christian  owed  a  high  and  great  duty  to  his  country. 
On  his  return  from  Austin,  he  visited  me  and  bore  the  re- 
quest of  the  committee.  I  said :  "General  Houston  this  will  be 
an  arduous  duty.  Dr.  Moore  is  one  of  the  readiest  writers  in 
Texas  and  but  for  one  defect,  he  would  be  a  great  and  pro- 
found thinker.  But,  as  you  have  said  to  the  committee  I  be- 
lieve every  Christion  should  be  a  devoted  patriot  and  that  next 
to  God  should  love  his  country,  and  be  ready  ever  to  say  as 
David  did  "If  I  forget  thee,  Oh  Jerusalem,  let  my  right  hand 
forget  her  cunning,  and  if  I  prefer  not  thee  to  my  chief  joy, 
let  my  tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth."  Dr.  Moore's 
remarkable  defect  was  what  the  mental  philosophers  term  a 
want  of  application  or  combination.  He  professed  rare  pow- 
ers of  analysis  and  generalization  but  was  utterly  void  of  all 
true  power  of  combination  or  application.  Indeed,  until  I 
met  him,  I  doubted  what  Dugald  Stewart,  Dr.  Wayland 
and  other  gi*eat  philosophers  said,  that  it  was  possible  for  a  man 
to  be  a  great  analyzer  and  a  great  generalizer  and  yet  have  no 
power  of  appropriate  combination  or  application.  And  with 
rare  powers  of  analysis  and  generalization,  he  had  made  the 
people  of  Houston  believe  that  whenever  a  railroad  went  out 
of  Houston,  the  terminus  of  that  road  would  absorb  all  the 
trade  and  kill  Houston.  He  said  the  wagon  trade  was  the 
salvation  of  Houston.  And  to  overcome  the  almost  unsur- 
mountable  obstacle  of  reaching  Houston  through  the  flat  black 
prairies  where  it  has  been  said  "a  saddle  blanket  will  almost 
bog,"  he  proposed  to  build  an  adobe  road  from  Houston  to 
McCurley's  Point  the  first  high  sand  ridge  above  Houston.  He 
demonstrated  by  very  learned  philosophic  reasoning  that  the 
peculiar  nature  of  the  soil  of  the  black  "hog  wallow"  prairie 
with  its  amount  of  lime  was  such  that  if  thrown  up  and  packed 
down  in  summer,  it  would  become  like  the  adobe  bricks  of  the 
Montezumas  and  would  be  equal  to  a  Macadamized  road. 
And,  he  assured  the  people  of  Houston  if  they  would  grade 
or  level  up  the  black  hog  wallow  prairie  the  farmers  would 


884  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

pack  them  do\vn  in  summer  so  as  to  have  a  firm  level 
Macadamized  road  for  winter.  In  my  reply,  I  assured  him  that 
this  was  utterly  preposterous.  That  he  was  mistaken  as  to  the 
inherent  properties  of  the  soil,  and  that  the  farmers  could 
not  and  would  not  drive  their  heavily  loaded  wagons  over  the 
rough  clods  of  dirt  thrown  up  in  his  "adobe  road." 
But  the  noble  citizens  of  Houston  were  so  eager 
to  maintain  the  commercial  supremacy  of  their  noble 
city,  they  were  all  carried  away  by  his  delusions 
and  spent  $67,000  in  building  his  adobe  road.  His  editorials 
abounded  with  other  marvelous  mistakes  in  regard  to  rail- 
roads. He  said  that  it  would  cost  between  one  and  two  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars  a  mile  to  build  railroads  in  Texas,  and  as 
proof  of  this,  he  got  a  statement  from  Pittsburg  that  it  had 
cost  more  than  that  to  build  the  Pittsburg  and  Ohio  Railroad 
across  the  Alleghany  mountains.  I  wrote  to  an  old  school- 
mate, pastor  of  the  Baptist  church  at  Pittsburg,  and  got  him 
to  give  me  a  statement  of  how  many  miles  of  that  road  they 
had  to  tunnel  through  mountains  and  level  down  hills  and 
mountains  and  what  was  the  average  cost  of  a  road  after  it 
reached  the  Ohio  River  valley.  My  friend's  reply  auth- 
enticated from  railroad  men  was  a  crusher.  It  was  demon- 
strated that  railroads  could  be  built  in  Texas  at  from  $15,000 
to  $20,000  a  mile,  and  that  railroads  never  did  kill  a  town, 
but  always  multiplied  the  commerce  and  trade.  But,  the  war 
was  fierce.  My  part  of  it  was  a  very  small  affair  compared 
with  the  clashing  swords  of  the  great  politicians.  But  my 
friends  came  to  me  and  told  me  I  was  ruining  myself  advocat- 
ing railroads,  and  my  dear  brother.  Rev.  J.  W.  D.  Creath, 
came  to  me  yith  tears,  put  his  arms  around  me  and  told  me: 
"You  have  no  right  as  the  president  of  our  University  and  as 
one  of  the  leading  Baptist  preachers  of  Texas  to  destroy  your 
influence  by  advocating  railroads.  It  is  currently  reported 
that  they  have  given  you  a  bribe  of  $5,000  to  plead  the  cause 
of  railroads.  I  assured  him  he  was  mistaken;  that  I  would 
not  ruin  myself.  That  I  was  only  toiling  for  my  beloved 
Texas.  That  the  burning  desire  of  my  soul  Avas  not  only  to 
see  Texas  a  great  Baptist  state  but  to  see  it  one  of  the  grand- 
est states  in  wealth,  in  morality  and  intelligence  on  the  face 
of  the  earth.     And  without  railroads,  Texas  never  could  be 


De.  Rufus  C.  Bukleson.  885 

anything  but  a  "sheep  pen  and  a  cow  ranch."     Many  of  my 
dear  old  friends  and  brethren  of  Houston  approached  me  in 
great  sadness  and  said,  "Why  do  you  want  to  ruin  Houston? 
I  thought  as  Houston  was  your  first  home  in  Texas  and  its 
people  always  treated  you  so  kindly,  that  you  would  not  will- 
ingly join  any  parties  to  destroy  our  prosperity."     I  assured 
them  that  no  spot  on  Texas  soil  was  dearer  to  me  than  Hous- 
ton, and  that  I  hoped  to  see  Houston  the  grand  commercial 
city  and  railroad  center  of  Texas.    But  time  proves  all  things. 
The  adobe  road  was  built  up  to  McCurley's  Point  at  an  ex- 
pense of  $67,000.  But  alas,  alas  "the  best  laid  schemes  o'  mice 
and  men  gang  aft  agley."     The  farmers  would  not  pack  the 
roads  or  rather  could  not  and  the  few  places  they  were  per- 
suaded to  pack  wouldn't  stay  packed,  but  bogged  worse  than 
any  part  of  Houston  prairie.     I  never  shall  forget  my  last 
meeting  with  my  early  friend  and  late  bitter  antognist  Dr. 
Moore.    I  met  him  about  ten  miles  on  the  Houston  road  be- 
low Hempstead.     I  saw  he  was  all  excitement  by  the  time 
I  got  in  fifty  yards  of  him.    "When  I  drew  near  with  clinched 
fist  he  said:     "Mr.  Burleson,  why  don't  you  Methodist  and 
Baptist  preachers  quit  preaching  the  doctrine  of  hell  fire  and 
damnation  and  preach  the  gospel  of  common  sense  a  little?" 
I  said :   "Doctor,  we  preachers  like  to  preach  about  some- 
thing we  understand  better  than  the  people,  and  the  people 
have  got  more  common  sense  than  we  have."    He  said :  "They 
haven't  got  a  bit,  they  haven't  got  a  bit,  they  are  a  perfect 
set  of  fools."    I  said :  "Nay  Doctor,  they  have  more  common 
sense  than  all  the  editors  and  preachers  put  together."    I  said : 
"What  is  the  matter  ?"    He  vehemently  replied :     "Houston 
has  spent  $67,000  to  grade  up  this  road  and  now  they  won't 
pack  it,  and  its  worse  than  before  it  was  thrown  up."    I  said: 
"But  Doctor  they  will  pack  it,  if  you  will  go  with  me  into  your 
office,  I  can  show  you  a  dozen  places  where  you  said  they 
would  pack  it."     I  told  you,  "They  couldn't  nor  Avouldn't 
pack  it."     "Oh,"  he  said,  "I  did  not  know  they  were  a  set  of 
fools,  but  I  am  going  up  here  to  sell  out  some  property  I  have, 
and  I  am  going  to  leave  Texas  and  hope  never  to  see  it  again." 
But  the  grand  men  and  merchant  princes  of  Houston  in 
their  profound  practical  wisdom  saw  how  they  could  correct 
their  mistake.     They  rushed  up  to  Austin  where  the  legisla- 


886  The  Life  and  Writings  of 

ture  was  in  session,  and  got  the  charter  for  the  Houston  & 
Texas  Central  railroad,  remodeled  their  adobe  road  and  put 
the  ties  on  it  and  the  railroad  iron,  and  Houston  has  become 
the  grand  central  railroad  city  of  Texas  and  a  city  of  which 
all  Texas  may  justly  be  proud.  But  what  I  did  for  railroads 
was  a  mere  wayside  skirmish.  The  grand  statesmen  of  Texas 
brought  their  wisdom  and  statesmenship  to  develop  a  grand 
system  of  railroads  and  while  Houston  and  Rusk  and  many 
others  deserve  great  credit,  Texas  should  never  forget  what 
she  owes  to  that  clear-minded,  level-headed  statesman,  E.  M. 
Pease.  He  stood  grandly  at  the  helm,  and  guided  the  ship  of 
state  through  that  stormy  ocean  of  conflict,  and  I  deeply  regret 
to  find  that  he  is  not  receiving  the  honor  that  his  distinguished 
ser\dces  demand.  But  like  all  patriots  his  grand  reward  was 
to  have  served  his  beloved  country.  One  of  the  grandest 
features  of  our  railroad  system  as  devised  by  Pease,  Houston, 
Rusk  and  their  grand  co-laborers  is,  to  make  railroads  and  free 
schools  mutually  build  up  each  other.  For  to  aid  the  railroads 
in  their  struggles  while  as  yet  the  freight  and  travel  was  utterly 
insufficient  to  defray  expenses  of  building  railroads  and  run- 
ning them,  the  state  gave  them  sixteen  sections  for  every 
mile  of  railroad  built  and  also  loaned  them  $6,000.00  of  the 
school  fund  derived  from  the  sale  of  the  Sante  Pe  territory. 
And  the  grand  plan  was  that  the  railroad  should  survey  their 
sixteen  sections,  leaving  every  alternate  section  for  the  free 
schools,  so  that  the  section  reserved  to  free  schools  was  worth 
sometimes  five  times  more  than  it  was  before  the  adjoining  sec- 
tion was  given  to  the  railroads.  In  conclusion  I  wish  to  say 
that  I  am  very  sad  at  heart  to  find  the  bitter  prejudices  in  the 
hearts  of  many  Texans  against  railroads  or  what  they  call  rail- 
road monopoly.  Every  true  Texan  should  love  and  cherish  rail- 
roads as  a  great  factor  in  making  Texas  one  of  the  grandest 
states  in  the  Union.  In  the  meantime,  I  always  profoundly 
regret  to  see  railroad  officials  dealing  rudely  with  private  citi- 
zens. We  should  remember  that  we  belong  to  the  same  great 
family,  and  while  sometimes  the  railroads  have  done  me  great 
injustice,  yet  I  shall  ever  cherish  in  my  heart  a  profound  love 
for  railroads  and  attribute  any  unkindness  to  me  as  a  part  of 
the  weakness  of  our  human  nature. 


Dk.  Eufus  C.  Burleson. 


887 


Texas  is  therefore  the  second  railroad  state  in  the  Union, 
Illinois  has  10,240  miles  of  railroad  and  Texas  has  9,075.  No 
doubt  in  live  years  Texas  will  be  the  grandest  railroad  state 
in  America  or  the  world.  Texas  has  also  the  grandest  provi- 
sion for  public  institutions  from  primary  free  schools  to  the 
great  university,  of  any  state  or  kingdom  on  the  earth.  What 
monuments  shall  we  erect  on  the  broad  foundation  laid  by 
those  grand  pioneers  for  the  glory  of  Texas  ? 


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^e  life  and  writings  of  Rufus  C. 
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^s^sr 


9 


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